Juniper JNCIA JN0-105 Question # 3 Topic 1 Discussion

The load-balance per-flow statement in the Junos OS policy-options configuration enables flow-based load balancing in the forwarding table. This means that the traffic is distributed across multiple paths based on flows, where a flow is typically identified by attributes such as source and destination IP addresses, and possibly layer 4 information like TCP/UDP ports. This allows for more granular and efficient utilization of available paths, avoiding overloading a single path. The policy does not enable per-packet load balancing, which would send individual packets of the same flow over different paths, potentially causing out-of-order delivery issues. The policy's placement in the forwarding-table export suggests it's intended to influence forwarding behavior, not just routing protocol decisions, and does not necessarily have to be applied under the protocols hierarchy.