mediumMultiple Choice
300-410 Practice Question: When an SNMP agent sends an InformRequest, what…
When an SNMP agent sends an InformRequest, what is the default behavior regarding acknowledgment?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between Traps (unacknowledged) and Informs (acknowledged), and the trap here is that candidates confuse the transport-layer acknowledgment (TCP ACK) with the SNMP application-layer Response PDU, leading them to pick option C.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The agent expects a Response PDU from the manager; if not received, it retransmits.
An SNMP InformRequest is a confirmed notification: the agent expects a Response PDU from the manager to acknowledge receipt. If the agent does not receive this response within a timeout period, it will retransmit the InformRequest. This is defined in RFC 3416 and distinguishes InformRequests from Traps, which are unacknowledged.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The agent does not expect any acknowledgment; it is fire-and-forget.
Why it's wrong here
InformRequest is a confirmed-class PDU, so the agent expects a Response PDU from the manager; only Traps are unacknowledged. It is tempting because Traps genuinely are fire-and-forget, which would be the correct answer if the question asked about Trap behaviour instead.
- ✓
The agent expects a Response PDU from the manager; if not received, it retransmits.
Why this is correct
InformRequest is the acknowledged variant of a trap: the agent retains the PDU and waits for a Response from the manager, retransmitting at intervals until confirmation arrives or retries are exhausted. Traps, by contrast, are unacknowledged.
- ✗
The manager sends an acknowledgment at the transport layer only.
Why it's wrong here
SNMP InformRequest acknowledgment occurs at the application layer as a Response PDU, not at the transport layer. It is tempting because transport-layer protocols such as TCP do confirm delivery, which would be relevant if the question concerned TCP sessions rather than SNMP's own confirmed-class PDU exchange.
- ✗
The agent sends the inform multiple times by default regardless of acknowledgment.
Why it's wrong here
Retransmission happens only when no Response PDU arrives within the timeout, not unconditionally. It is tempting because SNMP does retransmit unacknowledged informs, which would be correct if the question asked about retry behaviour after a timeout rather than default acknowledgment.
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Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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