Explain the operation of Router-on-a-Stick (ROAS) inter-VLAN routing. Why are sub-interfaces and IEEE 802.1Q encapsulation required on the router physical interface?
Official NUST Marking Scheme [8 Marks]:
ROAS Core Concept [2 Marks]: Allows a single physical router interface to route traffic between multiple distinct VLANs over a single trunk link.
Sub-interfaces Role [3 Marks]: Virtual logical interfaces created on one physical router port (e.g. Gi0/0/0.10 and Gi0/0/0.20), each acting as the default gateway for its respective VLAN IP subnet.
802.1Q Tagging [3 Marks]: Enforces encapsulation dot1Q 10 on sub-interfaces so the router can read incoming VLAN tags from the switch trunk link and route packets across subnets before re-tagging.