The field in a Layer 3 IPv4 packet header that is used to mitigate Layer 3 route loops is Time To Live (TTL). TTL is an 8-bit field that indicates the maximum number of hops that a packet can traverse before being discarded. TTL is set by the source device and decremented by one by each router that forwards the packet. If TTL reaches zero, the packet is dropped and an ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is a network protocol that provides error reporting and diagnostic functions for IP networks. ICMP is used to send messages such as echo requests and replies (ping), destination unreachable, time exceeded, parameter problem, source quench, redirect, etc. ICMP messages are encapsulated in IP datagrams and have a specific format that contains fields such as type, code, checksum, identifier, sequence number, data, etc. ICMP messages can be verified by using commands such as ping , traceroute , debug ip icmp , etc . message is sent back to the source device. TTL is used to mitigate Layer 3 route loops because it prevents packets from circulating indefinitely in a looped network topology. TTL also helps to conserve network resources and avoid congestion caused by looped packets.
The other options are not fields in a Layer 3 IPv4 packet header because:
Checksum: Checksum is a 16-bit field that is used to verify the integrity of the IP header. Checksum is calculated by the source device and verified by the destination device based on the values of all fields in the IP header. Checksum does not mitigate Layer 3 route loops because it does not limit the number of hops that a packet can traverse.
Protocol: Protocol is an 8-bit field that indicates the type of payload carried by the IP datagram. Protocol identifies the upper-layer protocol that uses IP for datatransmission, such as TCP Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a connection-oriented transport layer protocol that provides reliable, ordered, and error-checked delivery of data between applications on different devices . TCP uses a three-way handshake to establish a connection between two endpoints , and uses sequence numbers , acknowledgments , and windowing to ensure data delivery and flow control . TCP also uses mechanisms such as retransmission , congestion avoidance , and fast recovery to handle packet loss and congestion . TCP segments data into smaller units called segments , which are encapsulated in IP datagrams and have a specific format that contains fields such as source port , destination port , sequence number , acknowledgment number , header length , flags , window size , checksum , urgent pointer , options , data , etc . TCP segments can be verified by using commands such as telnet , ftp , ssh , debug ip tcp transactions , etc . , UDP User Datagram Protocol (UDP) User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a connectionless transport layer protocol that provides
