What is a floating static route?

• A. A dynamically learned route that is used as the primary route when no static route exists.
• B. A static route configured with a higher Administrative Distance than a dynamic route, used as backup.
• C. A static route configured with a lower Administrative Distance than dynamic routes, used as primary.
• D. A route that is automatically learned from an attached interface.

Answer: (B)

Floating static routes are static routes configured with a higher Administrative Distance than the routes learned by dynamic routing protocols. Because routers prefer the path with the lowest Administrative Distance, this static route stays inactive while dynamic routes are available. It only becomes active when the primary dynamic route becomes unreachable, providing a backup path without changing the normal routing behavior. This is why the description matches a static route that is kept in reserve and used only if the dynamic route fails.

Other descriptions don’t fit because a dynamically learned route being primary when no static exists describes a normal dynamic route, not a backup static route. A static route with a lower Administrative Distance than dynamic routes would be treated as the primary path rather than a backup. A route learned from an attached interface is a directly connected route, not a static backup, so it isn’t described as floating.