What is the primary function of a First Hop Redundancy Protocol (FHRP)?
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Correct answer: It reduces routing failures by allowing more than one router to represent itself as the default gateway of a network.
Why this is the answer
FHRPs like HSRP, VRRP, and GLBP ensure network availability by providing a redundant default gateway. If the primary router fails, a standby router automatically takes over the default gateway IP address and MAC address, allowing hosts to continue sending traffic without interruption. This prevents a single point of failure at the first hop. Directly connected neighbors sharing configuration information is not the primary function; that's more related to routing protocol adjacencies. Layer 3 load balancing between OSPF neighbors with the same link metric is a function of OSPF's equal-cost multi-path (ECMP), not FHRPs. Using bridge priorities for loop-free paths relates to Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) in Layer 2, not FHRPs at Layer 3.
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