A tax assessor’s border routers see two candidate BGP paths that are equal through AS-path length and origin. Before router-ID becomes the tie-break, which earlier decision steps should the engineer still expect in Cisco’s best-path order?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
BGP best-path is a ranked checklist, not a coin flip at router-ID. Weight and LOCAL_PREF speak first, then AS-path, origin, MED, eBGP-over-iBGP, and IGP distance to the next hop—router-ID is way down the list when everything else tied.
Full Explanation
Cisco BGP best-path evaluation applies an ordered series of comparisons: Weight, LOCAL_PREF, local origination, AS-path length, origin type, MED (under comparison rules), eBGP versus iBGP, IGP metric to next hop, and only then later tie-breaks such as oldest path or lowest router-ID. Engineers troubleshooting ‘equal’ paths must still verify those earlier steps rather than jumping to router-ID. Claiming MED or LOCAL_PREF are skipped when AS paths match is incorrect.