LFCS Networking Practice Question
Which bonding mode provides high availability without requiring switch configuration?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'high availability' with 'load balancing' and choose mode 0 or mode 4, not realizing that those modes require switch configuration or do not inherently provide failover without additional setup.
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
✓
mode 1 (active-backup)
Mode 1 (active-backup) provides high availability by designating one NIC as active and the others as standby, with automatic failover if the active link fails. It requires no special switch configuration because it does not use any link aggregation protocol or load-balancing algorithm that depends on switch-side settings.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
mode 1 (active-backup)
Why this is correct
Mode 1 (active-backup) keeps one slave active while others stand by, failing over without any switch-side link aggregation. Because it uses no LACP or static EtherChannel, it delivers high availability with zero switch configuration, satisfying the stem's constraint.
- ✗
mode 4 (802.3ad)
Why it's wrong here
Mode 4 requires the switch to be configured with an 802.3ad LACP link aggregation group; without that, the bond will not form correctly. It is tempting because 802.3ad delivers genuine aggregated throughput and failover, but only where the network team controls the switch ports.
- ✗
mode 6 (balance-alb)
Why it's wrong here
Mode 6 balances receive load using ARP negotiation and needs no switch setup, yet it depends on the switch learning MAC addresses and can misbehave with some hardware; it also lacks the deterministic failover of the active-backup mode the scenario expects.
- ✗
mode 0 (balance-rr)
Why it's wrong here
Mode 0 provides no failover at all: round-robin transmits across all slaves, so a single failed link degrades or drops traffic, and it typically needs switch-side aggregation for correct operation. It suits throughput aggregation, not the high-availability-without-switch-configuration requirement.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LFCS practice question is part of Courseiva's free Linux Foundation certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the LFCS exam.