What is the role of route tags in routing protocols?

Route tags play a crucial role in routing protocols by providing a mechanism to identify and manipulate specific routes within routing announcements. When routers exchange routing information, route tags can be used to add metadata that helps determine how routes are processed or utilized. This allows network administrators to implement routing policies, such as filtering routes or altering the path selection based on certain criteria.

For instance, in certain protocols like BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), administrators can tag routes with a particular value, which can then be used in route filtering decisions or to influence route selection. By using route tags, network operators can effectively manage and optimize their routing tables, allowing for more granular control over the routing decisions made by the routers in the network.

Other options do not accurately capture the primary function of route tags. Traffic prioritization, marking inactive routes, and indicating data rates are not core features associated with route tagging in the context of routing protocols.