What is the purpose of the routing table's next-hop field?

• A. It indicates the next hop router (or exit interface) to reach the destination.
• B. It shows the metric value of the route.
• C. It identifies the source network of the route.
• D. It indicates the default gateway for all destinations.

Answer: (A)

The next-hop field tells the router where to forward the packet next. When a route matches a destination network, the router uses this field to send the packet toward the next device, which is typically another router identified by its IP address or, in some cases, the exit interface on the local network. This allows multi-hop paths to be followed correctly toward the final destination. The metric is a separate piece of data used to choose between multiple routes to the same destination, not the forwarding target itself. The next-hop does not specify the source network, and while a default route uses a next-hop to reach destinations not in the table, the next-hop field’s primary purpose is to indicate the immediate next hop for forwarding.