CertificationKits.

com EIGRP Sample CCNA Lab

EIGRP Routing

The purpose of this lab is to explore the functionality of the EIGRP routing protocol.

Hardware & Configuration Required for this Lab
Two Cisco routers with two Fast Ethernet interfaces and two serial ports
One Cisco router with two Fast Ethernet interfaces
Two crossover Cat 5 cables for router to router
Two DTE/DCE back to back cables
Two PCs to connect to the routers
Two crossover Cat 5 cables for PC to Router or four straight through Cat 5 cables if you
put a switch in between them
Special Note: If you do not have three routers with dual Ethernet ports and two PCs,
that is ok. Simply do not configure the 192.168.11.0 subnet on R1 and the 192.168.33.0
subnet on R3. Then do your pings from R1 & R3 respectively in place of the PCs and the
lab will still work fine.

Commands Used in this Lab
router eigrp Enables eigrp on the router
show ip eigrp topology - Displays the eigrp topology table and route information
clock rate Sets clock speed on a WAN serial link
bandwidth Logial setting of the bandwidth metric on a link
delay Logical setting of the delay metric on a link
variance <multiplier> - Used to tell the router what multiple of the feasible distance should be
considered for unequal load balancing
ip hello-interval eigrp sets the hello time on an eigrp interface
ip hold-time eigrp sets the hold time on an eirgrp interface
debug ip eigrp Displays route table updates and associated messages

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Initial Configs - Where you see Initial Configs, these are basic configuration steps that by now
you should be able to perform on the devices by yourself without us detailing them step by
step. Generally you simply go into enable and then configuration mode and start the
configuration.
R1
line con 0
logging synch
exit
int loopback 0
ip add 150.123.11.11 255.255.255.255
int fa0/0
ip add 192.168.12.1 255.255.255.0
no shut
int fa0/1
ip add 192.168.11.1 255.255.255.0
no shut
int s0/0
ip add 10.175.113.33 255.255.255.252
clock rate 128000 (if you have a WIC-1DSU-TI module(dont confuse this with a WIC-1T, use the
service-module T1 clock source internal command instead)).
no shut
int s0/1
ip add 10.175.113.65 255.255.255.252
clock rate 128000 (if you have a WIC-1DSU-TI module(dont confuse this with a WIC-1T, use the
service-module T1 clock source internal command instead)).
no shut

R2
line con 0
logging synch
exit
int loopback 0
ip add 150.123.22.22 255.255.255.255
int fa0/0
ip add 192.168.12.2 255.255.255.0
no shut
int fa0/1
ip add 192.168.23.2 255.255.255.0
no shut

R3
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line con 0
logging synch
exit
int loopback 0
ip add 150.123.33.33 255.255.255.255
int fa0/0
ip add 192.168.23.3 255.255.255.0
no shut
int fa0/1
ip add 192.168.33.1 255.255.255.0
no shut
int s0/0
ip add 10.175.113.34 255.255.255.252
(If you have a WIC-1DSU-TI module(dont confuse this with a WIC-1T, use the service-module
T1 clock source line command here)).
no shut
int s0/1
ip add 10.175.113.66 255.255.255.252
(If you have a WIC-1DSU-TI module(dont confuse this with a WIC-1T, use the service-module
T1 clock source line command here)).
no shut

PC-1 PC-2


EIGRP is Cisco's proprietary routing protocol designed to replace IGRP (no longer on the CCNA
exam) and provide an easier alternative to OSPF. It is a hybrid protocol meaning it is a mix
between distance vector (RIP) and link state protocols (OSPF, ISIS).
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To enable EIGRP on a router you use its router command router eigrp <AS>. EIGRP requires an
Autonomous system number because that is how it determines what routers belong to the
same EIGRP routing domain. For example a router with an EIGRP AS of 1 and another with an
AS of 150 will not form adjacency they will simply ignore each other.

Note: AS numbers are unique to your own network, so you pick whatever number makes sense
to you.
Like RIP, EIGRP is easy to configure basic functionality once again it uses the network statement
to control what interfaces are going to run EIGRP.
The network statement uses the following syntax:
network <classful network>
The network statement is still classful so if you enter network 10.0.0.0 any interface with an IP
in the range of 10.0.0.1 - 10.255.255.254 will be added to EIGRP. You can optionally add a
wildcard mask to the network statement to be more selective. network 10.1.1.1 0.0.0.0 for
example will only enable EIGRP on an interface with the IP 10.1.1.1 instead of the whole range.
Wildcard masks are used with Access-lists and several other functions as well. They are the
inverse of a subnet mask excluding the network bit. In a subnet mask the 1 bit is ignored, in a
wildcard the 0 bit is ignored. Here is a table showing the common Class C wildcard masks.
Subnet Mask Size of Network Wildcard Mask
255.255.255.0 256 0.0.0.255
255.255.255.128 128 0.0.0.127
255.255.255.192 64 0.0.0.63
255.255.255.224 32 0.0.0.31
255.255.255.240 16 0.0.0.15
255.255.255.248 8 0.0.0.7
255.255.255.252 4 0.0.0.3
255.255.255.254 2 0.0.0.1
255.255.255.255 1 0.0.0.0
Lets enable EIGRP on all of routers for all interfaces. We will use EIGRP AS 123. For now lets
just use the classful statements. To prove it's using classful statements lets enter R1's 10
network as 10.10.10.0.
R1(config)#router eigrp 123
R1(config-router)#network 10.10.10.0
R1(config-router)#network 192.168.11.0
R1(config-router)#network 192.168.12.0
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R1(config-router)#network 150.123.0.0
R2(config)#router eigrp 123
R2(config-router)#network 10.0.0.0
R2(config-router)#network 192.168.12.0
R2(config-router)#network 192.168.23.0
R2(config-router)#network 150.123.0.0
R3(config)#router eigrp 123
R3(config-router)#network 10.0.0.0
R3(config-router)#network 192.168.23.0
R3(config-router)#network 192.168.33.0
R3(config-router)#network 150.123.0.0

One thing you will notice is that EIGRP is a very fast protocol, it almost immediately forms
adjacency once its configured on both ends, you will see something like this message once
adjacency forms.

*Mar 1 05:02:03.846: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123: Neighbor 10.175.113.34
(Serial0/0) is up: new adjacency
*Mar 1 05:02:03.850: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123: Neighbor 10.175.113.66
(Serial0/1) is up: new adjacency

EIGRP also can use the show ip protocol command to show a quick summary of EIGRP
information.
R1#show ip protocol
Routing Protocol is "eigrp 123"
Outgoing update filter list for all interfaces is not set
Incoming update filter list for all interfaces is not set
Output truncated
A handy command to see what adjacencies are up and running is: show ip eigrp neighbors. It
will show the neighbor IP, what interface it was learned on. Troubleshooting wise the most
useful column is the Q Cnt which is the Queue Count, basically if the number is not zero
something is wrong in your network.
R1#show ip eigrp neighbors
IP-EIGRP neighbors for process 123
H Address Interface Hold Uptime SRTT RTO Q Seq
(sec) (ms) Cnt Num
2 192.168.12.2 Fa0/0 14 00:24:03 128 768 0 12
1 10.175.113.66 Se0/1 12 00:25:11 109 654 0 23
0 10.175.113.34 Se0/0 13 00:25:11 109 654 0 24
You can also use show ip eigrp interfaces to see a quick summary of what interfaces are
running EIGRP and how many peers are learned on each interface.
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R1#show ip eigrp interfaces
IP-EIGRP interfaces for process 123
Xmit Queue Mean Pacing Time Multicast Pending
Interface Peers Un/Reliable SRTT Un/Reliable Flow Timer Routes
Se0/0 1 0/0 51 0/15 199 0
Se0/1 1 0/0 50 0/15 187 0
Fa0/1 0 0/0 0 0/1 0 0
Lo0 0 0/0 0 0/1 0 0
Fa0/0 1 0/0 56 0/1 212 0

Another somewhat helpful show command is: show ip eigrp traffic which shows traffic
statistics for EIGRP.
R3#show ip eigrp traffic 123
IP-EIGRP Traffic Statistics for AS 123
Hellos sent/received: 71/49
Updates sent/received: 5/9
Queries sent/received: 1/1
Replies sent/received: 1/1
Acks sent/received: 7/6
SIA-Queries sent/received: 0/0
SIA-Replies sent/received: 0/0
Hello Process ID: 175
PDM Process ID: 136
IP Socket queue: 0/2000/4/0 (current/max/highest/drops)
Eigrp input queue: 0/2000/4/0 (current/max/highest/drops)
Finally lets have a look at the routing table, we can see by default EIGRP is auto-summarizing
routes to their classful boundary, lets take a minute and see what kind of fun this causes.
EIGRP routes will start with a D you can also just show EIGRP routes with show ip route eigrp.
Important Note: If you do not have as many interfaces on your routers, your output may be
slightly different.
R1#show ip route
Codes: C - connected, S - static, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP
D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2
i - IS-IS, su - IS-IS summary, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2
ia - IS-IS inter area, * - candidate default, U - per-user static route
o - ODR, P - periodic downloaded static route
Gateway of last resort is not set
C 192.168.12.0/24 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/0
C 192.168.11.0/24 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/1
10.0.0.0/8 is variably subnetted, 3 subnets, 2 masks
D 10.0.0.0/8 is a summary, 01:23:11, Null0
C 10.175.113.64/30 is directly connected, Serial0/1
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C 10.175.113.32/30 is directly connected, Serial0/0
D 192.168.23.0/24 [90/30720] via 192.168.12.2, 01:21:00, FastEthernet0/0
150.123.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C 150.123.11.11/32 is directly connected, Loopback0
D 150.123.0.0/16 is a summary, 01:21:29, Null0
D 192.168.33.0/24 [90/33280] via 192.168.12.2, 01:20:57, FastEthernet0/0

Lets focus on 2 routes, the 192.168.23.0 route and the loopback network. From R1 we can see
that we can reach the 192.168.23.0 network with a ping which is what we would expect.

R1#ping 192.168.23.3
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 192.168.23.3, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 16/33/76 ms

However we can see that we can't reach either of the loopback networks from R1.
R1#ping 150.123.22.22
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.123.22.22, timeout is 2 seconds:
.....
Success rate is 0 percent (0/5)

R1#ping 150.123.33.33
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.123.33.33, timeout is 2 seconds:
.....
Success rate is 0 percent (0/5)
To figure out why this is happening, lets have another look at the routing table, this time, just
the loopback networks. We see two routes, one for our loopback0 interface and the other a
summary route pointing to Null0.

Null0 is a special interface that simply discards anything sent to it, EIGRP uses it when making
summaries because the idea is that with longest match routing. The router will never use its
own summary routes but instead will use any shorter route. The problem is that with auto-
summary, we don't have any longer match routes. In the next few show commands, we are
going to just show you the portion of the output to focus on starting now.

R1#show ip route | begin 150.123.0.0 (on most 12.4 and later IOS, use the | sec command)
150.123.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C 150.123.11.11/32 is directly connected, Loopback0
D 150.123.0.0/16 is a summary, 01:29:23, Null0
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Since the loopback is directly connected, the router will make a summary route to advertise to
R2 and R3 and point it to Null0. When it receives the 150.123.0.0/16 route from the other
routes, R1 sees it already has a directly connected network with the address 150.123.0.0/16
(The Null0 interface) and it simply ignores the update. The 192.168.23.0 route works because
R1 doesn't have an interface with the 192.168.23.0 network configured on it, so there isn't a
summary route for it.

R1#show ip route 150.123.22.0
Routing entry for 150.123.0.0/16
Known via "eigrp 123", distance 5, metric 128256, type internal
Redistributing via eigrp 123
Routing Descriptor Blocks:
* directly connected, via Null0
Route metric is 128256, traffic share count is 1
Total delay is 5000 microseconds, minimum bandwidth is 10000000 Kbit
Reliability 255/255, minimum MTU 1514 bytes
Loading 1/255, Hops 0

Here's a debug showing R1 routing the packets to oblivion.
*Mar 1 06:31:51.382: IP: tableid=0, s=150.123.11.11 (local), d=150.123.33.33 (Null0), routed via RIB
*Mar 1 06:31:51.386: IP: s=150.123.11.11 (local), d=150.123.33.33 (Null0), len 100, sending.
*Mar 1 06:31:53.378: IP: tableid=0, s=150.123.11.11 (local), d=150.123.33.33 (Null0), routed via RIB
*Mar 1 06:31:53.382: IP: s=150.123.11.11 (local), d=150.123.33.33 (Null0), len 100, sending.
*Mar 1 06:31:55.378: IP: tableid=0, s=150.123.11.11 (local), d=150.123.33.33 (Null0), routed via RIB
Note: When you try this on our own your output might not be exactly the same.

While the above is a bit of an extreme case, it is another reason why summaries need to
carefully considered as it has the potential for routing loops and the loss of route visibility. This
means that if one of R3's serial interfaces had a problem (10.0.0.0 network) the other routes
wouldn't realize there was an issue. The solution is to disable auto-summary with the no auto-
summary command. It is a best practice to always immediately disable auto-summary unless
you have a good reason for using it.
R1(config)#router eigrp 123
R1(config-router)#no auto
*Mar 1 06:42:51.302: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123:
Neighbor 10.175.113.34 (Serial0/0) is resync:
*Mar 1 06:42:51.306: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123:
Neighbor 10.175.113.66 (Serial0/1) is resync:
*Mar 1 06:42:51.310: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123:
Neighbor 192.168.12.2 (FastEthernet0/0) is resync:

R2(config)#router eigrp 123
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R2(config-router)#no auto
*Mar 1 06:42:58.698: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123:
Neighbor 192.168.12.1 (FastEthernet0/0) is resync:
*Mar 1 06:42:58.702: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123:
Neighbor 192.168.23.3 (FastEthernet1/0) is resync:

R3(config)#router eigrp 123
R3(config-router)#no auto
*Mar 1 06:42:45.202: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123:
Neighbor 10.175.113.33 (Serial0/0) is resync:
*Mar 1 06:42:45.206: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123:
Neighbor 10.175.113.65 (Serial0/1) is resync:
*Mar 1 06:42:45.210: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123:
Neighbor 192.168.23.2 (FastEthernet0/0) is resync:
After the EIGRP resyncs the routing table, we can now see the individual /32 routes for the
loopbacks. Please focus on the route below in the output.
R1#show ip route | sec 150.123.0.0 (on most 12.4 and later IOS, use the | sec command)
150.123.0.0/32 is subnetted, 3 subnets
D 150.123.33.33 [90/158720] via 192.168.12.2, 00:00:22, FastEthernet0/0
D 150.123.22.22 [90/156160] via 192.168.12.2, 00:00:21, FastEthernet0/0
C 150.123.11.11 is directly connected, Loopback0

And we can reach all of them from R1.
R1#ping 150.123.22.22
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.123.22.22, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 4/20/56 ms

R1#ping 150.123.33.33
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.123.33.33, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 12/20/40 ms
As mentioned above, EIGRP is a very fast protocol that can detect issues very quickly. It does
this with the concept of successors and feasible successors; the successor is the route that is
chosen for the routing table. This is chosen by the best metric (Bandwidth + Delay by default)
routes also have to pass EIGRPs loop prevention rule which says that the Advertised Distance of
a route (R2 -> R3) will be lower than the Feasible Distance (R1 -> R2 -> R3). EIGRP also stores a
number of feasible successors so that in case something goes wrong with the successor it can
switch routes as soon as it knows there is a problem.

R1#show ip eigrp topology
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IP-EIGRP Topology Table for AS(123)/ID(150.123.11.11)
Codes: P - Passive, A - Active, U - Update, Q - Query, R - Reply,
r - reply Status, s - sia Status
P 192.168.33.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 33280
via 192.168.12.2 (33280/30720), FastEthernet0/0
via 10.175.113.34 (2172416/28160), Serial0/0
via 10.175.113.66 (2172416/28160), Serial0/1
P 192.168.11.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 28160
via Connected, FastEthernet2/0
P 192.168.12.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 28160
via Connected, FastEthernet1/0
P 192.168.23.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 30720
via 192.168.12.2 (30720/28160), FastEthernet0/0
via 10.175.113.66 (2172416/28160), Serial0/1
via 10.175.113.34 (2172416/28160), Serial0/0
P 10.175.113.64/30, 1 successors, FD is 2169856
via Connected, Serial0/1
P 150.123.33.33/32, 1 successors, FD is 158720
via 192.168.12.2 (158720/156160), FastEthernet0/0
via 10.175.113.34 (2297856/128256), Serial0/0
via 10.175.113.66 (2297856/128256), Serial0/1

Codes: P - Passive, A - Active, U - Update, Q - Query, R - Reply,
r - reply Status, s - sia Status
P 150.123.22.22/32, 1 successors, FD is 156160
via 192.168.12.2 (156160/128256), FastEthernet0/0
P 150.123.11.11/32, 1 successors, FD is 128256
via Connected, Loopback0
P 10.175.113.32/30, 1 successors, FD is 2169856
via Connected, Serial0/0

Lets test this out, according to the topology table R1 is prefering the Fa0/0 interface to reach
R3's loopback. After a bit, I disabled R3's Fa0/0 interface by simply unplugging it. Notice how it
takes about 7 packets to figure out there is a problem and switch over?

R1#ping 150.123.33.33 repeat 100000 (if the repeat command does not work for you as you are running
an older version of IOS, simply type ping with no ip address. You will then be prompted for the protocol,
IP address and how many times to send with the repeat option where you can enter 100000).
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 100000, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.123.33.33, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Success rate is 99 percent (840/847), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/9/80 ms

To demonstrate how fast the switch over actually is lets debug the routing table with debug ip
routing. Debug ip routing is not really a CCNA command but it is pretty useful to see any
changes to the routing table in real time. Notice that as soon as EIGRP detects the R3 interface
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is down and removes the route, within the same second it has switched to the serial links to
route the traffic.

R1# debug ip routing
IP routing debugging is on
R1#ping 150.123.33.33 repeat 100000
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 100000, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.123.33.33, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......
*Mar 1 07:26:27.174: RT: delete route to 150.123.33.33 via 192.168.12.2, eigrp metric [90/158720]
*Mar 1 07:26:27.178: RT: SET_LAST_RDB for 150.123.33.33/32
*Mar 1 07:26:27.190: RT: add 150.123.33.33/32 via 10.175.113.34, eigrp metric [90/2297856]
*Mar 1 07:26:27.190: RT: NET-RED 150.123.33.33/32
*Mar 1 07:26:27.190: RT: add 150.123.33.33/32 via 10.175.113.66, eigrp metric [90/2297856]!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Checking the table now we can see that EIGRP is now load balancing between both serial links
because they have equal metrics. Focus on this portion of the output.
R1# show ip route | begin 150.123.33.33 (on most 12.4 and later IOS, use the | sec command)
D 150.123.33.33 [90/2297856] via 10.175.113.66, 00:13:21, Serial0/1
[90/2297856] via 10.175.113.34, 00:13:21, Serial0/0

Lets bring R3's Ethernet link back up by plugging the cable back in.
R3
*Mar 1 07:40:43.874: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface FastEthernet0/0, changed state to up
*Mar 1 07:40:44.070: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123: Neighbor 192.168.23.2
(FastEthernet0/0) is up: new adjacency
*Mar 1 07:40:44.874: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface
FastEthernet0/0, changed state to up

Lets examine the topology table a bit more closely. Specifically 150.123.33.33/32.
R1#show ip eigrp topology | begin 150.123.33.33/32 (on most 12.4 and later IOS, use the | sec command)
P 150.123.33.33/32, 1 successors, FD is 158720
via 192.168.12.2 (158720/156160), FastEthernet0/0
via 10.175.113.34 (2297856/128256), Serial0/0
via 10.175.113.66 (2297856/128256), Serial0/1
If you want to load balance between unequal links (like for example a FastEthernet and a Serial
interface) you have two options. One is to modify the bandwidth and delay on the interface so
that its equal with the other interfaces the other is to use the variance command. In either
case its helpful to look at the detailed topology info for the routes youre interested in. You can
do this with the show ip eigrp topology <route> command. The command will show you the
complete metric info for each interface that knows about the route and also the FD/AD.
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R1#show ip eigrp topology 150.123.33.33/32
IP-EIGRP (AS 123): Topology entry for 150.123.33.33/32
State is Passive, Query origin flag is 1, 1 Successor(s), FD is 158720
Routing Descriptor Blocks:
192.168.12.2 (FastEthernet0/0), from 192.168.12.2, Send flag is 0x0
Composite metric is (158720/156160), Route is Internal
Vector metric:
Minimum bandwidth is 100000 Kbit
Total delay is 5200 microseconds
Reliability is 255/255
Load is 1/255
Minimum MTU is 1500
Hop count is 2
10.175.113.34 (Serial0/0), from 10.175.113.34, Send flag is 0x0
Composite metric is (2297856/128256), Route is Internal
Vector metric:
Minimum bandwidth is 1544 Kbit
Total delay is 25000 microseconds
Reliability is 255/255
Load is 1/255
Minimum MTU is 1500
Hop count is 1
10.175.113.66 (Serial0/1), from 10.175.113.66, Send flag is 0x0
Composite metric is (2297856/128256), Route is Internal
Vector metric:
Minimum bandwidth is 1544 Kbit
Total delay is 25000 microseconds
Reliability is 255/255
Load is 1/255
Minimum MTU is 1500
Hop count is 1

To change the metric info on interface, we can do this with the bandwidth and delay
commands. It is important to remember that the bandwidth command is purely logical -
meaning its only used by protocols such as EIGRP or QoS to determine the link bandwidth. It
will not affect the actual speed of a link, only the speed command can do that.

However, its a bit of a painful trial and error process to fine tune the metrics on the interfaces
and can affect other protocols that rely on the bandwidth command. Below shows how to
adjust the metrics. But do not run these commands now.
R1(config)#int s0/0
R1(config-if)#bandwidth 100000
R1(config-if)#delay 55
The better way to do it is using the variance command. The variance command is used to tell
the router what multiple of feasible distance is should be considered for unequal load
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balancing.
The syntax is: variance <multiplier>
For example if R1's Fa0/0 interface has a Feasible Distance of 158720 if we were to configure a
variance of 2 then R1 would accept anything with a Feasible Distance between the range of
158720 - 317440 will be used for load balancing. Its worth noting that unequal load balancing
isn't 1 to 1 between the interfaces but instead quoting Cisco, "the router distributes traffic
proportionately to the ratios of the metrics that are associated with different routes." Which
simply means the router will intelligently send more traffic across the faster links then the
slower ones.
So looking at the FD for the Ethernet link is 158720 and the Serial links have a FD of 2297856.
To find the value of variance you take the highest interface FD and divide it by the lowest
interface FD (the successor). Look for the info in the output below.
R1#show ip eigrp topology | begin 150.123.33.33/32 (on most 12.4 and later IOS, use the | sec command)
P 150.123.33.33/32, 1 successors, FD is 158720
via 192.168.12.2 (158720/156160), FastEthernet0/0
via 10.175.113.34 (2297856/128256), Serial0/0
via 10.175.113.66 (2297856/128256), Serial0/1
The highest FD is 2297856 and the successor FD is 158720.
R1(config)#router eigrp 123
R1(config-router)#variance 14

You'll notice that nothing changed in the routing table, this is because 14 is a clean divide. Its
actually too small, we will need to increase the variance to 15 instead.
R1#show ip route eigrp
D 192.168.23.0/24 [90/30720] via 192.168.12.2, 00:03:14, FastEthernet0/0
150.123.0.0/32 is subnetted, 3 subnets
D 150.123.33.33 [90/158720] via 192.168.12.2, 00:03:14, FastEthernet0/0
D 150.123.22.22 [90/156160] via 192.168.12.2, 00:03:14, FastEthernet0/0
D 192.168.33.0/24 [90/33280] via 192.168.12.2, 00:03:14, FastEthernet0/0

After we change the variance to 15 we see the routes being added to the routing table since we
still have debug ip routing on.
R1(config)#router eigrp 123
R1(config-router)#variance 15
R1(config-router)#exit
R1#clear ip eigrp neighbors
*Mar 2 01:52:31.553: RT: add 150.123.33.33/32 via 10.175.113.34, eigrp metric [90/2297856]
*Mar 2 01:52:31.557: RT: NET-RED 150.123.33.33/32
*Mar 2 01:52:31.561: RT: add 150.123.33.33/32 via 10.175.113.66, eigrp metric [90/2297856]
*Mar 2 01:52:31.565: RT: NET-RED 150.123.33.33/32
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You must run the clear ip eigrp neighbors command every time you change the variance on
most pre 12.4 IOS routers. You will then see the route changes. Now we can we see the other
paths for R3's loopback. Look for this in the output.
R1#show ip route
D 150.123.33.33 [90/158720] via 192.168.12.2, 00:04:00, FastEthernet0/0
[90/2297856] via 10.175.113.66, 00:04:00, Serial0/1
[90/2297856] via 10.175.113.34, 00:04:00, Serial0/0
EIGRP communicates with its peers by sending hello packets every 5 seconds for high speed
broadcast links and every 60 seconds for slow speed NBMA links (Frame-relay). If you need to
adjust the timers (perhaps you want EIGRP to detect link failures more quickly) you can use
the ip hello-interval eigrp <AS> <seconds> command. When you change the hello time, you'll
also need to adjust the hold-timer with the ip hold-time eigrp <AS> <seconds> As a rule of
thumb the hold time should be 3 times as much as the hello interval.

Note: If you are going to change timers it is important to make sure the other side of the link
also is configured for the same value to avoid any issues.
Lets change the hello time on the Fast Ethernet links to be 1 second instead of 5, we'll also
adjust the hold time.
R1(config)#int fa0/0
R1(config-if)#ip hello-interval eigrp 123 1
R1(config-if)#ip hold-time eigrp 123 3
R2(config)#int fa0/1
R2(config-if)#ip hello-interval eigrp 123 1
R2(config-if)#ip hold-time eigrp 123 3
R2(config-if)#int fa0/0
R2(config-if)#ip hello-interval eigrp 123 1
R2(config-if)#ip hold-time eigrp 123 3

R3(config)#int fa0/0
R3(config-if)#ip hello-interval eigrp 123 1
R3(config-if)#ip hold-time eigrp 123 3

Now lets try our ping test again with a timeout of 1 second which is our hello time. I'll ping
R3's loopback then disconnect R3's Fa0/0 cable. Notice that this time we only lost 3 ping
packets which is what we would expect, after R1 misses 3 hellos from the Fa0/0 path it switches
over to the serial links.

R1#ping 150.123.33.33 repeat 100000 timeout 1
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 100000, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.123.33.33, timeout is 1 seconds:
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Success rate is 98 percent (278/281), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/12/64 ms
Failover time is great when there is a feasible successor for a route because EIGRP simply
switches over to the new one. But what happens when EIGRP doesn't have a feasible successor
and there is a problem? When EIGRP doesn't have a backup route it will send a query out to all
of its neighbors asking if they know of a way to get to the downed network. This process is
called the Active state because the router is actively trying to solve reachability problems, this is
the opposite of passive state where everyone is in sync and there is not a lot of chatter in the
network. When neighbors receive a query they will do one of two things: Either they will have
a route and respond with an UPDATE packet or if the router doesn't it will send out its own
query to all of its neighbors to see if it can figure out the route.
The downside of this system is that a router will only send out one query packet per neighbor in
an effort to minimize redundant chatter, while it is waiting the router will keep the router an
Active state until it receives either a reply or an update packet from each neighbor. During this
time route is still kept in the routing table. In large EIGRP networks it may take awhile for all the
query packets to be answered or worse yet if the QUERY or the REPLY packet is lost in transit
due for whatever reason every router looking for the route will need to wait for the hold time
to expire and everyone to resync before the network turns passive again. This can be a massive
waste of bandwidth as well as be a lengthy outage considering the hold-time on NBMA links is
180 seconds or 3 minutes. This issue is called Stuck in Active.
To help explore this we'll change the timers on the Fast Ethernet links to 60/180 and we'll
change the S0/0 links to 1/3.
R1(config-if)#int s0/0
R1(config-if)# ip hello-interval eigrp 123 1
R1(config-if)# ip hold-time eigrp 123 3
R1(config-if)#int fa0/0
R1(config-if)# ip hello-interval eigrp 123 60
R1(config-if)# ip hold-time eigrp 123 180
R2(config-if)#int fa0/0
R2(config-if)# ip hello-interval eigrp 123 60
R2(config-if)# ip hold-time eigrp 123 180
R2(config-if)#int fa0/1
R2(config-if)# ip hello-interval eigrp 123 60
R2(config-if)# ip hold-time eigrp 123 180
R3(config-if)#int s0/0
R3(config-if)# ip hello-interval eigrp 123 1
R3(config-if)# ip hold-time eigrp 123 3
R3(config-if)#int fa0/0
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R3(config-if)# ip hello-interval eigrp 123 60
R3(config-if)# ip hold-time eigrp 123 180

Next we'll apply a standard ACL on R1's Fa0/0 to block all traffic and shut down R3's S0/0.

R1(config)#access-list 5 deny any
R1(config)#int fa0/0
R1(config-if)#ip access-group 5 in
R3(config-if)#int s0/0
R3(config-if)#shut

If we turn on debug ip eigrp we can see looking for the serial network.
R1#debug ip eigrp
*Mar 2 04:54:00.048: IP-EIGRP(Default-IP-Routing-Table:123): 10.175.113.32/30 - not in IP routing table
*Mar 2 04:54:00.052: IP-EIGRP(Default-IP-Routing-Table:123): Int 10.175.113.32/30
metric 4294967295 - 0 4294967295

On R2 we can see the QUERY packet and a few milliseconds later it receives a REPLY packet
from R3 confirming there is no other route.

*Mar 2 04:53:59.744: IP-EIGRP(Default-IP-Routing-Table:123): Processing incoming QUERY packet
*Mar 2 04:53:59.920: IP-EIGRP(Default-IP-Routing-Table:123): Processing incoming REPLY packet

Since we are blocking any traffic on R1's Fa0/0 interface it will not receive R2's REPLY so it will
remain in active, we can see this by checking show ip eigrp topology.

R1#show ip eigrp topology
IP-EIGRP Topology Table for AS(123)/ID(150.123.11.11)
Codes: P - Passive, A - Active, U - Update, Q - Query, R - Reply,
r - reply Status, s - sia Status
P 192.168.33.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 33280
via 192.168.12.2 (33280/30720), FastEthernet0/0
P 192.168.11.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 28160
via Connected, FastEthernet0/1
P 192.168.12.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 28160
via Connected, FastEthernet0/0
P 192.168.23.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 30720
via 192.168.12.2 (30720/28160), FastEthernet0/0
P 150.123.22.22/32, 1 successors, FD is 156160
via 192.168.12.2 (156160/128256), FastEthernet0/0
P 150.123.33.33/32, 1 successors, FD is 158720
via 192.168.12.2 (158720/156160), FastEthernet0/0
P 150.123.11.11/32, 1 successors, FD is 128256
via Connected, Loopback0
A 10.175.113.32/30, 1 successors, FD is Inaccessible, Q
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1 replies, active 00:00:17, query-origin: Local origin
Remaining replies:
via 192.168.12.2, r, FastEthernet0/0

Eventually the hold-time expires and the route is removed.
R1#
*Mar 2 04:55:46.068: %DUAL-5-NBRCHANGE: IP-EIGRP(0) 123: Neighbor 192.168.12.2
(FastEthernet0/0) is down: holding time expired
Now shut off the debug and review the topology table to see that the route has been removed.
R1#debug ip eigrp
Finally EIGRP can be a bit of a chatty protocol with all its hellos and various other packets it
sends frequently its possible on some slow WAN links that EIGRP can drown out actual data
traffic if EIGRP is busy enough. By default EIGRP may take up to 80% of a link for its own
communications. You can adjust this value with the ip bandwidth-percent eigrp <AS>
<percent> command under an interface.
Note: The bandwidth-percent command replies on the configured bandwidth on the interface,
if this value is wrong the command won't work as expected.
R1(config)#int s0/0
R1(config-if)#ip bandwidth-percent eigrp 123 20
Examine the routing tables of all three routers starting with Router1 and then going to Router2
and Router3.














CertificationKits.com EIGRP Sample CCNA Lab

EIGRP Review Questions
1) What is the administrative distance of EIGRP?________________________________

2) Does EIGRP support load balancing by default? _______________________________

3) From the Router1 router, what would be the command to display the EIGRP topology
table?__________________________________________________________________

4) What command would save the current configuration of all the routers?___________

Answers
1) 90 is for internal EIGRP and 170 for external EIGRP.
2) Yes, only equal cost load balancing. Unequal cost load balancing can be enabled using the variance
command.
3) show ip eigrp topology
4) copy run start