Which are the three path determinations that a routing table search can yield?

• A. Directly connected network; Remote network; No route determined
• B. Directly connected network; Local network; Route not found
• C. Directly connected network; Remote network; Infinite loop
• D. Directly connected network; Adjacent network; No route determined

Answer: (A)

When a router looks up where to send a packet, there are three outcomes it can land on. First, the destination can be on a network that the router is directly connected to—the packet can be delivered right out the interface that connects to that network. This is the directly connected case, where the router doesn’t need to forward the packet to another router at all.

If the destination isn’t on a locally attached network, the router checks its routing table for a path to reach that destination network via another router. If it finds a route with a next hop or exit interface, the packet is forwarded toward that next hop, which is the remote network scenario.

If there’s no matching entry for the destination in the routing table (and no applicable default route to catch-all other destinations), the router has no route to the destination and the packet cannot be forwarded. That’s the no route determined outcome.

In practice, a default route can cover destinations not explicitly listed, but the three fundamental outcomes are: directly connected, remote via a next hop, or no route.