CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate — Question 29

How does HSRP provide first hop redundancy?

Answer options

• A. It load-balances Layer 2 traffic along the path by flooding traffic out all interfaces configured with the same VLAN.
• B. It uses a shared virtual MAC and a virtual IP address to a group of routers that serve as the default gateway for hosts on a LAN.
• C. It forwards multiple packets to the same destination over different routed links in the data path.
• D. It load-balances traffic by assigning the same metric value to more than one route to the same destination in the IP routing table.

Correct answer: B

Explanation

The correct answer is B because HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) utilizes a shared virtual MAC and IP address that allows multiple routers to function as a single virtual router, providing redundancy for the first hop. Options A, C, and D describe different network functions that do not specifically relate to the purpose of HSRP in providing first hop redundancy.