Which is the recommended access-distribution design model when you need to span Layer 2 VLANs across access layer switches?

Question

Options

• ARouted access model
• BLoop-free Invert-U topology
• CVirtual switch model
• DMultitier access model

• A
  4% (1)
• B
  15% (4)
• C
  73% (19)
• D
  8% (2)

Explanation

When the design requirement is to span Layer 2 VLANs across multiple access layer switches, the Virtual Switch model (implemented via Cisco VSS or vPC) is the recommended approach. By logically combining two physical switches into one virtual switch, VLANs can extend across the combined domain without creating Spanning Tree loops, because the network sees a single logical device rather than two switches with redundant uplinks. The routed access model (A) terminates Layer 2 at the access layer and does not support VLAN spanning across switches. The loop-free Invert-U topology (B) is a physical design pattern that still relies on STP. The multitier access model (D) is a hierarchical physical design that does not inherently enable loop-free VLAN spanning.

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