In routing, what describes a data packet traveling from router to router to reach its destination?

• A. Indirect
• B. Direct
• C. Multicast
• D. Broadcast

Answer: (A)

Hop-by-hop forwarding through multiple routers describes how a data packet travels to its destination. Each router examines the packet, consults its routing table, and forwards it to the next router on the path toward the final address. This step-by-step hopping is what we call indirect routing—the packet is not sent directly from source to destination in a single link.

Direct would mean the source and destination are connected by a single link with no intermediate hops, which isn’t the typical case in modern networks where packets traverse several routers. Multicast involves delivering to a group of hosts, often requiring replication to reach multiple destinations, which isn’t implied by a single journey from router to router toward one destination. Broadcast sends to all devices on the local network segment rather than to a specific destination across multiple routers.