How does HSRP provide first-hop redundancy?

HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) provides first-hop redundancy by presenting a single virtual IP address and a virtual MAC address to end devices on a LAN. This virtual address pair is shared by a group of routers configured for HSRP. One router acts as the active router, handling all traffic for the virtual IP, while another acts as the standby, monitoring the active router. If the active router fails, the standby router takes over the active role, ensuring continuous network connectivity without requiring end devices to reconfigure their default gateway. Load-balancing Layer 2 traffic by flooding (Option A) is incorrect; flooding is a basic Layer 2 forwarding mechanism, not a redundancy protocol. Forwarding duplicate packets (Option C) describes redundant paths but not how HSRP specifically achieves first-hop redundancy. Load-balancing via identical route metrics (Option D) refers to equal-cost multi-path (ECMP) routing, which operates at Layer 3 for path redundancy, not first-hop redundancy for end devices.