OSPF Network command Need CISCO Official Comment.

sjepsen808 · ‎03-30-2008

According to the ICND2 book, page 363 the Network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 0 command is a valid statement for a router with all interfaces needing to be in area 0. My concern is the exam. Using the Boson ICND2 test simulator they have a sim question exactly like the problem in the official icnd2 cisco book page 362 and 363. I used a network statement 10.0.0.0 and the same wild card used in the book. Boson scored the question as incorrect.

Boson wanted each interface to have a separate network statement with the smallest possible wild card mask. Example

0.0.0.3. In the Boson sim I was able to establish an OSPF relationship with the other routers. My other OSPF statements were correct and I could see neighbors using the show ip ospf neigh command.

How will Cisco score this question ? Should i use the fewest statement in a router config, or be as detailed as possible ?

Depending on this answer I will be calling Boson !

Richard Burts · ‎03-30-2008

steven

I can not provide any "official" comment since I do not work for Cisco. And I suspect that your request for "official" comment will be considered as requesting a violation of their official policy of not disclosing detail content of their certification tests.

Having been through quite a few of the Cisco certification tests I do have a couple of un-official comments:

- network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 0 will put interfaces in network 10.x.x.x into area 0. Whether that is all the interfaces on the router depends on whether all the interfaces are in network 10.x.x.x. And your post is not clear whether this condition is true or not. If you really want ALL interfaces to be included in area 0 then the command would be network 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 area 0.

- you state that the Boson question is "exactly like" the problem in the ICND2 book. Are you sure that it really is exactly the same? My experience of the Cisco certification tests is that they are famous for having some very subtle qualification in the question that governs which answer is correct. Are you sure that there is not some qualification in the Boson question? Many of us who work with OSPF believe that the "best" way to configure OSPF is to specify a network statement per interface. Is it possible that the Boson question asked for the best configuration to include all interfaces?

HTH

Rick

HTH

Rick

sjepsen808 · ‎03-30-2008

Here is the last part of the actual question.

You should configure each router to properly announce the appropriate networks.

The stated answer was:

router ospf 632

network 10.12.1.0 0.0.0.3 area 10

network 10.12.1.8 0.0.0.3 area 10

network 10.12.2.64 0.0.0.31 area 10

I answered:

ospf 632

network 10.12.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 10

The answer was scored as incorrect. I am hoping this question is within reason and Cisco can state that you should answer in accordance with the Official Cisco book (ICND2) or not. Since you can answer ACL and router configures in different ways to achieve the same result I am concerned that I study correctly.

I am testing at 90%+ on each of my Boson practice tests ! Yeahhh

Steve

Richard Burts · ‎03-31-2008

Steve

What was the definition of "appropriate networks"? Was there any interface within 10.12 that was supposed to not be in OSPF? If so Boson is correct and you are not. If not then both configurations would work and produce the same results.

HTH

Rick

HTH

Rick

evsrajatgupta · ‎03-31-2008

Hi sjepsen808,

It is Cisco that will be giving you CCNA not Boson. Since there is not official answer, I think you should fellow the best practice.

In a really network you are not likely to add 10.0.0.0/8 subnet on a router. I will recommend that you should add each network individually. Moreover adding individually network will never be considered wrong in ant Cisco exam.

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