350-401 Question 410
Single answerA network engineer is configuring EIGRP on a router and wants to enable load balancing across multiple paths to a destination. The paths have different metrics due to varying bandwidth and delay. Which configuration is required to achieve unequal-cost load balancing in this scenario?
- A
Configure the variance command with an appropriate value.
- B
Enable maximum-paths to a value greater than 1.
- C
Manually set the metric of all paths to be equal using the offset command.
- D
Enable the auto-summary feature in EIGRP.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
To enable unequal-cost load balancing in EIGRP, the variance command must be configured. This command allows the router to include routes with metrics within a specific range (determined by the variance value) for load balancing. Without variance, EIGRP performs only equal-cost load balancing. The other options either enable equal-cost load balancing or are unrelated to load balancing configurations.
- A. Correct.
This is correct. The variance command allows EIGRP to perform unequal-cost load balancing by including routes with metrics less than or equal to the variance multiplied by the best route's metric.
- B. Incorrect.
This is incorrect. The maximum-paths command allows load balancing but only for equal-cost paths. It is not sufficient for unequal-cost load balancing.
- C. Incorrect.
This is incorrect. Manually setting the metric to be equal would result in equal-cost load balancing, not unequal-cost load balancing.
- D. Incorrect.
This is incorrect. The auto-summary feature in EIGRP affects route summarization and does not influence load balancing behaviors.