What is the purpose of the IP Record Route option?

• A. Stores the TTL value at each hop.
• B. Records time stamps for each hop.
• C. Stores 4-byte IP addresses of routers along the path.
• D. Sets the next hop for the datagram.

Answer: (C)

The IP Record Route option is used to capture the path a datagram takes by listing the IP addresses of the routers it passes through. Each router that supports this option writes its 4-byte address into the option data as the packet moves along, up to the space available in the option. This lets the sender or receiver reconstruct the route after the packet arrives. It’s different from timestamping, which records times at each hop in a separate option. The approach is limited by the option’s length (only so many addresses can be recorded) and is not always used in networks due to security and performance considerations.