What is the administrative distance (AD) for static routes?

The administrative distance (AD) for static routes is set to 1, which makes them very trustworthy. In routing protocols, administrative distance values are used to determine the preferred route when there are multiple paths to a destination. The lower the value, the more preferred the route.

Static routes have this low administrative distance because they are manually configured by the network administrator and do not change unless manually altered. This gives them a higher reliability compared to routes learned through dynamic protocols, which can be subject to fluctuations and routing updates.

Static routes being at an AD of 1 means they will take precedence over dynamic routing protocols, which typically have higher AD values. For example, RIP (Routing Information Protocol) has an administrative distance of 120, while OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) has an AD of 110. This context of static route reliability helps underscore their significance in network routing strategies.