Administrative Distance for Internal BGP Routes

N10-009 By islever Editorial Last updated

Short answer

D Internal BGP routes have an administrative distance of 200, making them less preferred than routes from protocols with lower ADs like eBGP (20) or OSPF (110).

Question

Which of the following is the administrative distance for internal BGP routes?
  1. 20
  2. 110
  3. 170
  4. 200 Correct Answer

Key Takeaways

The question tests knowledge of specific Administrative Distance values, with the main trap being confusion between Internal BGP (200) and External BGP (20).

Learn why internal BGP routes have an administrative distance of 200. This guide explains AD values for common routing protocols including eBGP, OSPF, and EIGRP.

Common mistake: Many candidates mistakenly choose 20, which is the AD for External BGP (eBGP), rather than Internal BGP (iBGP).

Expert Analysis

Administrative Distance (AD) is a Cisco-defined metric used by routers to select the best path when multiple routing protocols provide routes to the same destination. Each protocol is assigned a default AD value, where lower numbers indicate higher trustworthiness.

Internal BGP (iBGP) has an administrative distance of 200. This high value reflects that iBGP peers are typically within the same autonomous system and do not carry the external trust context of eBGP. Consequently, if both iBGP and other protocols like OSPF or EIGRP offer paths, the router will prefer the lower-AD protocol unless policy dictates otherwise.

Let's review the other options:

  • 20 is the AD for External BGP (eBGP), which is trusted more than iBGP because it comes from outside the local AS.
  • 110 is the AD for OSPF, a popular Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP).
  • 170 is the AD for Internal EIGRP, another IGP.

The comment suggesting 'A' (20) confuses internal with external BGP. The comment supporting 'D' (200) is correct. Understanding these specific values is crucial for troubleshooting route selection in multi-protocol environments.

Exam Strategy

Memorize the standard Administrative Distance values for major routing protocols. Focus on distinguishing between Internal and External BGP (200 vs 20) as this is a frequent exam trap. When troubleshooting route preference, always check the AD first if multiple protocols are active.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Internal BGP have a higher administrative distance than External BGP?

iBGP routes are assigned a higher AD (200) because they originate within the same autonomous system, whereas eBGP (20) is considered more trustworthy as it comes from outside.

Which routing protocol has an administrative distance of 110?

OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) has an administrative distance of 110, making it more trusted than iBGP but less than eBGP and IS-IS.

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Community Votes

A
34%
D
33%
B
33%

34% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 3 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 3

  1. rf18 👍 3 Answered D
    the answer is D. 200. i cant with this bot below :)
  2. AnderSpain 👍 1 Answered A
    Administrative Distance (AD): This is the metric routers use to determine the reliability of a routing protocol. The lower the number, the higher the priority and trust the router assigns to that route.
  3. Skri113xX 👍 1 Answered B
    Is B the consensus here? It seems right to me.

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