CCNA Plan

CCNA practice question: IP Connectivity

IP ConnectivityDifficulty 2/5

What is the purpose of HSRP?

  1. AEncrypt traffic between two routers
  2. BAssign IP addresses to hosts
  3. CLoad-balance traffic across equal-cost OSPF paths
  4. DProvide a virtual default gateway that survives the failure of one router
Show answer and rationale

Correct: D. First-hop redundancy protocols (HSRP, VRRP, GLBP) present a virtual IP and MAC as the hosts' default gateway; if the active router fails, the standby takes over without changing host configuration.

  • C — ECMP is a routing behavior, not HSRP.
  • A — Encryption is IPsec.
  • B — Address assignment is DHCP.

Concept being tested

Routing table components, how a router forwards (longest prefix match, AD, metric), static routing, single-area OSPFv2, first-hop redundancy. — 25% of the exam. Study guide for IP Connectivity.

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Primary references

  1. CCNA Exam v1.1 (200-301) Exam Topics — Cisco Systems · primary · retrieved 2026-09-21, verified 2026-09-21
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