Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Practice Exam

What protocol allows for load balancing across multiple routers?

1. Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)

2. Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)

3. Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP)

4. Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)

The correct answer is: Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP)

The Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP) is designed specifically for load balancing across multiple routers. It allows multiple routers to work together while providing a single virtual IP address to clients. GLBP enables traffic distribution across several gateways by assigning each active router a portion of the outgoing traffic, which results in efficient utilization of the available resources and increases redundancy. This is done by using a unique feature where each participating router can take turns handling requests, allowing for a more balanced load compared to other protocols that primarily focus on redundancy rather than simultaneous data routing. It ensures that no single router becomes a bottleneck, thus enhancing overall network performance and reliability. In contrast, while the other protocols mentioned may provide redundancy, they do not inherently support load balancing in the same way. Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) and Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) primarily focus on providing failover capabilities, where only one router actively forwards traffic while the others remain in standby mode unless a failure occurs. Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), although it supports route load balancing among equal-cost paths, is more about routing efficiency rather than load balancing across multiple routers providing a single virtual IP for clients. Hence, GLBP stands out as the protocol specifically