This PCNSE practice question tests your understanding of manage, monitor and operate. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A firewall is configured with two ISPs for redundancy. The administrator wants to ensure that traffic from internal users is load-balanced across both links based on source IP. Which configuration method should be used?
Static routes with different metrics
Why wrong: Different metrics provide failover, not load balancing.
Policy-Based Forwarding (PBF)
Why wrong: PBF is used for traffic steering, not load balancing.
Path monitoring
Why wrong: Path monitoring checks path availability, not load balancing.
ECMP with source IP hash
ECMP with source IP hash load-balances traffic across equal-cost paths.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
ECMP with source IP hash
D is correct because ECMP (Equal-Cost Multi-Path) with source IP hash enables the firewall to load-balance traffic across multiple equal-cost routes by hashing the source IP address, ensuring that all packets from the same source IP consistently use the same link. This method provides per-source-IP stickiness while distributing traffic across both ISPs, meeting the requirement for load balancing based on source IP.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Static routes with different metrics
Why it's wrong here
Different metrics provide failover, not load balancing.
Policy-Based Forwarding (PBF)
Why it's wrong here
PBF is used for traffic steering, not load balancing.
Path monitoring
Why it's wrong here
Path monitoring checks path availability, not load balancing.
ECMP with source IP hash
Why this is correct
ECMP with source IP hash load-balances traffic across equal-cost paths.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Policy-Based Forwarding (PBF) with load balancing, but PBF is for policy-based routing decisions, not for distributing traffic across equal-cost paths based on source IP hash.
Detailed technical explanation
ECMP with source IP hash uses a hash algorithm (e.g., CRC-16 or XOR) over the source IP address to select the egress interface from a set of equal-cost routes; this ensures session persistence for a given source IP while balancing load across links. In Palo Alto Networks firewalls, ECMP is configured under the virtual router with a hash-based distribution method, and the source IP hash option specifically avoids asymmetric routing by keeping all packets from the same source on the same path. A real-world scenario is a branch office with two ISP links where internal users (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24) need their traffic split evenly without requiring per-packet load balancing, which could cause out-of-order delivery.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
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FAQ
Manage, Monitor and Operate — This question tests Manage, Monitor and Operate — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: ECMP with source IP hash — D is correct because ECMP (Equal-Cost Multi-Path) with source IP hash enables the firewall to load-balance traffic across multiple equal-cost routes by hashing the source IP address, ensuring that all packets from the same source IP consistently use the same link. This method provides per-source-IP stickiness while distributing traffic across both ISPs, meeting the requirement for load balancing based on source IP.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This PCNSE practice question is part of Courseiva's free Palo Alto Networks 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 PCNSE exam.
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