Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Practice Exam

What protocol is primarily focused on router redundancy by creating a logical grouping of multiple physical routers?

1. Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP)

2. Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)

3. Router Information Protocol (RIP)

4. Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)

The correct answer is: Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)

The protocol that focuses on router redundancy by creating a logical grouping of multiple physical routers is Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP). HSRP allows for the configuration of multiple routers to work together as a single virtual router. This configuration ensures that if the active router fails, one of the standby routers can take over seamlessly, providing high availability and minimizing downtime. HSRP uses a virtual IP address and a virtual MAC address that represent the group of routers. The active router manages the communication with devices on the network, while the standby routers monitor the active router. If the active router becomes unavailable, another router in the group assumes the active role, ensuring continuous network service. Other options, while related to networking, serve different purposes. Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP) provides load balancing as well as redundancy but involves a different mechanism by allowing multiple routers to share traffic loads rather than just providing failover capability. Router Information Protocol (RIP) is a distance-vector routing protocol used for routing decisions but does not specifically address redundancy. Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a link-state routing protocol that also does not directly provide redundancy in the same way HSRP does.