Border Gateway Protocol is considered a ____ protocol.

• A. Path vector
• B. Distance-vector
• C. Link-state
• D. Hybrid

Answer: (B)

BGP is a path-vector routing protocol. It conveys reachability information by carrying attributes that describe the path a route has taken, notably the AS_PATH, which lists the autonomous systems traversed. This path information, along with other attributes and policy decisions, lets BGP determine the best routes across many networks while helping prevent routing loops.

This differs from distance-vector approaches, which rely on simple distance metrics (like hop count) and regular neighbor-to-neighbor updates, and from link-state approaches, which require every router to have a complete view of the network topology via flooded link-state information. It’s not a hybrid either, since it doesn’t blend these methods.