Which statement is true about the forwarding table?
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A. B. C. D.B
The forwarding table, also known as the routing table, is a data structure that contains information about how to forward network traffic based on its destination IP address. When a packet arrives at a network device, the device consults its forwarding table to determine where to send the packet next.
Regarding the statement options provided:
A. The forwarding table is stored in the control plane only. This statement is incorrect. The forwarding table is stored in both the control plane and the forwarding plane. In the control plane, the routing protocols like OSPF and BGP run and populate the forwarding table with routing information. In the forwarding plane, the hardware or software responsible for forwarding packets consults the forwarding table to determine the appropriate next hop for a packet.
B. The forwarding table is stored in the control plane and in the forwarding plane. This statement is correct. As mentioned above, the forwarding table is stored in both the control plane and the forwarding plane.
C. The forwarding table contains both active and inactive routes. This statement is correct. The forwarding table can contain both active and inactive routes. Active routes are the ones currently being used to forward traffic, while inactive routes are those that are not being used but are still stored in the forwarding table.
D. The forwarding table can contain only a single next hop per destination. This statement is incorrect. The forwarding table can contain multiple next hops for a single destination. This is known as equal-cost multipath (ECMP) and allows for load-balancing of traffic across multiple paths.
In summary, the correct statement about the forwarding table is that it is stored in both the control plane and the forwarding plane, and can contain both active and inactive routes, as well as multiple next hops for a single destination.