Explanation
Route summarization is a technique that reduces the number of routes that a router advertises to its neighbors by creating a single summary route that covers multiple subnets or networks. Route summarization has several benefits, such as:
It reduces the size of a routing table, which saves memory and CPU resources on the router. A smaller routing table also improves the lookup efficiency and convergence time of the routing protocol.
It reduces signaling, which means that less bandwidth is consumed by routing updates and less processing is required by neighboring routers. This also enhances the stability and scalability of the network, as fewer routing changes are propagated.
It improves route aggregation, which means that more specific routes are replaced by a less specific route that can be advertised to other autonomous systems or routing domains. This simplifies the inter-domain routing and hides the internal topology details.
Route summarization does not necessarily summarize the routing table entries into a default route, although a default route can be considered a special case of route summarization where all destinations are covered by one route. Route summarization also does not improve the best route calculation, as it may introduce suboptimal routing or black holes if not done properly. : Introduction to Route Summarization – NetworkLessons.com, Route Summarization > Example for Understanding Route Summarization – Cisco Press

Explanation
The protocol that would be used to bundle multiple Ethernet ports into a virtual link with an aggregated bandwidth is LACP, which stands for Link Aggregation Control Protocol. LACP is a protocol that allows two or more devices to negotiate the formation of a link aggregation group (LAG), also known as an EtherChannel or a port channel. A LAG combines multiple physical links into one logical link that provides increased bandwidth, load balancing, and redundancy. LACP is defined in IEEE 802.3ad and 802.1AX standards12.
References: Link Aggregation Control Protocol – Wikipedia, What is “link aggregation” and how does it benefit your network? | PC Gamer

Explanation
The action that will influence BGP route selection within your AS is changing the default value of the local preference attribute. The local preference attribute is used to indicate the preference of a path among multiple paths learned from different external BGP neighbors or autonomous systems (ASes). The higher the local preference value, the more preferred the path is within your AS, and vice versa. The default value of local preference is 100, but you can change it using route maps or other configuration methods on your BGP routers. References: Ericsson IP Networking – Routing Protocols, BGP Attributes and Path Selection, BGP Local Preference Attribute: Controlling Traffic Like a Pro

Explanation
The conceptual table created by routing protocols that is used when processing an IP packet is the forwarding information base (FIB). The FIB is a table that contains the bestroutes to reach each destination network prefix, along with the outgoing interface and the next-hop address for each route. The FIB is derived from the routing information base (RIB), which is a table that contains all the routes learned from different routing protocols and sources. The FIB is used by the router to make fast forwarding decisions for each incoming packet, based on its destination address12.
References: Security Hardening Checklist Guide for Cisco Routers/Switches in 10 Steps, VLAN – Wikipedia

Explanation
Referring to the exhibit, the correct statement is that the service provider’s P routers are not aware of the customers’ routes. This is because P routers only need to forward MPLS packets based on their labels, without looking into their IP headers or VPN information. The P routers do not have any VRFs configured for the customers, nor do they participate in MP-BGP sessions with other PE routers. The PE routers are responsible for maintaining VRFs for each customer and for exchanging VPN routes with other PE routers using MP-BGP910.
References: Layer 3 VPNs (L3VPN) – Cisco, MPLS VPN – Wikipedia

Explanation
The route type that is restricted in an OSPF stub area is type 5. Type 5 LSAs are external LSAs that are generated by ASBRs to advertise routes from other routing domains or protocols into OSPF. Type 5 LSAs are flooded throughout the OSPF domain by default, except in stub areas. Stub areas are special OSPF areas that block type 5 LSAs from entering the area in order to reduce the size of the LSDB and the routing table. Stub areas only receive information about intra-area routes (type 1 and 2 LSAs), inter-area routes (type 3 LSAs), and a default route (type 3 LSA with destination 0.0.0.0/0) from the ABRs910.
References: Introduction to OSPF Stub Areas – NetworkLessons.com, What Are OSPF Areas and Virtual Links? – Cisco

Explanation
LDP relies on IGP for all routing-related decisions. LDP is a protocol that distributes labels in an MPLS environment, but it does not perform any routing functions. LDP uses the underlying routing information provided by an IGP, such as OSPF or IS-IS, to forward label packets. LDP and IGP do not exchange their databases at regular intervals, but rather use hello messages to maintain adjacencies and sessions. References: Ericsson IP Networking – Routing Protocols, Label Distribution Protocol – Wikipedia

Explanation
The correct abbreviation for the IP address BFEA:DACA:0000:0000:9390:0000:0000:D91 is BFEA:DACA::9390:0:D91. IPv6 addresses are represented in hexadecimal notation, with eight 16-bit segments separated by colons. To simplify the address representation, IPv6 supports two types of abbreviations. The first abbreviation allows us to skip leading zeros within a segment, while the second abbreviation allows us to drop one or more consecutive segments that contain only zeros, using a double colon (::) instead. However, the double colon can be used only once in an address, to avoid ambiguity34.
References: IPv6 Address Types, Notation, and Structure Explained, IPv6 address – Wikipedia

Explanation
A BGP session is established between two routers by sending a unicast OPEN message. BGP uses TCP as its transport protocol, which means that before exchanging any BGP information, a TCP connection must be established between the routers. The TCP connection uses port 179 as both source and destination port. After establishing a TCP connection, each router sends an OPEN message to its neighbor, containing parameters such as BGP version number, AS number, hold time, BGP identifier, and optional capabilities. The OPEN message also serves as a keepalive message for BGP. If both routers agree on these parameters, they proceed to exchange UPDATE messages containing routing information and establish a BGP session.
A BGP router does not send a NOTIFICATION message to establish a session, but rather to terminate a session due to an error or a manual shutdown. A BGP router does not send a CONNECT message, as this is a TCP state, not a BGP message. A BGP router does not send a multicast HELLO packet, as this is an OSPF message, not a BGP message. References: BGP Neighbor States > BGP Fundamentals | Cisco Press, Demystifying BGP Session Establishments – Packet Pushers, The TCP/IP Guide – BGP Connection Establishment: Open Messages

Explanation
Within an IGP area, routers advertise information about themselves and relay information delivered by neighbors. This is how link-state routing protocols such as OSPF and IS-IS work. They flood information about the network topology to all routers in the same area or domain. That information is then used to build a complete network connectivity map and to calculate the shortest path to destinations. Routers do not summarize or discard information within an area, unless they are configured to do so by some filtering mechanism. References: Ericsson IP Networking – Routing Protocols, IP Routing: ISIS Configuration Guide – IS-IS Overview and Basic Configuration

Explanation
To differentiate traffic types for the purpose of prioritization in their Ethernet LAN and IP/MPLS backbone, an operator can use the following three fields:
Traffic Class (TC): This is a 3-bit field in the MPLS label that can be used to indicate the priority or class of service (CoS) of the packet. The TC field can be mapped to the DSCP field in the IP header or the PCP field in the Ethernet header. The TC field can be used by MPLS routers to apply different per-hop behaviors (PHBs) such as queuing, scheduling, and dropping policies to different traffic classes12.
DSCP: This is a 6-bit field in the IP header that can be used to mark packets according to the differentiated services (DiffServ) model. The DSCP field can indicate the per-hop behavior (PHB) that the packet should receive at each router along its path. The DSCP field can be mapped to the TC field in the MPLS label or the PCP field in the Ethernet header. The DSCP field can be used by IP routers to provide QoS for different traffic types34.
PCP: This is a 3-bit field in the Ethernet header that can be used to mark packets according to the IEEE
802.1Q standard. The PCP field can indicate the priority or class of service (CoS) of the packet on an Ethernet LAN. The PCP field can be mapped to the TC field in the MPLS label or the DSCP field in the IP header. The PCP field can be used by Ethernet switches to provide QoS for different traffic types56.
References: MPLS Traffic Engineering – DiffServ-Aware Traffic Engineering, MPLS Traffic Engineering – DiffServ-Aware Traffic Engineering Configuration Guide, Differentiated services – Wikipedia, DSCP and Precedence Values – Cisco, 802.1Q VLAN IDs and Ethernet Interface Types – Juniper Networks, Introduction to Virtual LANs (VLANs) and Tagging – Ubiquiti Support and Help Center

Explanation
Two statements that are correct for LDP are:
LSRs send UDP hello messages for neighbor discovery. LDP is a protocol that distributes labels for MPLS forwarding along the shortest path calculated by an IGP. LDP uses two types of messages:
discovery messages and session messages. Discovery messages are used to discover and maintain adjacency with other LSRs that support LDP. Discovery messages are sent as UDP datagrams to the well-known multicast address 224.0.0.2 (all routers on this subnet) on port 64634.
LSRs use TCP to negotiate LDP session parameters. Session messages are used to establish, maintain, and terminate LDP sessions between LSRs. Session messages are also used to exchange label mappings, notification messages, and keepalive messages. Session messages are sent as TCP segments to port
64634.
References: Ldp | Microsoft Learn, Label Distribution Protocol – Wikipedia

Explanation
IPv6 link-local addresses are designed to be used in three situations: for neighbor discovery, for local IP communication on the IPv6 capable routers, and for addressing on a single link for purposes such as auto-address configuration. Neighbor discovery is a protocol that allows IPv6 nodes to discover each other and learn their link-layer addresses on a local network. Neighbor discovery uses link-local addresses to send and receive messages such as router advertisements, router solicitations, neighbor advertisements, and neighbor solicitations34. Local IP communication on the IPv6 capable routers refers to the ability of routers to exchange routing information or management traffic using their link-local addresses as source and destination addresses. This reduces the need for global unicast addresses on router interfaces that are not reachable from outside the local network35. Addressing on a single link for purposes such as auto-address configuration refers to the use of link-local addresses to enable IPv6 nodes to obtain an address without manual configuration or a DHCP server. Link-local addresses can be automatically derived from the interface identifier in the modified EUI-64 format or randomly generated. Link-local addresses can also be used to test the connectivity of a link before obtaining a global unicast address36.
References: Understand the IPv6 Link-Local Address – Cisco, Link Local Address – GeeksforGeeks, IPv6 Address Types | Link-Local, Global Unicast, etc. IPCisco, MPLS Label Distribution Protocol Commands – Cisco

Explanation
Spanning-Tree is used for Ethernet loop avoidance. Spanning-Tree is a protocol that prevents loops in Ethernet networks by creating a logical tree topology of the network switches. Spanning-Tree blocks some of the redundant links between switches to ensure that there is only one active path between any two nodes in thenetwork. Spanning-Tree also detects and recovers from link failures by activating alternative paths when needed56.
References: Network loops and loop avoidance – Medium, Spanning Tree Protocol – Wikipedia

Explanation
The purpose of the RT attribute is to identify the destination VPN on the egress PE. RT stands for route target, which is a BGP extended community attribute that is used in MPLS VPNs. RT is attached to VPN routes by the ingress PE router and is used to control the import and export of routes between different VPNs. The egress PE router uses the RT value to determine which VPN routes belong to which VPN customers and installs them in the appropriate VRF table56.
References: IP Routing: BGP Configuration Guide – BGP-RT and VPN … – Cisco, <rt>: The Ruby Text element – MDN Web Docs

Explanation
A reason for using VLANs in an IP network is to isolate hosts within the same IP subnet. VLANs (Virtual LANs) are logical grouping of devices in the same broadcast domain. VLANs are usually configured on switches by placing some interfaces into one broadcast domain and some interfaces into another. Each VLAN acts as a subgroup of the switch ports in an Ethernet LAN. VLANs allow network administrators to group hosts together even if the hosts are not directly connected to the same network switch. By using VLANs, hosts within the same IP subnet can be separated into different broadcast domains, which enhances security, reduces network congestion, and simplifies network management78.
References: 8 Different Types of VLANs in TCP/IP Networks, What is a VLAN? – Study-CCNA

Explanation
A label-edged router (LER) is a PE router. A PE router is a provider edge router, which is a router that connects an MPLS network to a customer network. A LER is a term used in MPLS to describe a router that resides at the ingress and egress points of an MPLS network, handling both labelled and unlabelled packets. A LER performs label operations such as adding, removing, or swapping labels on packets entering or leaving the MPLS network34.
References: What is Label Edge Router (LER)? – Definition from Techopedia, LER – Label Edge Router – Mpirical

Explanation
Two protocols that apply to both IPv4 and IPv6 are:
SNMP: This stands for Simple Network Management Protocol, which is a protocol that allows network administrators to monitor and manage network devices such as routers, switches, servers, printers, etc.
SNMP uses a client-server model, where an SNMP manager (client) can query or configure an SNMP agent (server) on a network device using SNMP messages. SNMP can operate over both IPv4 and IPv6 networks56.
DNS: This stands for Domain Name System, which is a protocol that translates human-readable domain names (such as www.example.com) into numerical IPaddresses (such as 192.0.2.1 or 2001:db8::1) that identify network devices. DNS uses a hierarchical distributed database of name servers that store and resolve domain names and IP addresses. DNS can support both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses78.
References: Simple Network Management Protocol – Wikipedia, SNMP over IPv6 – Cisco, Domain Name System – Wikipedia, DNS for IPv6 – Cisco

Explanation
Link-state routing protocols are one of the two main classes of routing protocols used in packet switching networks for computer communications, the other being distance-vector routing protocols. Examples of link-state routing protocols include Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS). The basic concept of link-state routing is that every node constructs a map of the connectivity to the network, in the form of a graph, showing which nodes are connected to which other nodes. Each node then independently calculates the next best logical path from it to every possible destination in the network.
Each collection of best paths will then form each node’s routing table.
Two statements that are true about link-state routing protocols are:
The advertisement exchange is mainly triggered by a change in the network. Link-state routing protocols use a flooding mechanism to distribute information about the network topology to all routers in the same area or domain. This information is encapsulated in link-state packets (LSPs) or link-state advertisements (LSAs), which contain information about the router, its directly connected links, and the state of those links. LSPs or LSAs are sent only when there is a change in the topology, such as a link failure or recovery, or when a periodic refresh timer expires. This way, link-state routing protocols can quickly adapt to network changes and maintain an accurate and consistent view of the network.
Each router uses a reliable update mechanism to exchange topology information with its neighbors.
Link-state routing protocols use a reliable update mechanism to ensure that all routers receive and acknowledge the LSPs or LSAs sent by their neighbors. This mechanism involves sending hello messages to establish and maintain adjacencies with neighbors, sending acknowledgment messages to confirm the receipt of LSPs or LSAs, and requesting missing or outdated LSPs or LSAs from neighbors.
This mechanism ensures that all routers have a synchronized database of LSPs or LSAs, which is used to build a complete network connectivity map and to calculate the shortest path to destinations.
References: Link-state routing protocol – Wikipedia, Ericsson IP Networking – Routing Protocols

Explanation
MTU mismatch would cause an IS-IS adjacency between two routers to fail. MTU stands for maximum transmission unit, which is the maximum size of a packet that can be transmitted on a link. IS-IS hellos are padded to the full MTU size, partly to allow a router to implicitly communicate its MTU to its neighbors. If two routers have different MTUs on their interfaces, they will not be able to exchange hellos properly, and their adjacency will not form or will be dropped34. To solve this problem, the MTUs on both interfaces must be configured to match.
SEL, context, and SysID are not fields that would cause an IS-IS adjacency failure. SEL stands for selector, which is a one-octet field that identifies the network layer service to which a packet should be sent. For IS-IS routers, the SEL must always be 005. Context is not a field in IS-IS packets, but rather a term used to describe the scope of routing information in different levels or areas6. SysID stands for system identifier, which is a six-octet field that uniquely identifies a router within an area. SysID does not have to match between two routers for them to form an adjacency7.
References: MTU Mismatch Problem in IS-IS – Cisco, IS-IS adjacency is not formed due to MTU mismatch – Cisco Community, IS-IS NSAP address – Cisco Community, Understanding IS-IS Routing Contexts – Juniper Networks, IS-IS – Nokia

Explanation
The correct order of DiffServ priority (highest to lowest) for the DiffServ classes: Default Forwarding (DF), Network Control (NC), Assured Forwarding (AF), and Expedited Forwarding (EF) is EF, NC, AF, DF.
DiffServ is a QoS model that classifies and prioritizes traffic into different service classes based on the DSCP field in the IP header. The DSCP field is a 6-bit field that can encode up to 64 different per-hop behaviors (PHBs). The DiffServ classes are predefined groups of PHBs that have similar characteristics and requirements. The four main DiffServ classes are:
EF: This class provides the highest priority and lowest delay for real-time applications such as voice and video. The DSCP value for EF is 101110 or 46 in decimal12.
NC: This class provides the second highest priority and low delay for network control traffic such as routing protocols and network management. The DSCP value for NC is 110000 or 48 in decimal12.
AF: This class provides four levels of assured forwarding with different drop probabilities for each level. AF is suitable for applications that require guaranteed bandwidth and delivery assurance, such as web browsing and email. The DSCP values for AF range from 001010 to 011110 or 10 to 46 in decimal12.
DF: This class provides the lowest priority and best-effort service for applications that can tolerate packet loss and delay, such as file transfer and backup. The DSCP value for DF is 000000 or 0 in decimal12.
References: Differentiated Services – Wikipedia, DSCP – Differentiated Services Code Point – Mpirical