Which of the following options is not the purpose of OSPF Hello message exchange?

Question

Options

• ADiscover neighbor device
• BDeliver link status information
• CNegotiate some necessary parameters
• DMaintain neighbor routers

• A
  7% (2)
• B
  78% (21)
• C
  4% (1)
• D
  11% (3)

Explanation

OSPF Hello messages are responsible for neighbor discovery (A), parameter negotiation (C), and keepalive/maintenance of neighbor relationships (D) - but delivering link state information is handled by Link State Advertisements (LSAs), carried in Link State Update (LSU) packets, not Hello messages. That is why B is the correct answer; it describes a function belonging to a completely different OSPF packet type.

• A is wrong as a choice (it IS a Hello purpose): Routers multicast Hellos to 224.0.0.5 to discover who is on the same link.
• C is wrong as a choice (it IS a Hello purpose): Hellos carry fields like Hello/Dead interval, Area ID, and authentication that must match before adjacency forms.
• D is wrong as a choice (it IS a Hello purpose): Periodic Hellos act as keepalives; if a router misses enough of them (Dead interval expires), the neighbor is declared down.

Memory tip: Think of Hello packets as the "social handshake" - they find, check, and keep friends. LSAs are the "news broadcast" - they actually share topology information. If a question mentions sharing link state, the answer is always LSA/LSU, never Hello.

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