Two equal paths exist from AWS to on-prem. Traffic should prefer the primary link, using the secondary only on failure. Which BGP technique steers the INBOUND path selection?
A.AS_PATH prepending on the secondary — longer AS path makes it less preferred
Correct. Longer AS path = less preferred route.
B.Lower MED on the secondary path
Backwards — LOWER MED is more preferred.
C.More specific prefixes on the primary
More-specific always wins — works, but prepending is the classic answer for equal prefixes.
D.Higher bandwidth on the primary
Bandwidth isn't a BGP attribute.
Why this answer
AS_PATH prepending adds your ASN to the advertised path on the less-preferred link — the remote side sees a longer path and prefers the shorter (primary) one. It's the standard BGP inbound-steering tool; AWS's own MED handling is a secondary tiebreaker.
Correct answer: A · Last reviewed 2026-11-04
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