NSE7 Advanced Networking and SD-WAN Practice Question
An administrator needs to apply different routing policies for traffic based on source IP address, overriding the normal routing table. Which feature should be configured?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse route maps (a policy tool) with policy-based routing (the feature that uses route maps to override forwarding), leading them to select 'Route map' instead of 'Policy-based routing' as the feature name.
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
✓
Policy-based routing
Policy-based routing (PBR) is the correct feature because it allows an administrator to override the normal routing table lookup based on criteria such as source IP address. Unlike static or dynamic routing, PBR uses route maps to match traffic (e.g., source IP) and apply a specific next-hop or interface, enabling granular traffic steering independent of the destination-based routing table.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Prefix list
Why it's wrong here
A prefix list only groups IP subnets for reuse in other filters; it holds no action and cannot alter forwarding, so it cannot override the routing table. It is tempting because it names source addresses, yet its real role is as a building block inside route maps or firewall policies.
- ✗
SD-WAN rule
Why it's wrong here
SD-WAN rules select an egress member based on application, source, or destination for traffic steering, but they operate within SD-WAN overlay selection rather than overriding the underlying routing table. They are tempting because source-IP matching is supported, yet the outcome is link choice, not route replacement.
- ✗
Route map
Why it's wrong here
Route maps match and set attributes during route redistribution or BGP policy, not per-packet source-IP forwarding decisions, so they cannot override the routing table for live traffic. They are tempting because they do manipulate routing policy, but for route advertisement rather than packet steering.
- ✓
Policy-based routing
Why this is correct
Policy-based routing matches packets against administrator-defined criteria such as source IP address and forwards them via a specified next hop, bypassing the standard destination-based routing table. This directly satisfies the requirement to override normal routing decisions based on source address.
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