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13-2
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Unicast Routing Configuration Guide, Release 4.x
OL-20002-02
Chapter 13      Configuring Static Routing
Information About Static Routing
• Directly Connected Static Routes, page 13-2
• Fully Specified Static Routes, page 13-2
• Floating Static Routes, page 13-2
• Remote Next Hops for Static Routes, page 13-3
Administrative Distance
An administrative distance is the metric used by routers to choose the best path when there are two or 
more routes to the same destination from two different routing protocols. An administrative distance 
guides the selection of one routing protocol (or static route) over another, when more than one protocol 
adds the same route to the unicast routing table. Each routing protocol is prioritized in order of most to 
least reliable using an administrative distance value.
Static routes have a default administrative distance of 1. A router prefers a static route to a dynamic route 
because the router considers a route with a low number to be the shortest. If you want a dynamic route 
to override a static route, you can specify an administrative distance for the static route. For example, if 
you have two dynamic routes with an administrative distance of 120, you would specify an 
administrative distance that is greater than 120 for the static route if you want the dynamic route to 
override the static route.
Directly Connected Static Routes
You need to specify only the output interface (the interface on which all packets are sent to the 
destination network) in a directly connected static route. The router assumes the destination is directly 
attached to the output interface and the packet destination is used as the next hop address. The next-hop 
can be an interface, only for point-to-point interfaces. For broadcast interfaces, the next-hop must be an 
IPv4/IPv6 address.
Fully Specified Static Routes
You must specify either the output interface (the interface on which all packets are sent to the destination 
network) or the next hop address in a fully specified static route. You can use a fully specified static route 
when the output interface is a multi-access interface and you need to identify the next-hop address. The 
next-hop address must be directly attached to the specified output interface.
Floating Static Routes
A floating static route is a static route that the router uses to back up a dynamic route. You must configure 
a floating static route with a higher administrative distance than the dynamic route that it backs up. In 
this instance, the router prefers a dynamic route to a floating static route. You can use a floating static 
route as a replacement if the dynamic route is lost.
Note By default, a router prefers a static route to a dynamic route because a static route has a smaller 
administrative distance than a dynamic route.