Under OSPF's default reference bandwidth, which factor determines the path cost for an interface?

Under OSPF's default reference bandwidth, which factor determines the path cost for an interface?

• A. IP address
• B. Bandwidth
• C. MTU
• D. Hop count

Answer: (B)

In OSPF, the path cost assigned to an interface comes from how fast that interface can carry data relative to the reference bandwidth. The cost is calculated as the reference bandwidth divided by the interface’s bandwidth, so faster interfaces get smaller costs and slower ones get larger costs. Since the total path cost is the sum of the costs on each hop, the overall route choice hinges on these bandwidth-based costs. IP address, MTU, or hop count don’t determine the cost in this scheme.

In OSPF, the path cost assigned to an interface comes from how fast that interface can carry data relative to the reference bandwidth. The cost is calculated as the reference bandwidth divided by the interface’s bandwidth, so faster interfaces get smaller costs and slower ones get larger costs. Since the total path cost is the sum of the costs on each hop, the overall route choice hinges on these bandwidth-based costs. IP address, MTU, or hop count don’t determine the cost in this scheme.