Question 570
A fictional service-provider team at Seabright Networks is reviewing a regional backbone upgrade. The finding is: Two OSPF exits both converge but a high-capacity core path loses because the configured cumulative costs favor a slower path. Which observation would most directly establish that the reported failure has been repaired?
Explanation
Correct Answer
The best route's cumulative OSPF cost selects the approved path and changes predictably when the alternative fails. It tests the failed behavior itself rather than merely confirming that a configuration was committed. OSPF chooses lowest-cost paths computed from link-state topology; a Full adjacency alone does not guarantee the desired route preference. Applied here, the relevant facts are: Two OSPF exits both converge but a high-capacity core path loses because the configured cumulative costs favor a slower path. The question asks which observation would most directly establish that the reported failure has been repaired.
Incorrect Answers
The broadcast segment has the planned DR and BDR and expected adjacency states after a controlled election event. It would validate a separate OSPF designated router election operation, not the change needed here. Confirm instead that the best route's cumulative OSPF cost selects the approved path and changes predictably when the alternative fails.
Packets to the remote outer endpoint resolve through an ordinary underlay route and GRE probes reach the peer. It would validate a separate GRE endpoint underlay routing operation, not the change needed here. Confirm instead that the best route's cumulative OSPF cost selects the approved path and changes predictably when the alternative fails.
The approved external route is advertised with the intended type and metric while unapproved routes are not redistributed. That establishes OSPF external route export rather than a repaired OSPF interface metric selection path. The reported failure still requires this evidence: the best route's cumulative OSPF cost selects the approved path and changes predictably when the alternative fails.