300-420 Question 227
Single answerA company is designing a high-availability network for its data center to ensure uninterrupted access to critical services. They require a failover mechanism that minimizes downtime and ensures automatic redirection of traffic in case of a primary link failure. Which of the following mechanisms would best address this requirement?
- A
Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)
- B
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
- C
Static Routing with Manual Failover
- D
Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
HSRP is the most suitable failover mechanism for a Cisco-based high-availability network. It ensures automatic traffic redirection to a backup router when the primary router fails, minimizing downtime and meeting the company's requirements. While VRRP offers similar functionality, HSRP is the preferred protocol in Cisco environments due to its proprietary features.
- A. Correct.
HSRP is a Cisco proprietary protocol designed to provide automatic failover between routers in a high-availability configuration. It ensures minimal downtime and automatic traffic redirection in case the primary router fails.
- B. Incorrect.
STP is used to prevent loops in a Layer 2 topology and does not provide failover capabilities for routing traffic in a high-availability scenario.
- C. Incorrect.
Static routing with manual failover requires administrative intervention to change routes, introducing significant downtime and making it unsuitable for automatic failover.
- D. Incorrect.
VRRP is an open standard protocol similar to HSRP, but the question specifies a solution suited to Cisco environments. HSRP is the better choice for this scenario given its proprietary enhancements and integration with Cisco devices.