OSPF - Open Shortest Path First

IP Routing
IP Routing is the process of delivering IP Packets from one device to another, across an IP network, using routers.

There are two techniques of performing IP routing. 1) Static Routing. 2) Dynamic Routing.

Routing Techniques
STATIC ROUTING Route table built by network manager. Easy to troubleshoot. No capability of re-route. DYNAMIC ROUTING Route table built dynamically by router. Requires in-depth knowledge of the protocol to troubleshoot. Automatic re-route.

Administrative effort required No administrative effort to maintain routing intelligence required to maintain routing intelligence. Supported by almost all TCP/IP Not all TCP/IP hosts support hosts. dynamic routing.

Used in small networks.

Used in medium & large networks.

Routing Vs Routed Protocols

There are basically two type of protocols : Routed Protocols and Routing Protocols. Routed Protocols are the ones which takes/carries the data (info.) over the network like TCP, UDP RTP etc. Routing Protocols are responsible for determining the path i.e they does routing i.e they finds the best suitable path for packet to travel like RIP, EIGRP, BGP, OSPF etc.

Routing Protocol Classification

Routing protocol are classified into three types 1) IGP 2) EGP 3) HYBRID Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) used within in an Autonomous System. Eg :- OSPF, IS-IS, RIP Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) are used between an Autonomous System. Eg :- BGP Hybrid Protocol have characteristics of both (IGP as

OSPF - Introduction
Interior routing protocol(IGP). Works on layer 3 of OSI model. Link state routing protocol. Use IP as routed protocol, IP protocol no. 89 Open standard hence can be used in multi vendor environment. Converges large networks. Intra-domain i.e. works within single autonomous system (AS).

Characteristics
Uses cost as metric. Sends triggered & incremental updates. Uses multicasts instead of broadcasts. Converges very quickly. Classless and allows summarization. Conserves network bandwidth. Supports VLSM. AD value = 110. Two-level hierarchy.

Operations of OSPF
OSPF can work in different scenarios :Single area. Multiple areas. Different network topologies of OSPF are :Broadcast multi-access Point-to-point Point-to-multipoint No broadcast multi-access (NBMA)

OSPF build & maintain following tables :Neighbor table Topology database Routing table

Operations Cont.
Once the OSPF process is started on router , it starts searching neighbors. Once the router has discovered all its neighbors it will form neighbor table & start exchanging DBDs & LSA. Once its has collected all networks & routes , it will be in FULL state and will form adjacency with its neighbors. Now it will form topology database & will run SPF algorithm to find shortest possible route or path to reach each network. Once it has best routes to reach each network , it will

OSPF in Multi-access network type

Adjacency :- 2 OSPF neighbors are adjacent when they exchange DBD & LSAs. OSPF works differently in Multi-access network, it selects DR & BDR to reduce the no. of adjacencies within an area. Election of DR & BDR : When an OSPF router becomes active and discovers its neighbors, it checks for an active DR and BDR. If a DR and BDR exist, the router accepts them. If there is no BDR, an election is held in which the router with the highest priority becomes the BDR. If more than one router has the same priority, the one with the numerically highest Router ID wins. If there is no active DR, the BDR is promoted to DR and a new election is held for the BDR.

Adjacencies without & with DR in multi-access OSPF network

OSPF Router Stages

Down :- This is the first OSPF neighbor state. It means that no information (hellos) has been received from this neighbor. Attempt :- This state is only valid for manually configured neighbors in an NBMA environment. In Attempt state, the router sends unicast hello packets every poll interval to the neighbor from which hellos have not been received within the dead interval.

Init :- This state indicates that the router has received a hello packet from its neighbor, but the receiving routers ID was not included in the hello packet.
2-Way :- This state indicates that bi-directional communication has been established between two routers.

Exstart :- the router and its neighbor establish a master/slave relationship and determine the initial DD sequence number in preparation for the exchange of Database Description packets..

OSPF Router Stages Cont

ExchangeIn the exchange state, OSPF routers exchange database descriptor (DBD) packets. LoadingIn this state, the actual exchange of link-state information occurs. FullIn this state, routers are fully adjacent with each other. All the router and network LSAs are exchanged and the router databases are fully synchronized.

Router types
Internal router :- Routers whose interfaces belong to the same area. These routers have a single link-state database. Backbone router :- Routers with at least one interface attached to the Backbone Area. In some cases an Internal router whose all interfaces belong to the Backbone Area is also a Backbone Router. Area border router (ABR) :- Routers who connects one or more areas to the Backbone Area. For each of connected areas an ABR must maintain a separate Link-State Database. Only summarized topology information is propagated by an ABR to the Backbone Area. Autonomous system boundary router (ASBR) :- An ASBR connects to other routing domains. ASBRs are typically located in the backbone area.

Router types

Router types in multi-access network

Designated Router (DR) :- Router in multiaccess network which is responsible for all adjacency within a single area. Backup Designated Router (BDR) :- Router backup to DR within a single area. DROTHER :- routers other than DR & BDR within a single area.

OSPF Areas types

Backbone Area :- It is the core of the OSPF network. All other areas must be connected to it. Backbone area must be contiguous. Regular Area :- Regular area have more than one connection to the Backbone. Its primary function is to connect users & resources. By default regular area doesn't allow traffic from another area to pass through it. Stub Area :- A Stub Area is an area which has no information about networks external to the OSPF domain. For any external destination an Internal Routers will use default route pointing to an ABR. Configuring an area as a Stub Area is the way to improve the performance of routers by reducing size of their Link State Databases. Totally Stub Area :- Totally Stub Area is a modification of a Stub Area. Routers within Totally Stubby Area use a default route pointing to an ABR to reach all destinations outside their area.

OSPF Areas types

Link State Database

A place to store the information of router in OSPF is called Link State Database. Each router running link state protocol must have such a database. Exactly the same database content is a critical factor for routing decision process. Incomplete database information results in incomplete network view and ultimately routing problems.

LSA & LSA Flooding

Router's details are send across network in units called Link State Advertisement (LSA). Each router generates one LSA describing itself : its links and neighbors. An information distribution mechanism used by OSPF is called flooding. The name comes from the similarity to water behavior.

LSA 1, LSA 2 & LSA 3

LSA 1 - Also called Router LSA. LSA 1 are generated by all OSPF routers.
This is most fundamental LSA and it lists all interfaces of a router to other routers or other networks. The flooding of LSA Type 1 is limited only to originating area.

LSA 2 Also called Network LSA. LSA 2 are generated by DR on every

multi-access network (like Ethernet). LSA 2 lists all routers connected to the same segment. The flooding of LSA Type 2 is also limited only to originating area.

LSA 3

Also called Network Summary LSA. It is originated by ABR.

They are send only to a single area to advertise information to Internal Routers about destinations outside that area. This information can be also summarized before sending to prevent sharing information about area topology to other areas and save routers resources. Using LSA 3 an ABR also advertise the destinations within its attached areas into the Backbone Area.

LSA 1, LSA 2 & LSA 3

LSA 4 & LSA 5

LSA 4 - Also called ASBR Summary LSA. To advertise an ASBR routers
use LSA type 4. These LSAs are send only between ABRs and announce which ABR in the network works as the ASBR. LSA 4 is not limited, like LSA 1 and 2, to only one area and it can be replicated by all ABRs.

LSA 5 Also called External LSA. LSA 5 are originated by ASBRs. They
advertise ether a destination external to the OSPF. LSA 5 can also advertise Default Route for the OSPF domain. These LSAs are flooded to all areas (except stub areas) and are received by all Internal Routers.

LSA 4

LSA 5

Summarization
Multiple areas are a great way to limit computation and propagation of routing updates; the hierarchical approach imposed by using multiple areas allows for intelligent summarization on ABRs and ASBRs.

Types of summarization in OSPF : Interred summarization :- Performed at the ABR, creates Type 3 LSAs. Type 4 LSAs advertise the router IDs of ASBRs. External summarization :- Performed at the ASBR, creates Type 5 LSAs.

THANK YOU

Questions...?