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

The Local Preference attribute in BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is used to influence the choice of exit point from the Autonomous System (AS). It is a well-known attribute that helps BGP routers determine which path to take when there are multiple routes to a destination.

When a BGP router receives updates about different paths to reach the same prefix, it uses the Local Preference value to prefer one path over another. A higher Local Preference value indicates a more favorable path. Therefore, it's primarily utilized to control outbound routing decisions for the entire AS, guiding traffic towards a preferred exit point based on policy or other network requirements.

The other choices do not accurately represent the role of Local Preference in BGP. It does not determine the best path to reach an external network, as that decision encompasses other factors like AS path length and next-hop reachability. Local Preference also does not dictate the path with the least hops; this functionality is more aligned with the IGP metrics or the AS path length in BGP. Finally, it doesn't take into account the age of a path or how long it has been established, as BGP does have mechanisms for evaluating the stability of paths, but Local Preference itself does not reflect the duration of path establishment.