In VRP, how does BGP handle route summarization by default?

BGP, or Border Gateway Protocol, does not perform route summarization automatically for imported routes. This means that if multiple prefixes exist, BGP will advertise each prefix individually rather than combining them into a single summarized route. This behavior is crucial for maintaining precise routing information across large and complex networks, especially since BGP is largely used to manage routing in inter-domain scenarios where network paths may change frequently.

By not summarizing by default, BGP ensures that all routes remain visible to its peers, allowing for more granular control over routing decisions. This can help prevent potential routing issues that might arise from oversimplification. Summarization can only occur when explicitly configured by the network administrator, ensuring that they can manage summarization according to the specific needs of the network.

Thus, the correct answer highlights a fundamental aspect of BGP's operation, which is that it is designed to maintain route fidelity without assuming automatic summarization, requiring manual configuration to summarize routes when deemed necessary.