Q.

What does it mean to have fast or autonomous switching

"enabled" and "disabled" on the same interface?

A. Look at this example:

Ethernet 6 is up, line protocol is up

Internet address is 192.192.15.1,
subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
Broadcast address is
192.192.15.255
Address determined by non-volatile
memory MTU is 1500 bytes
Helper address is 192.192.12.5
Outgoing access list is not set
Proxy ARP is enabled
Security level is default
Split horizon is enabled
ICMP redirects are always sent
ICMP unreachable are always sent
ICMP mask replies are never sent
IP autonomous switching is enabled
IP autonomous switching on the
same interface is disabled
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gateway Discovery is disabled
IP accounting is disabled
TCP/IP header compression is
disabled
Probe proxy name replies are
disabled
If you enable fast or autonomous switching on an interface, packets
coming from any other interface on the router are fast-switched (or
autonomous-switched) to that interface. If you enable same-
interface fast or autonomous switching, packets whose source and
destination address are the same are fast or autonomous switched.

You can use same-interface fast or autonomous switching in cases

where you have Frame Relay or Asynchronous Transfer Mode
(ATM) WAN links configured as subinterfaces on the same main
interface. Another situation is when you are using secondary
networks on LAN interfaces, as during IP address migration. In
order to enable same-interface fast switching, use the ip route-
cache same-interface configuration command.
Q. How is the load shared between two parallel lines of equal capacity
when these lines are configured for load balancing?

A. For IP, if the router is fast switching, it load balances on a per-

destination basis. If the router is process switching, it load balances
on a per-packet basis. For more information, refer to How Does
Load-Balancing Work? Cisco IOS® Software also supports both per
packet and per destination load balancing with Cisco Express
Forwarding (CEF). For more information, refer to Load Balancing
with CEF and Troubleshooting Load Balancing Over Parallel Links
Using Cisco Express Forwarding.
Q. What does route summarization mean?

A. Summarization is the process by which we collapse many routes

with a long mask to form another route with a shorter mask. Refer
to OSPF and Route Summarization and the "Summarization"
section of Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol for more
information. The auto-summary command works only if you have
contiguous subnets. If you work with discontiguous subnets, you
need to use the ip summary-address interface configuration
command on every interface that participates in the routing process
where you want to configure summarization.
Q. When does a Cisco router generate a source quench?

A. Prior to Cisco IOS® Software Releases 11.3 and 12.0, a Cisco

router generates a source quench only if it does not have the buffer
space needed to queue the packet. If the router can't queue the
routed packet onto the output interface's queue, it generates a
source quench and registers an output drop against the output
interface. If the router isn't congested, it won't generate a source
quench.

You can look at the show ip traffic command output for source
quenches sent. Also look at show interface to see if there are any
drops. If there are none, then you should not see any source
quench.

Cisco IOS Software Releases later than 11.3 and 12.0 do not
include the source quench feature.
Q. When does a Cisco router initiate a routing request out its
interfaces?

A. A Cisco router that runs a distance vector routing protocol

initiates a routing request out its interfaces if any of these conditions
are met:

 The interface goes down.

 There is any change to the router global configuration
command.
 There is any change to the metric configuration
command.
 The clear ip route EXEC command is used.
 The shutdown interface configuration command is
used.
 The router is booted.
 There is any change to the ip address command.

The request is sent out to all interfaces configured for that particular
protocol no matter which interface triggers the request. The request
is sent out to one interface only if that is the only interface
configured for the protocol.

When the debug ip igrp events or the debug ip igrp transactions

command is enabled, you see this in any of these situations:

IGRP: broadcasting request on Ethernet0

IGRP: broadcasting request on Ethernet1
IGRP: broadcasting request on Ethernet2
IGRP: broadcasting request on Ethernet3
Q. What is the difference between the ip default-gateway, ip default-
network, and ip route 0.0.0.0/0 commands?

A. The ip default-gateway command is used when IP routing is

disabled on the router. However, ip default-network and ip route
0.0.0.0/0 are effective when IP routing is enabled on the router and
they are used to route any packets which do not have an exact
route match in the routing table. Refer to Configuring a Gateway of
Last Resort Using IP Command for more information.
Q. How do I use the ip helper-address command to forward Bootstrap
Protocol (BOOTP) frames?

A. The ip helper-address command takes an argument of either

the IP address of the BOOTP server or a directed broadcast
address for the segment on which the BOOTP server resides. You
can also have multiple instances of the command with different IP
addresses if you have more than one BOOTP server. The ip helper-
address command can also be used on individual sub interfaces.
Q. Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) redistributes
with the IGRP IP routing protocol automatically. Does EIGRP also
interact with the Routing Information Protocol (RIP) IP routing
protocol?

A. EIGRP can interact with RIP using the redistribute commands.

Because RIP and EIGRP are so fundamentally different, automatic
interaction would probably produce unpredictable and undesirable
results. However, automatic interaction is possible between EIGRP
and IGRP because of their architectural similarities. Refer to
Redistributing Routing Protocols for more information.
Q. How do I configure my router to prefer an Open Shortest Path First
(OSPF) route over an EIGRP route when the route is learned from
both sources?

A. The short answer is to use the distance command under the

routing process. OSPF has a default administrative distance of 110
and EIGRP has a default administrative distance of 90 for internal
routes. If the same route prefixes are learned under both routing
protocols, EIGRP-learned routes will be installed into the IP routing
table because of the lower administrative distance (90 is less than
110). The key to having OSPF routes installed in the Routing
Information Base (RIB), instead of EIGRP routes, is to make the
administrative distance of OSPF less than that of EIGRP that uses
the distance ospf command. To learn more about administrative
distance, refer to What Is Administrative Distance?
Q. Does the use of extended IP access control lists (ACLs) filter
regular routing updates (such as OSPF)? Do I need to explicitly permit
the multicast IPs used by routing protocols (such as 224.0.0.5 and
224.0.0.6, in the case of OSPF) for updates to ensure the proper
working of routing protocols?

A. Any IP ACL on an interface is applied to any IP traffic on that

interface. All IP routing updates packets are handled as regular IP
packets at the interface level, and, thus, they are matched with the
ACL defined at the interface using the access-list command. To
ensure that the routing updates are not denied by ACLs, permit
them using the following statements.

To permit RIP use:

access-list 102 permit udp any any eq

rip
To permit IGRP use:

access-list 102 permit igrp any any

To permit EIGRP use:

access-list 102 permit eigrp any any

To permit OSPF use:

access-list 102 permit ospf any any

To permit Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) use:
access-list 102 permit tcp any any eq
179
access-list 102 permit tcp any eq 179
any
For more information on ACLs, refer to Configuring IP Access Lists
and Configuring Commonly Used IP ACLs.
Q. Does the interface subcommand no arp arpa disable the Address
Resolution Protocol (ARP) function for a router interface?

A. By Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) ARP, you

mean "Ethernet interfaces" and, by default, ARP ARPA is set with
no arp snap. This means that ARPA style ARPs are sent, but both
ARPA and Subnetwork Access Protocol (SNAP) are answered. By
setting no arp arpa, ARP requests are disabled, although null
entries are created for every station to which an ARP request is
attempted. You can enable SNAP alone, ARPA alone (the default),
both SNAP and ARPA together (send two ARPs every time), or
neither SNAP nor ARPA (which is what happens if you set no arp
arpa without setting up any other ARP).
Q. Would it be possible to configure a router for a 255.255.254.0
Ethernet and a 255.255.252.0 serial subnet? Does IGRP/RIPv1 support
variable subnetting?

A. Yes it is possible to configure these subnet masks. In order to

subnet on a Cisco router, the subnet bits must be contiguous, so
255.255.253.0 would not be valid
(11111111.11111111.11111101.00000000) while 225.255.252.0
would be valid (11111111.11111111.11111100.00000000).
Subnetting by borrowing all but one bits from the host portion is not
allowed. Also, traditionally, subnetting with a single bit was not
allowed. The masks above satisfy these conditions. Refer to IP
Addressing and Subnetting for New Users for more information.

IGRP RIP version 1 do not support variable length subnet masking

(VLSM). A single router running any of these protocols would work
fine with variable length subnetting. An incoming packet destined
for one of the configured subnets would be routed properly and
delivered to the correct destination interface. However, if the VLSM
and discontiguous networks are configured across multiple routers
in IGRP domain, then it will lead to routing problems. Refer to Why
Doesn't RIP or IGRP Support Discontiguous Networks? for more
information.

The newer IP routing protocols, EIGRP, ISIS, and OSPF, as well as

RIP version 2, support VLSM, and they should be preferred in your
network design. Refer to IP Routing Protocols Technical Support
Page for more information on all IP routing Protocols.
Q. Can an interface have more than one ip access-group statement in
its configuration?

A. In Cisco IOS versions 10.0 and later, you can have two ip
access-group commands per interface (one for each direction):

interface ethernet 0
ip access-group 1 in
ip access-group 2 out
One access-group is used for inbound traffic and one for outbound
traffic. Refer to Configuring Commonly Used IP ACLs and
Configuring IP Access Lists for more information on ACLs.
Q. Can I configure two interfaces in the same subnet (t0 =
142.10.46.250/24 and t1 142.10.46.251/24)?

A. No. For the routing to work, each interface should be on a

different subnet. However, if you are only bridging, and not doing IP
routing, then you can configure the two interfaces on the same
subnet.
Q. Is it possible to have duplicate ip addresses for two serial
interfaces that belong to the same router?

A. Yes, duplicate ip addresses are allowed on serial interfaces. It is

a more efficient way of bundling links together (ie. MLPPP) and also
a better way to preserve address space. Change the encapsulation
from the default HDLC to PPP in order to assign duplicate ip
addresses.
Q. I have primary and secondary IP addresses configured on an
Ethernet interface and my router is running RIP (a distance vector
routing protocol). How does split-horizon affect the routing updates?

A. Refer to How Split Horizon Effects RIP/IGRP Routing Updates

when Secondary Addresses Are Involved.
Q. Is there a performance advantage when using the the IP access list
keyword established on an extended ACL? Does using "established"
make the access list more vulnerable? Do you have specific examples
of the usage?

A. There is no real performance advantage. The keyword

established simply means that packets with the acknowledgment
(ACK) or reset (RST) bits set are let through. To learn more about
ACLs in general, refer to Configuring IP Access Lists.

The established keyword allows the internal hosts to make

external TCP connections and to receive the return control traffic. In
most scenarios, this type of ACL would be essential on a firewall
configuration. The same result can also be achieved either by using
Reflexive ACLs or Context-Based Access Control. Refer to
Configuring Commonly Used IP ACLs for some sample
configurations.
Q. I have four equal cost parallel paths to the same destination. I am
doing fast switching on two links and process switching on the other
two. How will the packets be routed in this situation?

A. Assume that we have four equal cost paths to some set of IP

networks. Interfaces 1 and 2 fast switch (ip route-cache enabled
on the interface) , 3 and 4 do not (no ip route-cache). The router
first establishes the four equal cost paths in a list (path 1, 2, 3, and
4). When you do a show ip route x.x.x.x, the four "next hops" to
x.x.x.x display.

The pointer is called interface_pointer on interface 1.

Interface_pointer cycles through the interfaces and routes in some
orderly deterministic fashion such as 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1 and so on.
The output of show ip route x.x.x.x has a "*" to the left of the "next
hop" that interface_pointer uses for a destination address not found
in the cache. Each time that interface_pointer is used, it advances
to the next interface or route.

To illustrate the point better, consider this repeating loop:

 A packet comes in, destined for a network serviced by

the four parallel paths.
 The router checks to see if it is in the cache. (The
cache starts off empty.)
 If it is in the cache, the router sends it to the interface
stored in the cache. Otherwise, the router sends it to
the interface where the interface_pointer is and moves
interface_pointer to the next interface in the list.
 If the interface over which the router just sent the
packet is running route-cache, the router populates the
cache with that interface ID and the destination IP
address. All subsequent packets to the same
destination are then switched using the route-cache
entry (thus they are fast-switched).

If there are two route-cache and two non-route-cache interfaces,

there is a 50 percent probability that a uncached entry will hit an
interface that caches entries, caching that destination to that
interface. Over time, the interfaces running fast switching (route-
cache) carry all the traffic except destinations not in the cache. This
happens because once a packet to a destination is process-
switched over an interface, the interface_pointer moves and points
to the next interface in the list. If this interface is also process-
switched, then the second packet is process-switched over the
interface and the interface_pointer moves on to point to the next
interface. Since there are only two process-switched interfaces, the
third packet will route to fast-switched interface, which, in turn, will
cache. Once cached in the IP route-cache, all the packets to the
same destination will be fast-switched. Thus, there is a 50 percent
probability that a uncached entry will hit an interface that caches
entries, caching that destination to that interface.

In case of a failure of a process-switched interface, the routing table

is updated and you would have three equal cost paths (two fast-
switched and one process-switched). Over time, the interfaces
running fast switching (route-cache) carry all the traffic except
destinations not in the cache. With two route-cache and one non-
route-cache interfaces, there is a 66 percent probability that a
uncached entry will hit an interface that caches entries, caching that
destination to that interface. You can expect that the two fast
switched interfaces will carry all the traffic over time.

Similarly when a fast switched interface fails, you would have three
equal cost paths, one fast-switched and two process-switched.
Over time the interface running fast switching (route-cache) carries
all the traffic except destinations not in cache. There is 33 percent
probability that a uncached entry would hit an interface that cached
entries, caching that destination to that interface. You can expect
that the single interface with caching enabled will carry all of the
traffic over time in this case.

If no interface is running route-cache, the router round-robins the

traffic on a packet-by-packet basis.

In conclusion, if multiple equal paths to a destination exist, some

are process-switched while others are fast switched, then over time
most of the traffic will be carried by the fast-switched interfaces
only. The load balancing thus attained is not optimum and might in
some cases lower the performance. Therefore, it is recommended
that you do one of the following:

 Either have all route-cache or no route-cache on all

interfaces in parallel paths.

or

 Expect that the interfaces with caching enabled will

carry all of the traffic over time.
Q. What is Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding (uRPF)? Can a default
route 0.0.0.0/0 be used to perform a uRPF check?

A. Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding, used for preventing source

address spoofing, is a "look backward" ability which allows the
router to check and see if any IP packet received at a router
interface arrives on the best return path (return route) to the source
address of the packet. If the packet was received from one of the
best reverse path routes, the packet is forwarded as normal. If there
is no reverse path route on the same interface from which the
packet was received, the packet is dropped or forwarded,
depending on whether an access control list (ACL) is specified in
the ip verify unicast reverse-path list interface configuration
command. For more information, refer to the Configuring Unicast
Reverse Path Forwarding chapter of the Cisco IOS Security
Configuration Guide, Release 12.2 .

Default route 0.0.0.0/0 can not be used to perform a uRPF check.

For example, if a packet with source address 10.10.10.1 comes on
Serial 0 interface and the only route matching 10.10.10.1 is the
default route 0.0.0.0/0 pointing out Serial 0 on the router, the uRPF
check fails and it drops that packet.
Q. Who does load-balancing when there are multiple links to a
destination, Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF), or the routing protocol?

A. CEF does the switching of the packet based on the routing table
which is being populated by the routing protocols such as EIGRP,
RIP, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), and so forth. CEF does the
load-balancing once the routing protocol table has been calculated.
For more details on load balancing, refer to How does load-
balancing work?
Q. What are the maximum number of secondary IP addesses that can
be configured on a router interface?

A. There are no limits on configuring secondary IP addresses on a

router interface. For more information, refer to Configuring IP
Addressing.
Q. What is the Pause control counter?

A. The Pause control counter indicates the number of times the

router requests another router to slow the traffic. For example, two
routers, Router A and Router B, are connected through a link with
flow control enabled. If Router B faces a traffic burst, Router B
sends a Pause output packet to inform Router A to slow the traffic
because the link is oversubscribed. At that time, Router A receives
a Pause input packet that informs it of the request sent by Router B.
Pause output / input packets are not a problem or an error. They
are simply flow control packets between two devices.
Q. Can a VLAN interface and a tunnel interface have the same IP
address?

A. No. Bridging over tunnel is not supported, as the tunnel requires

IP traffic to be encapsulated in a GRE header, and you cannot
encapsulate the layer 2 traffic.
Q. What is Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF)?

A. Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) is a technology included in

IP network routers that allows multiple instances of a routing table
to exist in a router and work simultaneously. This increases
functionality because it allows network paths to be segmented
without the use of multiple devices. Because traffic is automatically
segregated, VRF also increases network security and can eliminate
the need for encryption and authentication. Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) often take advantage of VRF in order to create
separate Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) for customers. Therefore
the technology is also referred to as VPN routing and forwarding.

VRF acts like a logical router, but while a logical router can include
many routing tables, a VRF instance uses only a single routing
table. In addition, VRF requires a forwarding table that designates
the next hop for each data packet, a list of devices that can be
called upon to forward the packet, and a set of rules and routing
protocols that govern how the packet is forwarded. These tables
prevent traffic from being forwarded outside a specific VRF path
and also keep out traffic that must remain outside the VRF path.
Q. How do I connect two different ISPs and route different traffic to
different ISPs?

A. Policy based routing (PBR) is the feature that allows you to route
the traffic to different ISPs based on the source address.
Q. What is the difference between the two methods to create static
routes?

A. There are two methods to create static routes:

  The ip route 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0 eth 0/0 command
generates an ARP broadcast that looks for the next-
hop IP address.
 The ip route 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0 172.16.1.1
command does not generate an ARP request. It keeps
Layer 2 out of the routing process.
Q. What is the purpose of ports 2228 and 56506?

A. Ports 2228 and 56506 are not registered port numbers. They can
be used by any application. Some applications initiate a connection
with these port numbers. Because of this, the port numbers are
shown in the output of the show ip sockets command. If the port
numbers need to be blocked, configure an access-list in order to
block the ports.
Q. What is the difference between point-to-point subinterfaces and
multi-point subinterfaces?

A. Point-to-point interfaces are used in serial communication. These

types of connections are assumed to transmit solely to the station at
the opposite end. The examples of Point-to-point are EIA/TIA 232,
EIA/TIA 449, X.25, Frame Relay, T-carrier, and OC3 - OC192.

Point-to-multipoint connects one station to several other stations.

Point-to-multipoint are of two types

 Point-to-multipoint Non-Broadcast
 Point-to-multipoint Broadcast

In Point-to-multipoint Non-broadcast, the communication is

replicated to all the remote stations. Only specific, selected stations
hear the replicated communication. The examples are Frame Relay
and ATM.

Point-to-multipoint Broadcast are characterized by a physical

medum that connects to all machines and where all communication
is heard by all stations.
Q. Can you configure different MTU for subinterfaces under the same
main interface? How do 75000/GSR/ESR routers behave in this
scenario?
A. You can configure different IP MTU with the ip mtu command on
different subinterfaces. When you change the MTU on a
subinterface, the router checks the MTU from the main interface. If
the main interface MTU is set to a lower value than the one
configured on the subinterface, the router changes the MTU on the
main interface to match with the subinterface. Thus, the physical
MTU configured with the mtu command on the main interface
needs to be higher than the IP MTU configured on the sub
interfaces.

Packet memory is carved based on the highest MTU configured on

75000/GSR. There is one exception to this; the Engine 4+ linecard
does not require to carve buffers on MTU change. On ESR, the
packet memory is carved at boot time and is not affected by MTU
settings. So if you change the MTU, you should not have any
impact on ESR.
Q. How do you limit the number of sessions when a customer
accesses the network?

A. If the customers use the same IP address, then use the ppp
ipcp address unique command in order to reduce the number of
sessions that the customer uses.
Q. How is accounting data age calculated?

A. The accounting data age increments its value in a 1 minute basis

since the time IP accounting was enabled. This continues until the
clear ip accounting command is issued, which resets it from 0.
Q. What does the term threshold and timeout in IP SLA operation
mean?

A. Threshold sets the rising threshold that generates a reaction

event and stores history information for an IP SLAs operation.

Timeout sets the amount of time an IP SLAs operation waits for a

response from its request packet.
Q. What is the significance of Time mentioned in the routing table
entry?
A. This is the age of the route in the routing table. It is the time
period for which the route is present in the routing table.
Q. What is Network Descriptor Block (NDB)?

A. It is the network information, which is stored in "Routing table"

with Routing Descriptor Block (RDB). The memory to hold the IP
routing table learned prefixes is divided into NDB and RDB. Each
route in Routing information Base (RIB) requires one NDB and one
RDB for each path. If the route is subnetted, additional memory is
required in order to maintain the NDB, and the direct memory use
for IP RIB can be shown with the show ip route summary
command.
Q. Why are loopbacks advertised as /32 host routes in OSPF?

A. Loopbacks are considered host routes in OSPF, and they are

advertised as /32. For more information, refer to section 9.1 of RFC
2328 . In Cisco IOS Software Releases 11.3T and 12.0, if the ip
ospf network point-to-point command is configured under
loopbacks, OSPF advertises the loopback subnet as the actual
subnet configured on loopbacks. ISDN dialer interface advertises
/32 subnet instead of its configured subnet mask. This is an
expected behavior if ip ospf network point-to-multipoint is
configured.
Q. How do I change the reference bandwidth in OSPF?

A. You can change the reference bandwidth in Cisco IOS Software

Release 11.2 and later using the ospf auto-cost reference-
bandwidth command under router ospf. By default, reference
bandwidth is 100 Mbps.
Q. How does OSPF calculate its metric or cost?

A. OSPF uses a reference bandwidth of 100 Mbps for cost

calculation. The formula to calculate the cost is reference bandwidth
divided by interface bandwidth. For example, in the case of
Ethernet, it is 100 Mbps / 10 Mbps = 10.

Note: If ip ospf cost cost is used on the interface, it overrides this

formulated cost.
Q. Are OSPF routing protocol exchanges authenticated?

A. Yes, OSPF can authenticate all packets exchanged between

neighbors. Authentication may be through simple passwords or
through MD5 cryptographic checksums. To configure simple
password authentication for an area, use the command ip ospf
authentication-key to assign a password of up to eight octets to
each interface attached to the area. Then, issue the area x
authentication command to the OSPF router configuration to
enable authentication. (In the command, x is the area number.)

Cisco IOS Software Release 12.x also supports the enabling of

authentication on a per-interface basis. If you want to enable
authentication on some interfaces only, or if you want different
authentication methods on different interfaces that belong to the
same area, use the ip ospf authentication interface mode
command.
Q. What is the link-state retransmit interval, and what is the command
to set it?

A. OSPF must send acknowledgment of each newly received link-

state advertisement (LSA). It does this by sending LSA packets.
LSAs are retransmitted until they are acknowledged. The link-state
retransmit interval defines the time between retransmissions. You
can use the command ip ospf retransmit-interval to set the
retransmit interval. The default value is 5 seconds.
Q. What is the purpose of the variable IP-OSPF-Transmit-Delay?

A. This variable adds a specified time to the age field of an update.

If the delay is not added before transmission over a link, the time in
which the link-state advertisement (LSA) propagates over the link is
not considered. The default value is 1 second. This parameter has
more significance on very low-speed links.
Q. Is it true that only the static option of the virtual link in OSPF
allows discontiguous networks, regardless of the mask propagation
properties?

A. No, virtual links in OSPF maintain connectivity to the backbone

from nonbackbone areas, but they are unnecessary for
discontiguous addressing. OSPF provides support for discontiguous
networks because every area has a collection of networks, and
OSPF attaches a mask to each advertisement.
Q. Are the multicast IP addresses mapped to MAC-level multicast
addresses?

A. OSPF sends all advertisements using multicast addressing.

Except for Token Ring, the multicast IP addresses are mapped to
MAC-level multicast addresses. Cisco maps Token Ring to MAC-
level broadcast addresses.
Q. Does the Cisco OSPF implementation support IP TOS-based
routing?

A. Cisco OSPF only supports TOS 0. This means that routers route
all packets on the TOS 0 path, eliminating the need to calculate
nonzero TOS paths.
Q. Does the offset-list subcommand work for OSPF?

A. The offset-list command does not work for OSPF. It is used for
distance vector protocols such as Interior Gateway Routing Protocol
(IGRP), Routing Information Protocol (RIP), and RIP version 2.
Q. Can an OSPF default be originated into the system based on
external information on a router that does not itself have a default?

A. OSPF generates a default only if it is configured using the

command default-information originate and if there is a default
network in the box from a different process. The default route in
OSPF is 0.0.0.0. If you want an OSPF-enabled router to generate a
default route even if it does not have a default route itself, use the
command default-information originate always.
Q. Can I use the distribute-list in/out command with OSPF to filter
routes?

A. The distribute-list commands are supported in OSPF but work

differently than distance-vector routing protocols such as Routing
Information Protocol (RIP) and Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing
Protocol (EIGRP). OSPF routes cannot be filtered from entering the
OSPF database. The distribute-list in command only filters routes
from entering the routing table; it does not prevent link-state
packets from being propagated. Therefore, this command does not
help conserve router memory, and it does not prohibit a router from
propagating filtered routes to other routers.

Caution: Use of the distribute-list in command in OSPF may

lead to routing loops in the network if not implemented carefully.

The command distribute-list out works only on the routes being

redistributed by the Autonomous System Boundary Routers
(ASBRs) into OSPF. It can be applied to external type 2 and
external type 1 routes, but not to intra-area and interarea routes.
Q. How can I give preference to OSPF interarea routes over intra-area
routes?

A. According to section 11 of RFC 2328 , the order of preference

for OSPF routes is:

 intra-area routes, O

 interarea routes, O IA

 external routes type 1, O E1

 external routes type 2, O E2

This rule of preference cannot be changed. However, it applies only

within a single OSPF process. If a router is running more than one
OSPF process, route comparison occurs. With route comparison,
the metrics and administrative distances (if they have been
changed) of the OSPF processes are compared. Route types are
disregarded when routes supplied by two different OSPF processes
are compared.
Q. Do I need to manually set up adjacencies for routers on the
Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) cloud with the OSPF
neighbor subcommand?

A. In Cisco IOS Software releases earlier than Cisco IOS Software

Release 10.0, the neighbor command was required to establish
adjacencies over nonbroadcast multiaccess (NBMA) networks
(such as Frame Relay, X.25, and SMDS). With Cisco IOS Software
Release 10.0 and later, you can use the ip ospf network
broadcast command to define the network as a broadcast network,
eliminating the need for the neighbor command. If you are not
using a fully meshed SMDS cloud, you must use the ip ospf
network point-to-multipoint command.
Q. When routes are redistributed between OSPF processes, are all
shortest path first algorithm (SPF) metrics preserved, or is the default
metric value used?

A. The SPF metrics are preserved. The redistribution between them

is like redistribution between any two IP routing processes.
Q. How does Cisco accommodate OSPF routing on partial-mesh
Frame Relay networks?

A. You can configure OSPF to understand whether it should

attempt to use multicast facilities on a multi-access interface. Also,
if multicast is available, OSPF uses it for its normal multicasts.

Cisco IOS Software Release 10.0 includes a feature called

subinterfaces. You can use subinterfaces with Frame Relay to tie
together a set of virtual circuits (VCs) to form a virtual interface,
which acts as a single IP subnet. All systems within the subnet
should be fully meshed. With Cisco IOS Software Releases 10.3,
11.0 and later, the ip ospf point-to-multipoint command is also
available.
Q. Which address-wild-mask pair should I use for assigning an
unnumbered interface to an area?

A. When an unnumbered interface is configured, it references

another interface on the router. When enabling OSPF on the
unnumbered interface, use the address-wild-mask pair of interfaces
to which the unnumbered interface is pointing.
Q. Can I have one numbered side and leave the other side
unnumbered in OSPF?

A. No, OSPF does not work if you have one side numbered and the
other side unnumbered. This creates a discrepancy in the OSPF
database that prevents routes from being installed in the routing
table.
Q. Why do I receive the "cannot allocate router id" error message
when I configure Router OSPF One?

A. OSPF picks up the highest IP address as a router ID. If there are

no interfaces in up/up mode with an IP address, it returns this error
message. To correct the problem, configure a loopback interface.
Q. Why do I receive the "unknown routing protocol" error message
when I configure Router OSPF One?

A. Your software may not support OSPF. This error message

occurs most frequently with the Cisco 1600 series routers. If you
are using a 1600 router, you need a Plus image to run OSPF.
Q. What do the states DR, BDR, and DROTHER mean in show ip ospf
interface command output?

A. DR means designated router. BDR means backup designated

router. DROTHER indicates a router that is neither the DR or the BDR.
The DR generates a Network Link-State Advertisement, which lists
all the routers on that network.
Q. When I issue the show ip ospf neighbor command, why do I only
see FULL/DR and FULL/BDR, with all other neighbors showing 2-
WAY/DROTHER?

A. To reduce the amount of flooding on broadcast media, such as

Ethernet, FDDI, and Token Ring, the router becomes full with only
designated router (DR) and backup designated router (BDR), and it
shows 2-WAY for all other routers.
Q. Why do I not see OSPF neighbors as FULL/DR or FULL/BDR on my serial
link?

A. This is normal. On point-to-point and point-to-multipoint

networks, there are no designated routers (DRs) or backup
designated routers (BDRs).
Q. Do I need any special commands to run OSPF over BRI/PRI links?
A. In addition to the normal OSPF configuration commands, you
should use the dialer map command. When using the dialer map
command, use the broadcast keyword to indicate that broadcasts
should be forwarded to the protocol address.
Q. Do I need any special commands to run OSPF over asynchronous
links?

A. In addition to the normal OSPF configuration commands, you

should use the async default routing command on the
asynchronous interface. This command enables the router to pass
routing updates to other routers over the asynchronous interface.
Also, when using the dialer map command, use the broadcast
keyword to indicate that broadcasts should be forwarded to the
protocol address.
Q. Which Cisco IOS Software release began support for per-interface
authentication type in OSPF?

A. Per-interface authentication type, as described in RFC 2178 ,

was added in Cisco IOS Software Release 12.0(8).
Q. Can I control the P-bit when importing external routes into a not-
so-stubby area (NSSA)?

A. When external routing information is imported into an NSSA in a

type 7 link-state advertisement (LSA), the type 7 LSA has only area
flooding scope. To further distribute the external information, type 7
LSAs are translated into type 5 LSAs at the NSSA border. The P-bit
in the type 7 LSA Options field indicates whether the type 7 LSA
should be translated. Only those LSAs with the P-bit set are
translated. When you redistribute information into the NSSA, the P-
bit is automatically set. A possible workaround applies when the
Autonomous System Boundary Router (ASBR) is also an Area
Border Router (ABR). The NSSA ASBR can then summarize with
the not-advertise keyword, which results in not advertising the
translated type 7 LSAs.
Q. Why are OSPF show commands responding so slowly?

A. You may experience a slow response when issuing OSPF show

commands, but not with other commands. The most common
reason for this delay is that you have the ip ospf name-lookup
configuration command configured on the router. This command
causes the router to look up the device Domain Name System
(DNS) names for all OSPF show commands, making it easier to
identify devices, but resulting in a slowed response time for the
commands. If you are experiencing slow response on commands
other than just OSPF show commands, you may want to start
looking at other possible causes, such as the CPU utilization.
Q. What does the clear ip ospf redistribution command do?

A. The clear ip ospf redistribution command flushes all the type 5

and type 7 link-state advertisements (LSAs) and scans the routing
table for the redistributed routes. This causes a partial shortest path
first algorithm (SPF) in all the routers on the network that receive
the flushed/renewed LSAs. When the expected redistributed route
is not in OSPF, this command may help to renew the LSA and get
the route into OSPF.
Q. Does OSPF form adjacencies with neighbors that are not on the
same subnet?

A. The only time that OSPF forms adjacencies between neighbors

that are not on the same subnet is when the neighbors are
connected through point-to-point links. This may be desired when
using the ip unnumbered command, but in all other cases, the
neighbors must be on the same subnet.
Q. How often does OSPF send out link-state advertisements (LSAs)?

A. OSPF sends out its self-originated LSAs when the LSA age
reaches the link-state refresh time, which is 1800 seconds.
Q. How do I stop individual interfaces from developing adjacencies in
an OSPF network?

A. To stop routers from becoming OSPF neighbors on a particular

interface, issue the passive-interface command at the interface.

In Internet service provider (ISP) and large enterprise networks,

many of the distribution routers have more than 200 interfaces.
Configuring passive-interface on each of the 200 interfaces can be
difficult. The solution in such situations is to configure all the
interfaces as passive by default using a single passive-interface
default command. Then, configure individual interfaces where
adjacencies are desired using the no passive-interface command.
For more information, refer to Default Passive Interface Feature.

There are some known problems with the passive-interface

default command. Workarounds are listed in Cisco bug ID
CSCdr09263 ( registered customers only) .
Q. When I have two type 5 link-state advertisements (LSAs) for the
same external network in the OSPF database, which path should be
installed in the IP routing table?

A. When you have two type 5 LSAs for the same external network
in the OSPF database, prefer the external LSA that has the shortest
path to the Autonomous System Boundary Router (ASBR) and
install that into the IP routing table. Use the show ip ospf border-
routers command to check the cost to the ASBR.
Q. Why is it that my Cisco 1600 router does not recognize the OSPF
protocol?

A. Cisco 1600 routers require the Plus feature set image of Cisco
IOS Software to run OSPF. Refer to Table 3: Cisco 1600 Series
Routers Feature Sets in the Release Notes for Cisco IOS Release
11.2(11) Software Feature Packs for Cisco 1600 Series Routers for
more information.
Q. Why is it that my Cisco 800 router does not run OSPF?

A. Cisco 800 routers do not support OSPF. However, they do

support Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Enhanced Interior
Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP). You can use the Software
Advisor ( registered customers only) tool for more information on feature
support.
Q. Should I use the same process number while configuring OSPF on
multiple routers within the same network?

A. OSPF, unlike Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) or Enhanced

Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), does not check the
process number (or autonomous system number) when
adjacencies are formed between neighboring routers and routing
information is exchanged. The only case in which the OSPF
process number is taken into account is when OSPF is used as the
routing protocol on a Provider Edge to Customer Edge (PE-CE) link
in a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) VPN. PE routers mark
OSPF routes with the domain attribute derived from the OSPF
process number to indicate whether the route originated within the
same OSPF domain or from outside it. If the OSPF process
numbering is inconsistent on PE routers in the MPLS VPN, the
domain-id OSPF mode command should be used to mark that the
OSPF processes with different numbers belong to the same OSPF
domain.

This means that, in many practical cases, you can use different
autonomous system numbers for the same OSPF domain in your
network. However, it is best to use consistent OSPF-process
numbering as much as possible. This consistency simplifies
network maintenance and complies with the network designer
intention to keep routers in the same OSPF domain.
Q. I have a router that runs Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF) and
OSPF, who does load-balancing when there are multiple links to a
destination?

A. CEF works by performing the switching of the packet based on

the routing table which is populated by the routing protocols such as
OSPF. CEF does the load-balancing once the routing protocol table
has been calculated. For more details on load balancing, refer to
How does load-balancing work?
Q. How does OSPF use two Multilink paths to transfer packets?

A. OSPF uses the metric aCost, which is related to the bandwidth.

If there are equal cost paths (the same bandwidth on both
multilinks), OSPF installs both routes in the routing table. The
routing table tries to use both links equally, regardless of the
interface utilization. If one of the links in the first multilink fails,
OSPF does not send all the traffic down the second multilink. If the
first multilink peaks 100%, OSPF does not send any traffic down the
second multilink because OSPF tries to use both links equally,
regardless of the interface utilization. The second is used fully only
when the first multilink goes down.
Q. How can you detect the topological changes rapidly?

A. In order to have a rapid fault detection of topology changes, the

hello timer value needs to be set to 1 second. The hold timer value,
which is is four times that of the hello timer, also needs to be
configured. There is a possibility of more routing traffic if the hello
and hold timer values are reduced from their default values.

Q. Does the 3825 Series Router support the OSPF Stub

feature?

A. Yes, the 3800 Series Router that runs Advanced IPServices

image supports the OSPF Stub feature.
Q. What does the error message %OSPF-4-FLOOD_WAR: Process
process-id re-originates LSA ID ip address type-2 adv-rtr ip address in
area area id means?

A. The error message is due to the some router that is flushing the
network LSA because the network LSA received by the router
whose LSA ID conflicts with the IP address of one of the router's
interfaces and flushes the LSA out of the network. For OSPF to
function correctly the IP addresses of transit networks must be
unique. If it is not unique the conflicting routers reports this error
message. In the error message the router with the OSPF router ID
reported as adv-rtr reports this message.
Q. Can we have OSPF run over a GRE tunnel?

A. Yes, refer to Configuring a GRE Tunnel over IPSec with OSPF.

Question No. 01
The console port can be used for which of the following? (Choose three.)

1.debugging.

2.password recovery.

3.routing data between networks.

4.troubleshooting.

5.connecting one router to another.

Answer:

Correct answer: 1, 2 and 4

Explanation: By using router console port you can configure router, can set
password and recover password, troubleshooting etc. So, options 1, 2 and 4
are the correct answers. But to route data between networks, you need to
define routing protocol. So, option 3 is incorrect. To connect one router to
another you need a physical medium. There is no use of console port. So,
option 5 is incorrect.

Question No. 02

Select the statements that correctly describe flash memory in a 2600 series
router? (Choose two.)

1.holds the startup configuration by default.

2.can be upgraded with single in-line memory modules.

3.stores Cisco IOS software images.

4.stores routing table information by default.

5.maintains the only copy of an IOS image after the router is booted.

Answer:

Correct answer: 2 and 3

Explanation: Flash memory is an erasable, programmable read-only memory

which holds operating system image and microcode. It allows software to be
updated without removing any chips and content remain when powered
down pr restart. For this reason, 2 and 3 are the correct answers.

Question No. 03

Which of the following are functions of NVRAM? (Choose two.)

1.stores the routing table.

2.retains contents when power is removed.

3.stores the startup configuration file.

4.contains the running configuration file.

5.stores the ARP table.

Answer:

Correct answer: 2 and 3

Explanation: NVRAM stores the backup/startup configuration file for the

router. It retains conten when the router is powered down or restarted.
Question 04.

Which of the following descriptions are true regarding the management

connections on a Cisco router? (Choose three.)

1.They are non-network connections.

2.They are used to connect the router to the rest of the production network.

3.They are synchronous serial ports.

4.They are used for initial router configuration.

5.They are asynchronous serial ports.

6.They are accessed using their assigned IP address.

Answers:

Correct answer: 1, 2 and 4

Explanation: Management connections of Cisco router are used to

configuration router. These are non-network connections. So, option 1, 2 and
4 are the correct answers. Option 3 and 4 are not correct because it's not a
synchronous or asynchronous serial ports. Management connections has no
IP address. So, option 6 is not also the correct answer. So, options 1, 2 and 4
are the correct answers.

Question No. 05

An internetwork must include which of the following? (Choose three.)

1.switching.

2.static addressing.

3.IETF standardization.

4.dynamic or static routing.

5.consistent end-to-end addressing.

Answer:

Correct answer: 1, 4 and 5

Explanation: Internetwork includes switching, dynamic or static routing and

it's capable of addressing at the end-to-end addressing. So, option 1, 4 and 5
are correct. Internetwork doesn't include IETF standardization or static
addressing.

Question No. 06

Which of the following are functions of RAM? (Choose three.)

1.contains startup configuration file.

2.stores routing table.

3.holds fast switching cache.

4.retains contents when power is removed.

5.stores running configuration file.

Answer:

Correct answer: 2, 3 and 5

Explanation: Cisco RAM has the following characteristics:

•stores routing information

•address resolution protocol (ARP)

•fast-switching cache

•packet buffering

•packet hold queues

•RAM contents are lost if power is down or restarted

•provides temporary running memory.

For the above reasons, 2, 3 and 5 options are correct.

Question No. 07

Terminal emulatror software, such as HyperTerminal, can be used to

configure a router. Which of the following HyperTerminal options shown in
the graphic are correctly set to allow configuration of a Cisco router? (Choose
three.)

1.bits per second.

2.data bits.
3.parity.

4.stop bits.

5.flow control.

Answer:

Correct answer: 2 3 and 4

Question No. 08

Several Ethernet hosts on a LAN need the gateway services of a Cisco 2500
series router. Which of the following would be needed to physically connect
a router to all of the hosts on the LAN? (Choose two.)

1.a crossover cable between the transceiver on a router and a switch.

2.a crossover cables between a switch and hosts on a LAN.

3.a straight-through cable between the auxiliary port on a router and a

switch.

4.a rollover cable between the console port on a router and a switch.

5.straight-through cables between a switch and hosts on a LAN.

6.a straight-through cable between the transceiver on a router and a switch.

Answer:
Correct answer: 5 and 6

Explanation:

Straight-through cables are used for the following types of cabling:

•switch to router

•switch to PC or server

•hub to PC or server

Crossover cables are used for the following types of cabling:

•switch to switch

•PC to PC

•hub to hub

•router to router

•router to PC

For the above reasons 5 and 6 are the only true answers.

Question No. 09

Why is a console connection to a router or switch preferred when

troubleshooting? (Choose two.)
1.can be accessed remotely.

2.does not depend on network services.

3.displays startup and error messages by default.

4.does not require special components.

Answer:

Correct answer: 2 and 3

Explanation: Console connection doesn't depend on networking services.

Moreover, by using this type of connection the startup and error message
can be easily captured. That's why 2 and 3 are the correct answers. And the
others are not true answers.

Question No. 10

What do routers use to select the best path for outgoing data packets?

1.ARP tables.

2.bridging tables.

3.routing tables.

4.switching tables.

Answer:

Correct answer: 3

Explanation: Router has a routing table and the routing table is used for
outgoing data packets. So, option 3 is the correct answer.
Question No. 11

Which of the following tasks can be accomplished through a management

connection on a router? (Choose three.)

1.troubleshooting problems.

2.monitoring the system.

3.capturing LAN data packets.

4.configuring the router.

5.routing data packets.

Answer:

Correct answer: 1, 2 and 5

Explanation: By using management connection, you can configure router,

troubleshoot and monitor the system. So, 1, 2 and 5 are the correct answers.

Question No. 12

Which basic components do a router and a standard desktop PC have in

common? (Choose three.)

1.CPU.

2.hard drive.
3.input/output interfaces.

4.keyboard.

5.monitor.

6.system bus.

Answer:

Correct answer: 1, 3 and 6

Explanation: A router doesn't have any monitor, keyboard and hard drive. So,
2, 4 and 5 are the incorrect answer. The correct answers are 1, 3 and 6.

Question No. 13

Which of the following describes the function of a WAN?

1.connects peripherals in a single location.

2.connects multiple networks in a single building.

3.provides connectivity on a LAN.

4.provides connectivity over a large geographic area.

Answer:

Correct answer: 4

Explanation:WAN means Wide Area Network which connects a large

geographical area network. So, 4 is the only one correct answer.
Question No. 14

ABC Company just purchased three new routers to start their company
network. Which items are needed to establish a terminal session between a
PC and the router for the initial configuration? (Choose three.)

1.straight-through cable.

2.terminal emulation software.

3.rollover cable.

4.RJ-45 to DB-9 connector.

5.V.35 cable.

Answer:

Correct answer: 2 3 and 4

Explanation: To connect a PC and a router, you need one rollover cable, RJ-45
to DB-9 connectors and you need a software which is the terminal emulator
software. So, 2, 3 and 4 are the correct answers.

Question No. 15

During the initial configuration of a 2600 series Cisco router, which cable is
required for connecting a PC to the console port?

1.twisted
2.crossover

3.rollover

4.straight

Answer:

Correct answer: 3

Explanation: To connect a PC and a router, a crossover cable is used. But

when you are configuring your router, then a rollover cable is used. For more
explanation, see explanation of question 08.

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Question No. 16

What contains the instructions that a router uses control the flow of traffic
through its interfaces?

1.packet configuration.

2.configuration files.

3.flash memory.

4.internal components.

Answer:
Correct answer: 2

Explanation: Only the configuration file can control the flow of traffic through
its interface.So, option 2 is the correct answer.

Question No. 17

Which of the followings are true regarding router interfaces? (Choose three.)

1.provide temporary memory for the router configuration files.

2.connect the router to the network for packet entry and exit.

3.can be on the motherboard or a separate module.

4.hold the IOS image.

5.connect the router to LANs and WANs.

Answer:

Correct answer: 2 3 and 5

Explanation: By using a router, you can connect LANs and WANS. So, option 5
is correct. All the interfaces are placed on motherboard. So, option 3 is also
correct. By using the interfaces the packets are coming and out. So, option 2
is also correct. So, option 2, 3 and 5 are the correct answers.

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Question No. 18

Which of the following devices are used in the construction of a WAN?

(Choose three.)

1.hubs.

2.routers.

3.communication servers.

4.transceivers.

5.modems.

6.multi-port repeaters.

Answer:

Correct answer: 2 3 and 5

Explanation:

WAN is used to communicate large distance network. So, routers,

communication servers and modems are used here. So, 2, 3 and 5 are the
correct answers.
Question No. 19

Which router component holds the configuration file when power is lost?

1.volatile random access memory.

2.read only memory.

3.non-volatile random access memory.

4.flash memory.

Answer:

Correct answer: 3

Explanation: See the explanation of question 3.

Question No. 20

Which of the following layers of the OSI model are incorporated in WAN
standards? (Choose two.)

1.physical layer.

2.application layer.

3.transport layer.

4.data link layer.

5.session layer.
Answer:

Correct answer: 1, 4

Explanation: Physical layer, Data Link layer and Network Layer are the
incorporated in WAN standards. So, 1 and 4 are the correct answers.

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