Cisco ENCOR Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Enterprise Network Core Technologies!

The speed cost ratio in Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is used to determine the priority of paths based on speed, with higher-speed links typically assigned lower cost values to prefer faster connections during the path selection process.

In this context, a 20 Gbps connection refers to a high-speed link, and STP evaluates connections based on a defined cost model. According to the cost values defined by standards, a 20 Gbps connection is assigned a cost of 1, meaning it is the most efficient path due to its high bandwidth. Therefore, choosing this speed value as the cost for a 20 Gbps link reflects the protocol’s design to favor higher-speed links for forwarding decisions.

This interpretation aligns with the means by which STP establishes the best paths in a network by minimizing potential bottlenecks and optimizing data flow. Using a cost of 1 for this type of connection illustrates its priority when the protocol calculates which paths to use in a network topology.