A co-op wants a static route to its regional data center to normally use the primary fiber path, but automatically fail over to a secondary microwave link if the primary next-hop becomes unusable, without running a dynamic routing protocol. Which static route feature is designed for assigning a distinct preference value to each of several next-hops for the same destination?

A qualified next-hop is a static route configuration option that lets an administrator specify more than one possible next-hop for the same destination, each with its own explicitly assigned preference value. Junos treats the next-hop with the lower (better) preference as primary and keeps the other next-hop available but less preferred, ready to take over if the primary next-hop becomes unusable. This is exactly the mechanism for building the described primary/backup behavior without involving a dynamic protocol at all. A routing instance creates a separate routing table for traffic segregation purposes; it doesn't provide a way to rank multiple next-hops within a single static route. A firewall filter controls packet permit/deny/action decisions based on match criteria and plays no role in next-hop selection or failover. Adjusting interface MTU affects how large a frame can pass without fragmentation — a Layer 2/3 transport property entirely unrelated to route preference or failover behavior. The important caveat: a qualified next-hop's failover still depends on the primary next-hop actually becoming unreachable in a way Junos can detect, which is why some deployments pair it with a tracking mechanism. An operational check is show route <prefix> detail, which will list both next-hops along with their individually assigned preference values.