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350-401 · Question #311

350-401 Question #311: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

The correct answer is B: Configure root guard and portfast on all access switch ports.. To designate a switch as the root bridge and prevent other switches from taking over its role, configure the chosen root bridge with a low priority and enable root guard on all its downstream ports and other access switches' ports.

Submitted by neha2k· Mar 6, 2026

Question

In a traditional 3 tier topology, an engineer must explicitly configure a switch as the root bridge and exclude it from any further election process for the spanning-tree domain. Which action accomplishes this task?

Options

  • AConfigure the spanning-tree priority to 32768
  • BConfigure root guard and portfast on all access switch ports.
  • CConfigure BPDU guard in all switch-to-switch connections.
  • DConfigure the spanning-tree priority equal to 0.

Explanation

To designate a switch as the root bridge and prevent other switches from taking over its role, configure the chosen root bridge with a low priority and enable root guard on all its downstream ports and other access switches' ports.

Common mistakes.

  • A. Configuring the spanning-tree priority to 32768 sets it to the default priority, which does not guarantee it will become the root or protect its root status.
  • C. Configuring BPDU guard on switch-to-switch connections is a misconfiguration as it would shut down these critical links upon receiving BPDUs, breaking STP functionality.
  • D. Configuring the spanning-tree priority equal to 0 makes a switch the root bridge by giving it the lowest possible priority, but it does not actively prevent other switches from attempting to become root through superior BPDUs; root guard provides this protective mechanism.

Concept tested. Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) Root Guard

Reference. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst6500/ios/12-2SX/configuration/guide/book/spantree.html#wp1020087

Topics

#STP root bridge#STP root guard#Cisco STP

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