You need to discover the IP address of a remote Cisco switch located in another site, such as Hawaii, from a directly connected router. Which IOS command provides detailed CDP information including the switch IP address?

Introduction / Context:
When managing large networks, you often need to identify the IP address of a remote Cisco device that is directly connected but not yet documented. Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) is a valuable tool in these situations because it allows Cisco devices to share information about themselves, including their management IP addresses, platform, and capabilities. This question focuses on which CDP related command exposes the IP address of a neighboring switch.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• You have console or remote access to a router that is directly connected to the remote switch.
• The router and switch are both Cisco devices with CDP enabled by default.
• You need the management IP address of the switch to access it remotely.
• You are familiar with basic show commands related to routing, ARP, and CDP.

Concept / Approach:
CDP allows Cisco devices to advertise and discover basic information about their directly connected neighbors. The command show cdp neighbor provides a summary list of neighbors, including device ID, local interface, and capabilities, but not always the full IP address details. The command show cdp neighbors detail displays more extensive information, including the IP address of the neighbor as well as its platform and software version. In contrast, show ip route and show ip arp focus on IP routing and address resolution, not specifically on discovery of directly connected Cisco devices.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: From the router, issue the command show cdp neighbors to confirm that the remote switch appears as a CDP neighbor.Step 2: Note the local interface connected to the switch and the device ID of the neighbor, but understand that this output may not show the IP address.Step 3: Enter the command show cdp neighbors detail to display detailed information for each neighbor, including IP addresses.Step 4: Locate the entry for the remote switch in the detailed output and record the listed IP address, which is typically the management address used for Telnet or SSH.Step 5: Use that address to open a remote management session to the switch if permitted by network policies.

Verification / Alternative check:
After using show cdp neighbors detail, you can verify that the IP address is correct by pinging the switch from the router. If the ping is successful and you can establish a Telnet or SSH session, the address you obtained from CDP is indeed the correct management IP for the device.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A (show ip route) shows the router routing table but does not identify which route corresponds specifically to the switch as a CDP neighbor.Option B (show cdp neighbor) provides only a summary and may not include the IP address field.Option C (show ip arp) lists IP to MAC mappings but requires that you already know or guess the IP address before it can help.Option E (show interface status) displays information about local interfaces but not about remote devices or their IP addresses.

Common Pitfalls:
Many administrators overlook show cdp neighbors detail and rely only on the shorter show cdp neighbor command. While the summary is useful, it does not always provide everything you need. For tasks like discovering the management IP address of a neighbor, the detailed command is much more powerful.

Final Answer:
The correct command is show cdp neighbors detail, which reveals detailed CDP information including the IP address of the remote switch.