Which Bridge Domain Setting Enables ACI Source IP Learning?

Answer Correct answer: D — Enable Unicast Routing on the bridge domain so the Cisco ACI leaf can learn the source IP address from the front-panel packet.

A Cisco ACI leaf switch learns the source IP address of a packet that enters the front panel port of the switch. Which bridge domain setting is used?

  1. ARP Flooding
  2. L3 Unknown Multicast Flooding - Flood
  3. L2 Unknown Unicast - Hardware proxy
  4. Unicast Routing Correct Answer

Community Votes

D
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer D. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Community Insight

The exam tests the bridge domain's Unicast Routing option as the trigger for ACI IP learning; the trap is confusing it with ARP flooding or L2 unknown unicast hardware proxy, which control flooding rather than source IP learning.

This Cisco 300-620 question asks which bridge domain setting lets a Cisco ACI leaf switch learn the source IP address of a packet entering a front-panel port. The answer is Unicast Routing (D), because enabling it on the BD activates data-plane IP address learning.

The most common wrong choice is L2 Unknown Unicast - Hardware proxy, because candidates associate leaf learning with L2 forwarding behavior instead of the BD's Unicast Routing IP-learning function.

Community Discussion (3 comments)

prospio971 👍 2 Selected: D
The bridge domain setting used for a Cisco ACI leaf switch to learn the source IP address of a packet entering its front panel port is: Unicast routing enabled When unicast routing is enabled on the bridge domain, the ACI leaf switch can perform IP address learning from the data plane. This allows the leaf to learn both the MAC address and IP address of incoming packets on its front panel ports. If unicast routing is disabled on the bridge domain, the leaf switch will only learn MAC addresses and perform Layer 2 switching, without learning any IP addresses
ed27 👍 2 Selected: D
Agree with Odad, unicast routing must be enabled on BD
Odad 👍 3
shouldn't this be unicast routing?

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Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

Enabling Unicast Routing on the ACI bridge domain turns on IP address learning for the leaf switch. When a packet enters a front-panel port, the leaf can learn the source IP address from the data plane if this setting is enabled; without it, the leaf does not perform that IP learning. The question's action — learning a source IP address from a front-panel ingress packet — maps directly to this bridge domain setting. Community replies agree: Odad asked "shouldn't this be unicast routing?" and ed27 confirmed that "unicast routing must be enabled on BD." This is not about routing protocols; it is a BD-level switch that permits the leaf to learn IP information.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

ARP Flooding controls whether ARP requests are flooded within the bridge domain, but it does not make the leaf learn a packet's source IP address. L3 Unknown Multicast Flooding - Flood decides how unknown multicast destinations are handled, not source IP learning. L2 Unknown Unicast - Hardware proxy changes how the leaf handles unknown destination MAC addresses by using the spine proxy, not how it records source IP information. None of these options enables data-plane IP address learning on the ACI leaf.

Community Comment Notes

prospio971 explained that with unicast routing enabled on the BD, the leaf can perform IP address learning from the data plane and learn both MAC and IP addresses. Odad's short "shouldn't this be unicast routing?" captures the same conclusion. ed27 also agreed, noting that "unicast routing must be enabled on BD." The vote distribution was unanimous for D, and the comments provide useful confirmation rather than a competing answer.

Official Reference

Exam Strategy

Focus on the phrase "learns the source IP address" — in ACI that is a data-plane IP learning function tied to the bridge domain's Unicast Routing setting. Eliminate choices that describe flood control or L2 unknown-unicast handling, since those answer different bridge domain behaviors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Unicast Routing on the bridge domain enable source IP learning?

Unicast Routing is the ACI BD setting that allows the leaf to learn IP addresses from data-plane traffic on front-panel ports. Without it, the leaf does not perform that IP address learning.

Is ARP Flooding involved in learning the source IP of a front-panel packet?

No. ARP Flooding controls how ARP requests are flooded in the bridge domain, while source IP learning is controlled by the BD's Unicast Routing setting.

Related Analysis

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