Contents Introduction Background Information OSPF versus RIP What Do We Mean by Link-States? Shortest Path First Algorithm OSPF Cost Shortest Path Tree Areas and Border Routers Link-State Packets Enabling OSPF on the Router OSPF Authentication Simple Password Authentication Message Digest Authentication ‘The Backbone and Area 0 Virtual Links Areas Not Physically Connected to Area 0 Partitioning the Backbone Neighbors Adjacencies DR Election Building the Adjacency Adjacencies on Point-to-Point Interfaces Adjacencies on Non-Broadcast MultiAccess (NBMA) Networks Avoiding DRs and neighbor Command on NBMA P int Subinterfaces Selecting Interface Network Types OSPF and Route Summarization Inter-Area Route Summarization External Route Summarization Stub Areas Redistributing Routes into OSPF E1 vs, E2 External Routes Redistributing OSPF into Other Protocols Use of a Valid Metric VLSM Mutual Redistribution Injecting Defaults into OSPF OSPF Design Tips Number of Routers per Area Number of Neighbors Number of Areas per ABRMemory Issues Summary Appendix A: Link-State Database Synchronization Link-State Advertisements OSPF Database Example Appendix B: OSPF and IP Multicast Addressing Appendix C: Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM} Related Information Related Cisco Support Community Discussions Introduction The Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol, defined in RFC 2328 c7, is an Interior Gateway Protocol used to distribute routing information within a single Autonomous System. This paper examines how OSPF works and how it can be used to design and build large and complicated networks. Background Information OSPF protocol was developed due to a need in the internet community to introduce a high functionality non-proprietary Internal Gateway Protocol (IGP) for the TCP/IP protocol family. The discussion of the creation of a common interoperable IGP for the Internet started in 1988 and did not get formalized until 1991. At that time the OSPF Working Group requested that OSPF be considered for advancement to Draft Internet Standard. The OSPF protocol is based on link-state technology, which is a departure from the Bellman-Ford vector based algorithms used in traditional Internet routing protocols such as RIP. OSPF has introduced new concepts such as authentication of routing updates, Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM), route summarization, and so forth. These chapters discuss the OSPF terminology, algorithm and the pros and cons of the protocol in designing the large and complicated networks of today, OSPF versus RIP The rapid growth and expansion of today's networks has pushed RIP to its limits. RIP has certain limitations that can cause problems in large networks: RIP has a limit of 15 hops. A RIP network that spans more than 15 hops (15 routers) is considered unreachable. RIP cannot handle Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM). Given the shortage of IP addresses and the flexibility VLSM gives in the efficient assignment of IP addresses, this is considered a major flaw. Periodic broadcasts of the full routing table consume a large amount of bandwidth. This is a major problem with large networks especially on slow links and WAN clouds RIP converges slower than OSPF. In large networks convergence gets to be in the order ofminutes. RIP routers go through a period of a hold-down and garbage collection and slowly time-out information that has not been received recently. This is inappropriate in large environments and could cause routing inconsistencies. RIP has no concept of network delays and link costs. Routing decisions are based on hop counts. The path with the lowest hop count to the destination is always preferred even if the longer path has a better aggregate link bandwidth and less delays. RIP networks are flat networks. There is no concept of areas or boundaries. With the introduction of classless routing and the intelligent use of aggregation and summarization, RIP networks seem to have fallen behind Some enhancements were introduced in a new version of RIP called RIP2. RIP2 addresses the issues of VLSM, authentication, and multicast routing updates. RIP2 is not a big improvement over RIP (now called RIP 1) because it still has the limitations of hop counts and slow convergence which are essential in todays large networks. OSPF, on the other hand, addresses most of the issues previously presented: With OSPF, there is no limitation on the hop count The intelligent use of VLSM is very useful in IP address allocation: OSPF uses IP multicast to send link-state updates. This ensures less processing on routers that are not listening to OSPF packets. Also, updates are only sent in case routing changes occur instead of periodically. This ensures a better use of bandwidth, OSPF has better convergence than RIP. This is because routing changes are propagated instantaneously and not periodically, OSPF allows for better load balancing. OSPF allows for a logical definition of networks where routers can be divided into areas. This limits the explosion of link state updates over the whole network. This also provides a mechanism for aggregating routes and cutting down on the unnecessary propagation of subnet information. OSPF allows for routing authentication by using different methods of password authentication. OSPF allows for the transfer and tagging of external routes injected into an Autonomous System. This keeps track of external routes injected by exterior protocols such as BGP. This of course leads to more complexity in the configuration and troubleshooting of OSPF networks. Administrators that are used to the simplicity of RIP are challenged with the amount ofnew information they have to leam in order to keep up with OSPF networks. Also, this introduces more overhead in memory allocation and CPU utilization. Some of the routers running RIP might have to be upgraded in order to handle the overhead caused by OSPF. What Do We Mean by Link-States? OSPF is a link-state protocol. We could think of a link as being an interface on the router. The state of the link is a description of that interface and of its relationship to its neighboring routers. A description of the interface would include, for example, the IP address of the interface, the mask, the type of network it is connected to, the routers connected to that network and so on. The collection of all these link-states would form a link-state database. Shortest Path First Algorithm OSPF uses a shorted path first algorithm in order to build and calculate the shortest path to all known destinations.The shortest path is calculated with the use of the Dijkstra algorithm. The algorithm by itself is quite complicated. This is a very high level, simplified way of looking at the various steps of the algorithm Upon initialization or due to any change in routing information, a router generates a link-state advertisement. This advertisement represents the collection of all link-states on that router. All routers exchange link-states by means of flooding. Each router that receives a link-state update should store a copy in its link-state database and then propagate the update to other routers. Alter the database of each router is completed, the router calculates a Shortest Path Tree to all destinations. The router uses the Dijkstra algorithm in order to calculate the shortest path tree. The destinations, the associated cost and the next hop to reach those destinations form the IP routing table. In case no changes in the OSPF network occur, such as cost of a link or a network being added or deleted, OSPF should be very quiet. Any changes that occur are communicated through link-state packets, and the Dijkstra algorithm is recalculated in order to find the shortest path. ‘The algorithm places each router at the root of a tree and calculates the shortest path to each destination based on the cumulative cost required to reach that destination. Each router will have its own view of the topology even though alll the routers will build a shortest path tree using the same link-state database. The following sections indicate what is involved in building a shortest path tree. OSPF Cost The cost (also called metric) of an interface in OSPF is an indication of the overhead required to send packets across a certain interface. The cost of an interface is inversely proportional to the bandwidth of that interface. A higher bandwidth indicates a lower cost. There is more overhead (higher cost) and time delays involved in crossing a 56k serial line than crossing a 10M ethernetline, The formula used to calculate the cost is: cost= 10000 0000/bandwith in bps For example, it will cost 10 EXP8/10 EXP7 = 10 to cross a 10M Ethernet line and will cost 10 EXP8/1544000 = 64 to cross a T1 line. By default, the cost of an interface is calculated based on the bandwidth; you can force the cost of an interface with the ip ospf cost interface subconfiguration mode command Shortest Path Tree ‘Assume we have the following network diagram with the indicated interface costs. In order to build the shortest path tree for RTA, we would have to make RTA the root of the tree and calculate the smallest cost for each destination. fy) RTA 378.2130.0 wo2siis SF aj RID ze2.2iL..00 a ' RTA ieatenw RIC The above is the view of the network as seen from RTA. Note the direction of the arrows in calculating the cost. For example, the cost of RTB's interface to network 128.213.0.0 is not relevant when calculating the cost to 192.213.11.0. RTA can reach 192.213.11.0 via RTB with a cost of 15 (10+5). RTA can also reach 222.211.10.0 via RTC with a cost of 20 (10+10) or via RTB with a cost of 20 (10+5+5). In case equal cost paths exist to the same destination, Cisco's implementation of OSPF will keep track of up to six next hops to the same destination. After the router builds the shortest path tree, it will start building the routing table accordingly. Directly connected networks will be reached via a metric (cost) of 0 and other networks will bereached according to the cost calculated in the tree. Areas and Border Routers As previously mentioned, OSPF uses flooding to exchange link-state updates between routers. ‘Any change in routing information is flooded to all routers in the network. Areas are introduced to put a boundary on the explosion of link-state updates, Flooding and calculation of the Dijkstra algorithm on a router is limited to changes within an area. All routers within an area have the exact link-state database. Routers that belong to multiple areas, and connect these areas to the backbone area are called area border routers (ABR). ABRs must therefore maintain information describing the backbone areas and other attached areas. AS100 Avea Border Router RIP. if Feteat Route Ss aeoomortn SS i a Bode Router ASER} ‘ a Ns BGP AS200 SS =: = ee 5 An area is interface specific. A router that has all ofits interfaces within the same area is called an internal router (IR). A router that has interfaces in multiple areas is called an area border router (ABR). Routers that act as gateways (redistribution)between OSPF and other routing protocols (IGRP, EIGRP, |S-IS, RIP, BGP, Static) or other instances of the OSPF routing process are called autonomous system boundary router (ASBR). Any router can be an ABR or an ASBR. Link-State Packets There are different types of Link State Packets, those are what you normally see in an OSPF database (Appendix A). The different types are illustrated in the following diagram:Router Links wT Describe the state and cost of the voutay's Lik (interfaces) fo the ana Clotia-area), Originated by AERsonly. Bescribe networks in the AS utoutsie of a Azea (Inter-area). ‘Also descrbe the locationof the ASBR. Network Links External Links DR aT ASER Originated for ulti-acces segments : sgith tno: than one attached route. j Describe all cours tached to te specie epment, Originatedby 2 “S sige Router (scuscet Later on). Qririnatedby an ASER, Describe destinations ex teznal the sutonocrous systenn ov a default route to the outside AS. As indicated above, the router links are an indication of the state of the interfaces on a router belonging to a certain area. Each router will generate a router link for all of its interfaces. Summary links are generated by ABRs; this is how network reachability information is disseminated between areas. Normally, all information is injected into the backbone (area 0) and in turn the backbone will pass it on to other areas. ABRs also have the task of propagating the reachability of the ASBR. This is how routers know how to get to external routes in other ASs. Network Links are generated by a Designated Router (DR) on a segment (DRs will be discussed later). This information is an indication of all routers connected to a particular multi-access segment such as Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI (NBMA also) External Links are an indication of networks outside of the AS. These networks are injected into OSPF via redistribution. The ASBR has the task of injecting these routes into an autonomous system. Enabling OSPF on the Router Enabling OSPF on the router involves the following two steps in config mode: Enabling an OSPF process using the router ospf command. Assigning areas to the interfaces using the network command. The OSPF process-id is a numeric value local to the router. It does not have to match process-ids on other routers. It is possible to run multiple OSPF processes on the same router, but is not recommended as it creates multiple database instances that add extra overhead to the router. The network command is a way of assigning an interface to a certain area. The mask is used as a shortcut and it helps putting a list of interfaces in the same area with one line configuration line. The mask contains wild card bits where 0 is a match and 1 is a “do not care" bit, e.g. 0.0.255,255 indicates a match in the first two bytes of the network number. ‘The area-id is the area number we want the interface to be in. The area-id can be an integer between 0 and 4294967295 or can take a form similar to an IP address A.B.C.D. Here's an example: ad Area 00.00 EL 193.213.122 bh Roe interface Ethernet0 ip address 192.213.11.1 255.255.2550 interface uthern ip address 192.213.12.2 255.255.255.0 interface sthernet? ip address 128.213.1,1 255.255.255.0 router ospt 100 network 192,213.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 0.0.0.0 network 128,213.1.1 0.0.0.0 area 23 The first network statement puts both EO and E1 in the same area 0.0.0.0, and the second network statement puts E2 in area 23. Note the mask of 0.0.0.0, which indicates a full match on the IP address. This is an easy way to put an interface in a certain area if you are having problems figuring out a mask OSPF Authentication Itis possible to authenticate the OSPF packets such that routers can participate in routing domains based on predefined passwords. By default, a router uses a Null authentication which means that routing exchanges over a network are not authenticated. Two other authentication methods exist: Simple password authentication and Message Digest authentication (MD-5).Simple Password Authentication Simple password authentication allows a password (key) to be configured per area. Routers in the same area that want to participate in the routing domain will have to be configured with the same key. The drawback of this method is that it is vulnerable to passive attacks. Anybody with a link analyzer could easily get the password off the wire. To enable password authentication use the following commands: ip ospf authentication-key key (this goes under the specific interface) id authentication (this goes under "router ospf ") Here's an example: interface = eco ip address 10.10.10.10 255.255.255.0 ip ospf authentication-key mypassword router ospf 10 network 10.10.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 0 avea 0 authentication Message Digest Authentication Message Digest authentication is a cryptographic authentication. A key (password) and key-id are configured on each router. The router uses an algorithm based on the OSPF packet, the key, and the key-id to generate a "message digest” that gets appended to the packet. Unlike the simple authentication, the key is not exchanged over the wire. A non-decreasing sequence number is also included in each OSPF packet to protect against replay attacks. This method also allows for uninterrupted transitions between keys. This is helpful for administrators who wish to change the OSPF password without disrupting communication. If an interface is configured with a new key, the router will send multiple copies of the same packet, each authenticated by different keys. The router will stop sending duplicate packets once it detects that all of its neighbors have adopted the new key. Following are the commands used for message digest authentication: ip ospf message-digest-key keyid md5 key (used under the interface) area area-id authentication message-digest (used under "router ospf ") Here's an example: interface 80 ip ad 10.10,10.10 255.255.255.9 ip ospf message-digest-key 10 a5 mypassword router osp£ 10 network 10.10.0.0 0.0.255.255area 0 authentil The Backbone and Area 0 ion message-digest OSPF has special restrictions when multiple areas are involved. If more than one area is configured, one of these areas has be to be area 0. This is called the backbone. When designing networks it is good practice to start with area 0 and then expand into other areas later on. The backbone has to be at the center of all other areas, i.e. all areas have to be physically connected to the backbone. The reasoning behind this is that OSPF expects all areas to inject routing information into the backbone and in turn the backbone will disseminate that information into other areas, The following diagram will illustrate the flow of information in an OSPF network: Intes-area routes Inter-areazoures (Summary rowes} ‘Avea3 a : BACKBONE virtual-link router OSPF sub-command on both RTA and RTB, where area-id is the transit area. In the above diagram, this is area 2. The RID is the router-id. The OSPF router-id is usually the highest IP address on the box, or the highest loopback address if one exists. The router-id is only calculated at boot time or anytime the OSPF process is restarted. To find the router-id, use the show ip ospf interface command Assuming that 1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2 are the respective RIDs of RTA and RTB, the OSPF configuration for both routers would be Rrat router ospf 10 avea 2 virtual-link 2.2.2.2 router ospf 10 area 2 virtual-link 1.1.1.1 OSPF allows for linking discontinuous parts of the backbone using a virtual link. In some cases, different area Os need to be linked together, This can occur if, for example, a company is trying to merge two separate OSPF networks into one network with a common area 0. In other instances, virtual-links are added for redundancy in case some router failure causes the backbone to be split into two. Whatever the reason may be, a virtual link can be configured between separate ABRs that touch area 0 from each side and having a common area. This is illustrated in the followingexample: In the above diagram two area Os are linked together via a virtual link. In case a common area does not exist, an additional area, such as area 3, could be created to become the transit area. In case any area which is different than the backbone becomes partitioned, the backbone will take care of the partitioning without using any virtual links. One part of the partioned area will be known to the other part via inter-area routes rather than intra-area routes. Neighbors Routers that share a common segment become neighbors on that segment, Neighbors are elected via the Hello protocol. Hello packets are sent periodically out of each interface using IP multicast (Appendix B). Routers become neighbors as soon as they see themselves listed in the neighbor's Hello packet. This way, a two way communication is guaranteed. Neighbor negotiation applies to the primary address only. Secondary addresses can be configured on an interface with a restriction that they have to belong to the same area as the primary address. Two routers will not become neighbors unless they agree on the following Area-id: Two routers having a common segment; their interfaces have to belong to the same area on that segment. Of course, the interfaces should belong to the same subnet and have a similar mask. Authentication: OSPF allows for the configuration of a password for a specific area. Routers that want to become neighbors have to exchange the same password on a particular segment. Hello and Dead Intervals: OSPF exchanges Hello packets on each segment. This is a form of keepalive used by routers in order to acknowledge their existence on a segment and in order to elect a designated router (DR) on multiaccess segments. The Hello interval specifies the length of time, in seconds, between the hello packets that a router sends on an OSPF interface. The dead interval is the number of seconds that a router's Hello packets have not been seen before its neighbors declare the OSPF router down OSPF requires these intervals to be exactly the same between two neighbors. If any of these intervals are different, these routers will not become neighbors on a particular segment. The router interface commands used to set these timers are: ip ospf hello-interval seconds andip ospf dead-interval seconds. Stub area flag: Two routers have to also agree on the stub area flag in the Hello packets in order to become neighbors. Stub areas will be discussed in a later section. Keep in mind for now that defining stub areas will affect the neighbor election process. Adjacencies Adjacency is the next step after the neighboring process. Adjacent routers are routers that go beyond the simple Hello exchange and proceed into the database exchange process. In order to minimize the amount of information exchange on a particular segment, OSPF elects one router to be a designated router (DR), and one router to be a backup designated router (BDR), on each multi-access segment, The BDR is elected as a backup mechanism in case the DR goes down. The idea behind this is that routers have a central point of contact for information exchange. Instead of each router exchanging updates with every other router on the segment, every router exchanges information with the DR and BDR. The DR and BDR relay the information to everybody else. In mathematical terms, this cuts the information exchange from O(n*n) to O(n) where n is the number of routers on a multi-access segment. The following router model illustrates the DR and BOR: In the above diagram, all routers share a common multi-access segment. Due to the exchange of Hello packets, one router is elected DR and another is elected BDR. Each router on the segment (which already became a neighbor) will try to establish an adjacency with the DR and BDR. DR Election DR and BDR election is done via the Hello protocol. Hello packets are exchanged via IP multicast packets (Appendix B) on each segment. The router with the highest OSPF priority on a segment will become the DR for that segment. The same process is repeated for the BR. In case of a tie, the router with the highest RID will win. The default for the interface OSPF priority is one. Remember that the DR and BDR concepts are per multiaccess segment. Setting the ospf priority on an interface is done using the ip ospf priority interface command. A priority value of zero indicates an interface which is not to be elected as DR or BDR. The state of the interface with priority zero will be DROTHER. The following diagram illustrates the DR election:RIA nin:23.23 Pel R = ETB i fame? R444 oR ee P=1 Foi ere : Femi’ eip2222 In the above diagram, RTA and RTB have the same interface priority but RTB has a higher RID. RTB would be DR on that segment. RTC has a higher priority than RTB. RTC is DR on that segment. Building the Adjacency The adjacency building process takes effect after multiple stages have been fulfilled. Routers that become adjacent will have the exact link-state database. The following is a brief summary of the states an interface passes through before becoming adjacent to another router: Down: No information has been received from anybody on the segment. Attempt: On non-broadcast multi-access clouds such as Frame Relay and X.25, this state indicates that no recent information has been received from the neighbor. An effort should be made to contact the neighbor by sending Hello packets at the reduced rate Pollinterval. Init: The interface has detected a Hello packet coming from a neighbor but bi-directional communication has not yet been established. Two-way: There is bi-directional communication with a neighbor. The router has seen itself in the Hello packets coming from a neighbor. At the end of this stage the DR and BDR election would have been done. At the end of the 2way stage, routers will decide whether to proceed in building an adjacency or not. The decision is based on whether one of the routers is a DR or BOR or the link is a point-to-point or a virtual link, Exstart: Routers are trying to establish the initial sequence number that is going to be used in the information exchange packets. The sequence number insures that routers always get the most recent information. One router will become the primary and the other will become secondary. The primary router will poll the secondary for information. Exchange: Routers will describe their entire link-state database by sending database description packets. At this state, packets could be flooded to other interfaces on the router.Loading: At this state, routers are finalizing the information exchange. Routers have built a link-state request list and a link-state retransmission list. Any information that looks incomplete or outdated will be put on the request list. Any update that is sent will be put on the retransmission list until it gets acknowledged. Full: At this state, the adjacency is complete. The neighboring routers are fully adjacent. Adjacent routers will have a similar link-state database. Let's look at an example: Areal Ey 203250.141 : oa 250.142 10: 203.250.1341 RTA, RTB, RTD, and RTF share a common segment (E0) in area 0.0.0.0. The following are the configs of RTA and RTF. RTB and RTD should have a similar configuration to RTF and will not be included. ReAt hostname REA interface Loopbacko p address 203.250.1341 255.25 255.0 interface Etherneto p address 203.250.14.1 255.255.255.0 router ospf 10 network 203.250,13.41 0.0.0.0 area 1 network 203.250.0.0 0.0,255.255 area 0.0.0.0 RIF hostname REF interface EthernetoSp address 203.250.14.2 255.255.255.0 router ospt 10 network 203.250.0.0 0.9.255.255 area 0.0.0.0 The above is a simple example that demonstrates a couple of commands that are very useful in debugging OSPF networks. show ip ospf interface This command is a quick check to see if all of the interfaces belong to the areas they are supposed to be in. The sequence in which the OSPF network commands are listed is very important. In RTA's configuration, if the "network 203.250.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 0.0.0.0" statement was put before the "network 203.250.13.41 0.0.0.0 area 1" statement, all of the interfaces would be in area 0, which is incorrect because the loopback is in area 1. Let us look at the command's output on RTA, RTF, RTB, and RTD: RUANshow 4p espf interface @0 Ethernet 255.255.255.0, Area 0.0.0.0 Process ID 10, Router ID 203.250.13.41, Network Type BROADCAST Cost: 10 Transmit Delay is 1 sec, State BDR, Priority 1 Designated Router (xD) 203.250.15.1, Interface address 203.250.14,2 Backup Designated router (ID) 203.250.13.41, Interface address 203.250.14.1 Timer intervals configured, Melle 10, Dead 40, Wait 40, Retransmit 5 Helle due in 0:00:02 NeSghbor Count is 3, Adjacent neighbor count is 3 Adjacent with neighbor 203.250.15.1 (Designated Router) Loopback0 is up, line protocol is up Internet Address 203.250.13,41 ID 203.250.13,41, Network Type LOOPBACK, Cost od as a stub Host RTFHshow ip ospf interface e0 © Address 203.250.14,2 255.255.255.0, Avea 0.0.0.0 Proce: ID 203.250.15.1, Network Type BROADCAST, Cost: 10 Transmit Delay is i sec, State DR, Priority 1 Designated Router (ID) 203.250.15.1, Interface address 203,250,14.2 Backup Designated router (1D) 203.250.13.41, Interface address 203.250.14.1 Timer intervals configured, Helle 10, Dead 40 + Wait 40, Re! 0:00:08 Neighbor Count is 3, A@jacent neighbor count is 3 with neighbor 203,250.13.41 (Backup Designated Router) RUD¥show ip ospf interface oo ernet0 is up, Line protocol is up Internet Address 203.250.14.4 255.255.2550, area 0.0.0.0 8 up, line protocol is up Internet address 203.250.14.1 255.255.255.255, Area 1 Process TD 10, Row oopback interface is trea fernet0 is up, line protocol is up Interne ID 10, Router emit 5 Hello due Adjac Process ID 10, Router ID 182.208.10.174, Network Type BROADCAST, Cost: 10 Transmit Delay is 1 sec, State DROTHER, Priority 1 Designated Router (ID) 203.250.15.1, =nterface addr 203.250.14.2 Backup Designated router (ID) 203.250.13.41, Interface address 203.250.14.1 Timer intervals configured, Helle 10, Dead 40, iiait 40, Retransmit 5 Hello due in 0:00:03 Neighbor Count is 3, Adjacent neighbor count is 2 Adjacent with neighbor 203.250.15.1 (Designated Router) Adjacent with neighbor 203.250.13.41 (Backup Designated Router} RTStshow ip ospf interface 00 jernet0 is up, line ps ocol is up Internet Address 203.250.14.3 255.255.255.0, Area 0.0.0.0 Process ID 10, Router ID 203.250.12.1, Network Type BROADCAST, Cost: 10 Transmit Delay is 1 sec, State DROTHER, Pri: ignated router (ID) 203.250.13.. configured, Helle 10, Dead 40, Wait 40, xe 1 Designated Router (ID) 203.250.15.1, terface address 203.250.14.2 sackup Ds 1, Interface address 203.250.14.1 Time emit 5 Hello due Adjacent neighbor count is 2 Adjacent with neighbor 203.250 with neighbor 202.250.13.41 (Backup Designated Router! The above output shows very important information. Let us look at RTA’s output. Ethemet0 is in area 0.0.0.0. The process |D is 10 (router ospf 10) and the router ID is 203,250.13.41. Remember that the RID is the highest IP address on the box or the loopback interface, calculated at boot time or whenever the OSPF process is restarted. The state of the interface is BDR. Since all routers have the same OSPF priority on Ethernet 0 (default is 1), RTF's interface was elected as DRbecause of the higher RID. In the same way, RTA was elected as BDR. RTD and RTB are neither a DR or BDR and their state is DROTHER. Also note the neighbor count and the adjacent count, RTD has three neighbors and is adjacent to two of them, the DR and the BDR. RTF has three neighbors and is adjacent to all of them because itis the DR. The information about the network type is important and will determine the state of the interface. On broadcast networks such as Ethemet, the election of the DR and BDR should be irrelevant to the end user. It should not matter who the DR or BDR are. In other cases, such as NBMA media such as Frame Relay and X.25, this becomes very important for OSPF to function correctly. Fortunately, with the introduction of point-to-point and point-to-multipoint subinterfaces, DR election is no longer an issue. OSPF over NBMA will be discussed in the next section Another command we need to look at is: show ip ospf neighbor Let us look at RTD's output: RIDAghow {p ogpf neighbor Neighbor 1D Pri State Dead Tine Address Interface 203.250.12.1 1 2UAY/DROTHER 0:00:37 203.250.14.3 EthernetO 203.250.15.1 1 FULL/DR 0:00:36 203.250.14.2 Beherneto 203.250.13.41 1 FULL/BDR 0:00:34 203.250.14.1 Btherneto The show ip ospf neighbor command shows the state of all the neighbors on a particular segment. Do not be alarmed if the "Neighbor ID" does not belong to the segment you are looking at. In our case 203.250.12.1 and 203.250.15.1 are not on Ethernet0. This is "OK" because the "Neighbor ID" is actually the RID which could be any IP address on the box. RTD and RTB are just neighbors, that is why the state is 2WAY/DROTHER. RTD is adjacent to RTA and RTF and the state is FULL/DR and FULL/BDR. Adjacencies on Point- oint Interfaces OSPF will always form an adjacency with the neighbor on the other side of a point-to-point interface such as point-to-point serial lines. There is no concept of DR or BDR. The state of the serial interfaces is point to point. Adjacencies on Non-Broadcast Multi-Access (NBMA) Networks Special care should be taken when configuring OSPF over multi-access non-broadcast medias such as Frame Relay, X.25, ATM. The protocol considers these media like any other broadcast media such as Ethernet. NBMA clouds are usually built in a hub and spoke topology. PVCs or SVCs are laid out in a partial mesh and the physical topology does not provide the multi access that OSPF believes is out there. The selection of the DR becomes an issue because the DR and BDR need to have full physical connectivity with all routers that exist on the cloud. Also, because of the lack of broadcast capabilities, the DR and BDR need to have a static list of all other routers attached to the cloud. This is achieved using the neighbor ip-address [priority number] [poll: interval seconds] command, where the "ip-address" and "priority" are the IP address and the OSPF priority given to the neighbor. A neighbor with priority 0 is considered ineligible for DR election. The "poll-interval” is the amount of time an NBMA interface waits before polling (sending a Hello) to a presumably dead neighbor. The neighbor command applies to routers with a potential of being DRs or BDR (interface priority not equal to 0). The following diagram shows a networkdiagram where DR selection is very important: RIC fE RIB In the above diagram, it is essential for RTA's interface to the cloud to be elected DR. This is because RTA is the only router that has full connectivity to other routers. The election of the DR could be influenced by setting the ospf priority on the interfaces. Routers that do not need to become DRs or BDRs will have a priority of 0 other routers could have a lower priority The use of the neighbor command is not covered in depth in this document as this is becoming obsolete with the introduction of new means of setting the interface Network Type to whatever you want irrespective of what the underlying physical media is. This is explained in the next section, Avoiding DRs and neighbor Command on NBMA Different methods can be used to avoid the complications of configuring static neighbors and having specific routers becoming DRs or BDRs on the non-broadcast cloud. Specifying which method to use is influenced by whether we are starting the network from scratch or rectifying an already existing design. Point-to-Point Subinterfaces A subinterface is a logical way of defining an interface. The same physical interface can be split into multiple logical interfaces, with each subinterface being defined as point-to-point. This was originally created in order to better handle issues caused by spit horizon over NBMA and vector based routing protocols, A point-to-point subinterface has the properties of any physical point-to-point interface. As far as OSPF is concemed, an adjacency is always formed over a point-to-point subinterface with no DR or BDR election. The following is an illustration of point-to-point subinterfaces:Arend 123.212, 128.213, 636 646 In the above diagram, on RTA, we can split Serial 0 into two point-to-point subinterfaces, $0.1 and $0.2. This way, OSPF will consider the cloud as a set of point-to-point links rather than one multi- access network. The only drawback for the point-to-point is that each segment will belong to a different subnet. This might not be acceptable since some administrators have already assigned one IP subnet for the whole cloud. ‘Another workaround is to use IP unnumbered interfaces on the cloud. This also might be a problem for some administrators who manage the WAN based on IP addresses of the serial lines. The following is a typical configuration for RTA and RTB ROAM interface Serial 0 no ip adi encapsulation frane-relay interface Serial0.1 point-to-p p address 128.213.63.6 255.255.252.0 frane-relay interface-dlci 20 interface Serial0.2 point-to-po. ip address 128.213.54.6 255.255.252.0 vane-relay interface-dici xouter ospf 10 network 128.213.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 1 RrBe interface Serial 0 no ip address alation frane-relay interface Serial0.1 point-to-point p address 128.213.63.5 255.255.252.0frane-relay interface-dici 40 interface Seriall ip address 123.212.1.1 255.255.2550 router ospf 10 network 128.213.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 1 network 123.212.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 0 Selecting Interface Network Types The command used to set the network type of an OSPF interface is: 4p ospf network (broadcast | non-broadcast | point-to-multipoint) Point-to-Multipoint Interfaces ‘An OSPF point-to-multipoint interface is defined as a numbered point-to-point interface having one or more neighbors. This concept takes the previously discussed point-to-point concept one step further, Administrators do not have to worry about having multiple subnets for each point-to-point link, The cloud is configured as one subnet. This should work well for people who are migrating into the point-to-point concept with no change in IP addressing on the cloud. Also, they would not have to worry about DRs and neighbor statements. OSPF point-to-multipoint works by exchanging additional link-state updates that contain a number of information elements that describe connectivity to the neighboring routers. wea aa 122212, 128.213. 04 REAR interface Loopbacko p address 200.200.10.1 255.255.2550 interface Serialo bp address 128.213.10.1 255.255.255.0 encapsulation frane-relay ospf network point-to-multipoint router ospf 10 network 198.913.0.0 0.0.955.955 area 7ROBE interface Serialo sp address 128.213.10.2 255.255.255.0 encapsulation frane-relay p spf network point-to-multipoint interface Seriall 1p address 123.212.1.1 255.255.255.9 router ospt 10 network 128,213.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 1 network 123,212.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 0 Note that no static frame relay map statements were configured; this is because Inverse ARP takes care of the DLC! to IP address mapping. Let us look at some of show ip ospf interface and show ip ospf route outputs: RUANshow 4p ospf interface 20 Seriald is up, line protocol is up Internet Address 128.213.10.1 255.255.255.0, Area 0 Process 1D 10, Router ID 200,200.10.1, Network Type POINT_TO_MULTIPOIN’ st: 64 Transmit Delay is 1 sec, State POINT_TO_MULTIPOINT, Timer intervals configured, Hello 30, Dead 120, Wait 120, Retransmit 5 Hello due in 0:00:04 Neighbor Count is 2, Adjacent neighbor count is 2 Adjacent with neighbor 195.211.10.174 Adjacent with neighbor 126.213.63.130 RTANshOW Ap ospf neighbor Neighbor 1D Pri State Dead Time Address Interface 128.213.10.3 1 FUDh/ ~ 0:01:35 128,213.10.3 Serial0 128.213.10.2 1 FUUL/ - 9:01:44 128.213.10.2 Serialo RTBEghew tp net Address 128.213.10.2 255.255.255.0, Area 0 Process ID 10, Router ID 128,213,10.2, Network Type POINT_TO_MUMPTPOINT, onpf Interface #0 Serial0 is up, Line protocol is up Tht cost: 64 Transmit Delay is 1s 110 30, Dead 120, Wait 120, Re count {8 1 Adjacent with neighbor 200,200.10.1 RTBHahow 4p ospf neighbor Neighbor TD Pri State Dead Wwerface 200.200.10.1 1 FULL/ ~ 0:01:52 128.213.10.1 Serialo The only drawback for point-to-multipoint is that it generates multiple Hosts routes (routes with mask 255.255.255.255) for all the neighbors. Note the Host routes in the following IP routing table for RTB: State POINTT0_MULTIPOINT, Timer intervals configured, Fansmit 5 Helle due in 0:00:14 Neighbor Count is 1, Adjacent neighbor me Address RuBMshow Ip route Codes ted, § - stat. B > BoP D- EIGRP, EX - SICRP external, 0 - OSPF, ZA 52 - oseF external type 2, > EGP i - ISIS, Ll - I-28 level-1, L2 - I-28 level-2, * - candidate Aofault Gateway of last resort is not set 200.200.10.0 255.255.255.255 is subnetted, 1 subnets 0 200.200.10.1 [110/65] via 128.213.10.1, Serialo 128.213.0.0 is variably subnetted, 3 subnets, 2 masks © 128.213.10.3 255.255.255.255 [120/128] via 128.213.10.1, 00:00:00, s ai 255.255.255.0 is directly connected, Serial0 123.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 is subnetted, 1 subnets C alo o 213.10.1 255.255.255.255 [110/64] via 128.213.10.1, 00:00:00, Serial ¢ 128.213.10.0 123.212.1.0 is directly connected, Seriall RTCtshew ip route 200.200.10.0 255.255.255.255 is siably subnetted, 4 subnets, 2 masks © 128.213.10.2 255.255.255.255 [110/128] via 128.213.10.1,Serial1 subnetted, 1 subnets 0 200.200.10.1 [110/65] via 128.213.10.1, Seriail 128.213.0.0 is © 128.213,10.1 255.255.255.255 [110/64] via 128.213.10.1, Sexiall C 128,213.10.0 259.295.255.9 is directly connected, Serial1 123.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 ie subaetted, 1 subnets 0 123.212.1.0 (210/192) via 128.223.10.1, 00:14:29, Serial Note that in RTC's IP routing table, network 123.212.1.0 is reachable via next hop 128.213.10.1 and not via 128.213.10.2 as you normally see over Frame Relay clouds sharing the same subnet. This is one advantage of the point-to-multipoint configuration because you do not need to resort to.static mapping on RTC to be able to reach next hop 128.213.10.2. Broadcast Interfaces This approach is a workaround for using the "neighbor" command which statically lists all existing neighbors. The interface will be logically set to broadcast and will behave as if the router were connected to a LAN. DR and BDR election wil still be performed so special care should be taken to assure either a full mesh topology or a static selection of the DR based on the interface priority The command that sets the interface to broadcast is ip ospf network broadcast OSPF and Route Summarization Summarizing is the consolidation of multiple routes into one single advertisement. This is normally done at the boundaries of Area Border Routers (ABRs). Although summarization could be configured between any two areas, itis better to summarize in the direction of the backbone. This way the backbone receives all the aggregate addresses and in tum will injects them, already summarized, into other areas. There are two types of summarization: Inter-area route summarization External route summarization Inter-Area Route Summarization Inter-area route summarization is done on ABRs and it applies to routes from within the AS. It does not apply to external routes injected into OSPF via redistribution. In order to take advantage ‘of summarization, network numbers in areas should be assigned in a contiguous way to be able to lump these addresses into one range. To specify an address range, perform the following task in router configuration mode: area arca-id range address mask Where the “area-id” is the area containing networks to be summarized. The “address” and "mask" will specify the range of addresses to be summarized in one range. The following is an example of summarization:We2s6es 55755 255.0 178.219 96.197 255.355 255.0 108.213.96.0255.255.2240 128.213 64.0255.055 2240 In the above diagram, RTB is summarizing the range of subnets from 128.213.64.0 to 128.213.95.0 into one range: 128.213,64,0 255.255,224.0. This is achieved by masking the first three left most bits of 64 using a mask of 255.255.224.0. In the same way, RTC is generating the summary address 128.213.96.0 255.255.224.0 into the backbone. Note that this summarization was successful because we have two distinct ranges of subnets, 64-95 and 96-127. It would be hard to summarize if the subnets between area 1 and area 2 were overlapping. The backbone area would receive summary ranges that overlap and routers in the middle would not know where to send the traffic based on the summary address. The following is the relative configuration of RTB: Rome router ospf 100 area 1 range 128,213.64,0 255.255.224.0 Prior to Cisco |OS® Software Release 12.1(6), it was recommended to manually configure, on the ABR, a discard static route for the summary address in order to prevent possible routing loops. For the summary route shown above, you can use this command: Ap route 128.213.64.0 255.255.224.0 null0 In 10S 12.1(6) and higher, the discard route is automatically generated by default. If for any reason you don't want to use this discard route, you can configure the following commands under router ospf: [no] discard-route internal or [no] discard-route external Note about summary address metric calculation: REC 1583 c? called for calculating the metric for summary routes based on the minimum metric of the component paths available. REC 2178 cz (now obsoleted by RFC 2328 c*) changed the specified method for calculating metrics for summary routes so the component of the summary with the maximum (or largest) cost would determine the cost of the summary.Prior to |OS 12.0, Cisco was compliant with the then-current RFC 1583 7. As of |OS 12.0, Cisco changed the behavior of OSPF to be compliant with the new standard, RFC 2328 c?. This situation created the possibility of sub-optimal routing if all of the ABRs in an area were not upgraded to the new code at the same time. In order to address this potential problem, a command has been added to the OSPF configuration of Cisco IOS that allows you to selectively disable compatibility with RFC 2328 c7. The new configuration command is under router ospf, and has the following syntax: [no] compatible rfei583 The default setting is compatible with REC 1583 c7. This command is available in the following versions of 10S: 12.1(03)DC 12.1(03)DB 12.001(001.003) - 12.1 Mainline 12.1(01.03)T - 12.1 T-Train 12.000(010.004) - 12.0 Mainline 12.1(01.03)E - 12.1 E-Train 12.1(01.03)EC 12.0(10.05)W05(18.00.10) 12.0(10.05)SC External Route Summarization External route summarization is specific to external routes that are injected into OSPF via redistribution. Also, make sure that external ranges that are being summarized are contiguous. Summarization overlapping ranges from two different routers could cause packets to be sent to the wrong destination. Summarization is done via the following router ospf subcommand: susmary-address ip-address mask This command is effective only on ASBRs doing redistribution into OSPF.2GP, 128.213.6405 5255 25501 128.213.96-127 a] 255.255255.0 In the above diagram, RTA and RTD are injecting external routes into OSPF by redistribution. RTA is injecting subnets in the range 128.213.64-95 and RTD is injecting subnets in the range 128.213.96-127. In order to summarize the subnets into one range on each router we can do the following ospf 100 sunmary-address 128.213.64.0 255.255.224.0 redistribute bgp 50 metric 1000 subnets REDH espé 100 address 128.213.96.0 255.255.224.0 redistribute bgp 20 metric 1000 subnets This will cause RTA to generate one external route 128.213.64.0 255.255.224.0 and will cause RTD to generate 128.213.96.0 255.255.224.0. Note that the summary-address command has no effect if used on RTB because RTB is not doing the redistribution into OSPF. Stub Areas OSPF allows certain areas to be configured as stub areas. External networks, such as those redistributed from other protocols into OSPF, are not allowed to be flooded into a stub area. Routing from these areas to the outside world is based on a default route, Configuring a stub area reduces the topological database size inside an area and reduces the memory requirements of routers inside that area. ‘An area could be qualified a stub when there is a single exit point from that area or if routing to outside of the area does not have to take an optimal path. The latter description is just an indication that a stub area that has multiple exit points, will have one or more area border routers injecting a default into that area. Routing to the outside world could take a sub-optimal path in reaching the destination by going out of the area via an exit point which is farther to the destination than other exit points. Other atub area restrictions are that a stub area cannot be used as a transit area for virtual links.Also, an ASBR cannot be internal to a stub area. These restrictions are made because a stub area is mainly configured not to carry external routes and any of the above situations cause external links to be injected in that area. The backbone, of course, cannot be configured as stub. All OSPF routers inside a stub area have to be configured as stub routers. This is because whenever an area is configured as stub, all interfaces that belong to that area will start exchanging Hello packets with a flag that indicates that the interface is stub. Actually this is just a bit in the Hello packet (E bit) that gets set to 0. All routers that have a common segment have to agree on that flag. If they don't, then they will not become neighbors and routing will not take effect. An extension to stub areas is what is called "totally stubby areas". Cisco indicates this by adding a “no-summary" keyword to the stub area configuration. A totally stubby area is one that blocks external routes and summary routes (inter-area routes) from going into the area. This way, intra- area routes and the default of 0.0.0.0 are the only routes injected into that area The command that configures an area as stub is: ares stub (no-summary and the command that configures a default-cost into an area is: wen arca-id default-cost cost If the cost is not set using the above command, a cost of 1 will be advertised by the ABR. reat. 3.250, ‘Area2 202.250 0.0.0.8 142 tg f 8.1 dere 152 128.213. 129.21364.95 cet ctech) Assume that area 2 is to be configured as a stub area. The following example will show the routing table of RTE before and after configuring area 2 as stub. Rect interface Ethernet 0 ip address 203.250.14.1 255.255.255.0 interface Seriall ip address 203.250.15.1 255.255.255.252router ospé 10 network 203.250.15.0 0.0.0.255 area 2 network 202.250.14.0 0.0.0.255 area 0 show ip route Codes: ¢ - 4 = 1GkR, R - RIP, M- mobile, B- BER D- GRP, EX - SIGRP external, 0 - OSPF area EL - os: ~ oser external type 2, € - EGP i - ISIS, Ll - 18-18 level-1, 12 - 18-28 Aefauit Gateway of last resort is not set 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.252 is subne: 203.280.15.0 ia dives ed, Serial © TA 203.250.14.0 [110/74] via 203.250.15.1, 2 masks 0 22 128.213.64.0 00:06:21, Serialo 128.213.0.0 ig variably subnetted, 2 subnete, 2 Serial 0 1A 128.213.63.0 255.255.255.252 y conny 255.255.192.0 [110/10] via 203.250.15.1, 00:00:2 [110/84] via 203.250.15.1, 00:03:57, Serial0 121.108.0,0 255.255.255.240 is subnetted, 1 subnets © 131,108.79.208 [110/74] via 203.250.15.1, 00:00:10, Serial RTE has learned the inter-area routes (O IA) 203.250.14.0 and 128.213.63.0 and it has leamed the intra-area route (O) 131.108.79.208 and the external route (O E2) 128.213.64.0, If we configure area 2 as stub, we need to do the following: nterface Ethernet 0 p address 203.250.14.1 2: nterface Serial p address 203,250.15.1 255.255.255.252 router ospf 10 network 203.250,15.0 0,0,0,255 area 2 network 203.250,14.0 0,0,0,255 area 0 area 2 stub aterface Seriall ip address 203.250.15.2 255.255.255.252 ospf 10 203,250.15.0 0.0.0.255 area 2 area 2 stub Note that the stub command is configured on RTE also, otherwise RTE will never become a neighbor to RTC. The default cost was not set, so RTC will advertise 0.0.0.0 to RTE with a metric. of 1. = TORE, R- RIP, M- mobile, 3 - BCP D- sea EL - OSP? RTEAshow ip route Codes: C - connected, § - static, T EIGRP, EX - ZIGRP external, 0 - OSPF, IA - OSP? inter pi - IS-I8, LL - T8-I8 level-1, 12 - 18 oo external 0 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.252 10 © ZA 203,250.14.0 (220/741 resort is 203.250.15.1 to netw ° © 203.250.15.0 is dizectly connected, al 128.213.0,0 255.255.255.252 is eumnetted, 1 subnets 0 IA 58, Sex 0/84] via 203,250.5.1, 00:26:59, 128.213.63.0 subnected, 1 subnets 0 121.108.79.208 seial0 131.108.0.0 255.255.255.240 is Serial0 O*A 0.0.0.0 0/74] via 203.250.15.1, 00:26:59 0.0.0.0 (130/65) via 203.250.15.1, 00:26:59, Serial0 Note that all the routes show up except the external routes which were replaced by a default route of 0.0.0.0. The cost of the route happened to be 65 (64 for a T1 line + 1 advertised by RTC).We will now configure area 2 to be totally stubby, and change the default cost of 0.0.0.0 to 10. RICA ip address 203.250.14.1 255.255.255.0 nterface Seriall p address 203.250.15.1 255.255.255.252 router ospf 10 ek 203.250.15,0 0.0.0.255 area 2 Wek 203.250.14,0 0.0.0.255 area 0 area 2 stub no-sunmary area 2 default cost 10 RVEYshow 4p route Codes: ¢ - connected, $ - static, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M~ mobile, B- BGP D - ~ EIGRP external, © - OS2F, IA - O5Ps er area El - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF pe 2, # - EGP i - 18-18, LA - § level-1, L2 - 18-2 level-2, * - candid Aefauit Gateway of last resort ig not set 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.252 is subnetted, 1 subnets ¢ 203.250.15.9 is directly connected, Serial0 131.108.0,0 255.255.255.240 is subnetted, 1 subnets © 131,198.79,208 [110/74] via 203.250.15.1, 90:31:27, Seriald O*ZA 0.0.0.9 0.0.0.0 [110/74] via 203.250.15.1, 00:00:00, Seriale Note that the only routes that show up are the intra-area routes (O) and the default-route 0.0.0.0. The extemal and inter-area routes have been blocked. The cost of the default route is now 74 (64 for a T1 line + 10 advertised by RTC). No configuration is needed on RTE in this case. The area is already stub, and the no-summary command does not affect the Hello packet at all as the stub command does. Redistributing Routes into OSPF Redistributing routes into OSPF from other routing protocols or from static will cause these routes to become OSPF external routes. To redistribute routes into OSPF, use the following command in router configuration mode: bute protocol [process-idl b [subnet] Note: The above command should be on one line. value] [metric-type value] [route-map map-tag] The protocol and process-id are the protocol that we are injecting into OSPF and its process-id if it exits. The metric is the cost we are assigning to the external route. If no metric is specified, OSPF puts a default value of 20 when redistributing routes from all protocols except BGP routes, which get a metric of 1. The metric-type is discussed in the next paragraph. ‘The route-map is a method used to control the redistribution of routes between routing domains. The format of a route map is: route-map map-rag ([pezmit | deny] | [sequence-nunberl] When redistributing routes into OSPF, only routes that are not subnetted are redistributed if thesubnets keyword is not specified. E1 vs. E2 External Routes External routes fall under two categories, external type 1 and external type 2. The difference between the two is in the way the cost (metric) of the route is being calculated. The cost of a type 2 route is always the external cost, irrespective of the interior cost to reach that route. A type 1 cost is the addition of the external cost and the internal cost used to reach that route. A type 1 route is always preferred over a type 2 route for the same destination. This is illustrated in the following diagram: NER oxy 2 (ER) con NiEhcanyss mie As the above diagram shows, RTA is redistributing two external routes into OSPF. N1 and N2 both have an external cost of x. The only difference is that N1 is redistributed into OSPF with a metric- type 1 and N2 is redistributed with a metric-type 2. If we follow the routes as they flow from Area 1 to Area 0, the cost to reach N2 as seen from RTB or RTC will always be x. The internal cost along the way is not considered. On the other hand, the cost to reach N1 is incremented by the internal cost. The cost is x+y as seen from RTB and x+y#z as seen from RTC. If the external routes are both type 2 routes and the external costs to the destination network are equal, then the path with the lowest cost to the ASBR is selected as the best path. Unless otherwise specified, the default external type given to external routes is type 203.250, 128.213.0116 Suppose we added two static routes pointing to EO on RTC: 16.16.16.0 255.255.255.0 (the /24 notation indicates a 24 bit mask starting from the far left) and 128.213.0.0 255.255.0.0. The following shows the different behaviors when different parameters are used in the redistribute command on RTC: Roch nterface Ethernet p address 203.250.14.2 255.255.255.0 nterface Serial p address 203,250.15.1 255.255.255.252 router ospf 10 redistribute static network 203.250,15.0 0,0,0.255 area 2 network 203.250,14.0 0,0,0.255 area © Sp route 16,16.16,0 255,255.255.0 Beherneto ip route 128,213,0.0 255,255.0.9 jerneto RISE interface SerialO ip address 203,250.15.2 255.255.255.252 router ospf 10 network 203.250.15.0 0.0,0.255 aren 2 The following is the output of show ip route on RTE: ~ connected, § ~ static, I - TORR, R - M- mobile, B - 30P D - CRP external type 2, 2 > 2GP i = ISIS, LL - default Gateway of las! RP external, 0 - OS2F, TA ~ OSPF inter area Bi OSPE external type 1, #2 - oseF level-1, 12 - Is level-2, * candidat resort is not set 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.252 is subnetted, 1 subnets c fed, Serial 0 1A 203.250.14.0 [120/74] via 203.250.15.1, 00:02:31, Serialo 0 22 128.212.0.0 [110/20] via 203.250.15.1, 00:02:32, Serialo Note that the only external route that has appeared is 128.213.0.0, because we did not use the subnet keyword. Remember that if the subnet keyword is not used, only routes that are not subnetted will be redistributed. In our case 16.16.16.0 is a class A route that is subnetted and it did not get redistributed. Since the metric keyword was not used (or a default-metric statement under router OSPF), the cost allocated to the external route is 20 (the default is 1 for BGP). If we use the following: 203,250.15.0 is dis IGRP, R- RIP, M~ mobile, B - BGP D~ BICRP, EX ~ Bx! P externa: osps, IA - ose inter IS-IS, Ll = IS-18 level- ermal type 1 external type 2, B - EGP i 1, 12 - Is-I8 tevel-2, * ~ candidat: defauit Cateway of last resort is not set 16.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 is suonetted, 1 subnets 0 £2 16.16.16.0 [110/50] via 203.250.15.1, 00:00:02 seial0 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.252 is subn 2 subnets © 203.250.15.0 is directlyconnected, Serial0 © IA 202.250.14.0 [110/74] via 202.250.15.1, 00:00:02, Serial0 0 #2 128.212.0.0 [220/80} via 202.250.15.2, 00:00:02, Serialo Note that 16.16.16.0 has shown up now and the cost to external routes is 50. Since the external routes are of type 2 (E2), the internal cost has not been added. Suppose now, we change the type toE1 redistribute static metric 50 metric-type 1 subnets x1stshow ip route Codes: ¢ - com static, I - GRP, R- RIP, M- mobite, B- BGP D - nai, 0 - 0: OSPF inter area El - OSPF external type 1, E2 - 0S?F 2 i= TS-rs, Lt - IS-IS level-1, 12 - 18-18 level-2, * - candidate defau’ resort is not set 16.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 ig subnetted, 1 subnets O El 16.16.16.9 [210/124] via 203.250.15.1 00:04:20, Seriato 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.252 is subn: fed, 1 subnets © 203.250.15.0 is 'y connected, Serial © ZA 203.250.14.0 [110/74] via 203.250.15.1, 00:09:41, Serialo 0 128.213.0.0 [120/424] via 203.250.15.1, 00:04:23, serial Note that the type has changed to E1 and the cost has been incremented by the internal cost of SO which is 64, the total cost is 64+50=114. dire! Assume that we add a route map to RTC's configuration, we will get the following rca nterface Etherneto p address 203,250.14.2 255.255.255.0 nterface Serial p address 203,250.15.1 255,255,255,252 router ospf 10 redistribute atic metric 50 metric-type 1 subnets route-map STOPUPDATE notwork 203.250.15.0 0.0,0.255 area 2 network 203,250,14.0 0.9,0.255 area 0 ip route 16,16.16.0 255,255.255.0 hern 0 ip route 128.213.0.0 255.255.0.0 Ethernet access-list 1 p 0.0,255.255 route-map The route map above will only permit 128.213.0.0 to be redistributed into OSPF and will deny the rest. This is why 16.16.16.0 does not show up in RTE's routing table anymore. emit 128.213.0.0 PUPDATE permit 10 match ip ade RTEshow ip route Codes: ¢ - connected, S - static, I - GRP, R- RIP, M- mobile, RP, =x - external type 2, 2 - 0P i - IS-IS, L1 - IS. Aofauit Gateway of last resort is not set 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.252 is d, 1 subnets c 203.250.15.0 ie dizectiy connected, Serial0 0 IA 203.250.14.0 [110/74] via 203.250.19.1, 00:00:04, Serialo 0 £1 128.213.0.0 (110/114) via 203.250.19.2, 00:00:05, Serialo Redistribu' OSPF into Other Protocols Use of a Valid Me! :RP external, © - OSPF, Whenever you redistribute OSPF into other protocols, you have to respect the rules of those protocols. In particular, the metric applied should match the metric used by that protocol. For example, the RIP metric is a hop count ranging between 1 and 16, where 1 indicates that a network is one hop away and 16 indicates that the network is unreachable. On the other hand IGRP and EIGRP require a metric of the form:default-metric bandwidth delay rel VLSM ility loading meu Another issue to consider is VLSM (Variable Length Subnet Guide)(Appendix C). OSPF can carry multiple subnet information for the same major net, but other protocols such as RIP and IGRP (EIGRP is OK with VLSM) cannot. If the same major net crosses the boundaries of an OSPF and RIP domain, VLSM information redistributed into RIP or IGRP will be lost and static routes will have to be configured in the RIP or IGRP domains. The following example illustrates this problem: RF 203.250 255255.295, 192 1568 OSE 203.250 ise RIC 255255.255 252 1 2 eS HE so aoa In the above diagram, RTE is running OSPF and RTA is running RIP. RTC is doing the redistribution between the two protocols. The problem is that the class C network 203.250,15.0 is variably subnetted, it has two different masks 255.255.255.252 and 255.255.255.192. Let us look at the configuration and the routing tables of RTE and RTA: RoAe interface Etherneto ip address 203.250.15.68 255.255.255.192 ip address 203.250.15.67 255.255.255.192 interface Seriall Sp address 203.250.15.1 255.255.255.252 router ospé 10 redistribute vip metric 10 subnets wrk 203.250.15.0 0.0.0,255 area 0 redistribute ospf 10 metric 2 network 203.250,15.0 REBHshow ip route Codes © = connected, § - static, I - IGRP, R- RIP, M-nmobile, B - BCP D - BIGR?, BX - EIGRP external, 0 - OS2F, TA - OSPF inter area Fl ~ OSPF external type 1, #2 - OSPF external type 2, # - EGP i - ISIS, Ll - 18-18 level-1, 12 ~ 18-t8 level-2, * - candid s not set 203,250.15.0 is default Gateway of last reso jably sumetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks© 203.250 0 299.255.255.252 is directly connected, Serial0 0 203.25 [120/74} via 203.250.15.1, 00:15:55, 8 15.66 255.255.255.192 rial0 RIA¢shew ip route Codes: ¢ - connec: I - IGRP, K - RIP, M- mobile, B - BCP D ~ BIGR, EX ~ EIGRP external, 0 - OSD! external type 2, £ - SGP i - Isis, Li - 1 1, L2 - Is-g level-2, * - candidate default ¢ ceway of last resort is not set 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.192 is aubnetted, 1 subnets ¢ 202.250.15.64 is directly connected, Ethernet Note that RTE has recognized that 203.250.15.0 has two subnets while RTA thinks that it has only ‘one subnet (the one configured on the interface). Information about subnet 203.250.15.0 255.258.255.252 is lost in the RIP domain. In order to reach that subnet, a static route needs to be configured on RTA‘ REAR nterface Etherneto ip address 203,250,15.68 255.255.255.192 network 203.250.15.0 Ap route 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.0 203.250.15.67 This way RTA will be able to reach the other subnets. Mutual Redistribution Mutual redistribution between protocols should be done very carefully and in a controlled manner. Incorrect configuration could lead to potential looping of routing information. A rule of thumb for mutual redistribution is not to allow information learned from a protocol to be injected back into the same protocol. Passive interfaces and distribute lists should be applied on the redistributing routers. Filtering information with link-state protocols such as OSPF is a tricky business. Distribute-list out works on the ASBR to filter redistributed routes into other protocols. Distribute-list in works on any router to prevent routes from being put in the routing table, but it does not prevent link-state packets from being propagated, downstream routers would still have the routes. It is better to avoid OSPF filtering as much as possible if filters can be applied on the other protocols to prevent loops. 202.250.150 202250.150. 255255 235.192 255955 955 192 To illustrate, suppose RTA, RTC, and RTE are running RIP. RTC and RTA are also running OSPF. Both RTC and RTA are doing redistribution between RIP and OSPF. Let us assume that you do not want the RIP coming from RTE to be injected into the OSPF domain so you put a Passive interface for RIP on EO of RTC. However, you have allowed the RIP coming from RTA to be injected into OSPF. Here is the outcome: Note: Do not use the following configuration,ROE# interface Etherneto ip address 203.250.15.130 255.255.255.192 interface Serialo ip adress 203.250.15.2 255.255.255.192 router rip network 203.250.15.0 Roch interface Etherneto ip address 203.250.15.87 255.255.255.192 interface Serial ip address 203.250.15.1 255.255.255.192 router ospf 10 redistribute rip metric 10 subnets network 203.250.15.0 0.0.0.255 area 0 router rip redistribute ospf 10 metric 2 passive-interface Ftherneto network 203.250.15.0 RIAA interface Ethernet 0 ip address 203.250.15.68 255.255.255.192 router osp£ 10 redistribute rip metric 10 subnets network 203.250,15.0 0.0,0.255 area 0 router rip redistribute ospf 10 metric 1 network 203.250.15.0 RICishow 4p route Codes: ¢ - connected, 5 - static, I - IGKP, R- RIP, M~- mobile, 3 - BGP D - EIGRP, EX - SIGRP external, 0 - OSPF, IA - OSP2 inter area El - OSPY external type 1, £2 - OSPF external type 2, # - EGP i - ISIS, Ll - 18-18 level-1, L2 - I-28 level-2, * - candidate default Gateway of last resort is not set 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.192 is subnetted, 4 subnets ¢ 203.250.15.0 is directly connected, Seriall © 203.250.15.64 is directly connected, sthernet0 R 203.250.215.128 [120/1] via 203.250.15.68, 00:01:08, Ethernet0 [120/1] via 203.250.35.2, 0 2, Serdali 0 203.250.15.192 [110/20] via 203.250.15.68, 00:21:41, EthernecoNote that RTC has two paths to reach 203,250.15.128 subnet: Serial 1 and Ethernet 0 (E0 is obviously the wrong path). This happened because RTC gave that entry to RTA via OSPF and RTA gave it back via RIP because RTA did not leam it via RIP. This example is a very small scale of loops that can occur because of an incorrect configuration. In large networks this situation gets even more aggravated. In order to fix the situation in our example, you could stop RIP from being sent on RTA's Ethernet 0 via a passive interface. This might not be suitable in case some routers on the Ethernet are RIP only routers. In this case, you could allow RTC to send RIP on the Ethernet; this way RTA will not send it back on the wire because of split horizon (this might not work on NBMA media if split horizon is off). Split horizon does not allow updates to be sent back on the same interface they were learned from (via the same protocol). Another good method is to apply distribute-lists on RTA to deny subnets learned via OSPF from being put back into RIP on the Ethernet. The latter is the ‘one we will be using RIAN erface Etherneto ip address 203,250,15.68 255.255.255.192 router ospf 10 redistribute rip metric 10 subnet network 203.250.15.0 9.0.0.255 area 0 redistribute ospf 10 metric 1 network 203,250.15.0 A@isteibute-ist 1 out ompf 10 And the output of RTC’s routing table would be: RIFashow ip route Codes: C - connected, S - static, I - IORP, R - RIP, M- mobile, 3 - BGP D ~ wal, 0 ~ OSPF, = OSPF inter are: A, L2 ~ I8-r8 level: © resort is not set 203,250,15.0 255.255.255.192 is subnect OSPF ext RP, external type 2, E> EGP i - IS-I8, Li - GRP oxte: 8 leve. Aofault Gateway of 1 203,250.15.0 is 203.250.15.128 [120/1] via 203.250.15.2, 00: 203.250.15.68, 00:21:43 Injecting Defaults into OSPF An autonomous system boundary router (ASBR) can be forced to generate a default route into the OSPF domain. As discussed earlier, a router becomes an ASBR whenever routes are redistributed into an OSPF domain, However, an ASBR does not, by default, generate a default route into the OSPF routing domain ed, Seriall C 203.250.15.64 is directly connected, 213, yeali 0 203.250.15.192 [110/20] via ernet To have OSPF generate a default route use the following: default-information originate [always] (metric metric-value] [metric-type type-value] [route-map Note: The above command should be on one line. There are two ways to generate a default. The first is to advertise 0.0.0.0 inside the domain, but only if the ASBR itself already has a default route. The second is to advertise 0.0.0.0 regardlesswhether the ASBR has a default route. The latter can be set by adding the keyword always. You should be careful when using the always keyword. If your router advertises a default (0.0.0.0) inside the domain and does not have a default itself or a path to reach the destinations, routing will be broken. The metric and metric type are the cost and type (E1 or E2) assigned to the default route. The route map specifies the set of conditions that need to be satisfied in order for the default to be generated. 208.250.15.0 255.255 255.192 pay EL 1568 15.67 15i94\_ “User Bd 08.250.15.0 255 255255 102 Assume that RTE is injecting a default-route 0.0.0.0 into RIP. RTC will have a gateway of last resort of 203.250.15.2. RTC will not propagate the default to RTA until we configure RTC with a default-information originate command RTCHshow ip reute Codes: ¢ - connected, s - sta! = IGRP, R- RIP, M- mobile, B- BGP D- GRP, EX - SIGRP external, 0 - OSPF, IA ~ osPi enal type 1, #2 - osPF external type 2, - EGP i - IS-IS, Ll - 18-18 leve 12 ~ Is-zs level-2, * - candid Sefauit Gateway of last resort ig 203.250.15.2 co network 0.0.0.0 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.192 is subnetted, 4 subnets C 203.250.15.0 is directly connected, Seriall C 203.250.15.64 is @irectly connected, Ethernet R 203.250.15.128 [120/1] via 203.250.15.2, 00:00:17, Serial 0 203.250.15.192 [110/20] via 203.250.15.68, 2423, Ethernet R* 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 [120/1) via 203.250.15.2, 00:00:17, Seriali [120/1) via 203.250.15.68, 00:00:32, Ethernet RICH interface herneto ip address 203.250.1567 255.255.255.192 interface Seriall ip address 203.250.15.1 255.255.255.192 router ospf 10 redistribute rip metric 10 subnets network 203.250.15.0 0.0,0.255 axea 0 defaule-information originate metric 10 router rip redistribute osp! 10 metric 2 pass interface Bth net0 network 203.250.15.0 RTAISheW ip route Codes: C - connected, S - static, 7 - IGRP, R- RIP, M- mobile, B- BGP D~ EIGRP, EX - RIGRP external, 0 - OSPF, TA - OSeF inter azea El - OSPF external type 1, £2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP i - IS-I8, 1A - TS-TS le 1, L2 - IS-IS level-2, * - candidate default Gateway of last resort is 203,250,15.67 to network 0.0.0.0 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.192 203,250.15.67, 2423, Ethernet c 203 203,250.15.128 (110/10) via 203.250.15.67, 2423, connected, stherneti 0*E2 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 [110/10] via 203.250.1567, 00:00:17, BU Note that RTA has learned 0.0.0.0 as an external route with metric 10. The gateway of last resort is set to 203.250.15.67 as expected. (310/74) vie OSPF Design Tips ‘The OSPF RFC (1583) did not specify any guidelines for the number of routers in an area or number the of neighbors per seament or what is the best way to architect a network. Differentpeople have different approaches to designing OSPF networks. The important thing to remember is that any protocol can fail under pressure. The idea is not to challenge the protocol but rather to work with it in order to get the best behavior. The following are a list of things to consider. Number of Routers per Area The maximum number of routers per area depends on several factors, including the following: What kind of area do you have? What kind of CPU power do you have in that area? What kind of media? Will you be running OSPF in NBMA mode? Is your NBMA network meshed? Do you have a lot of external LSAs in the network? Are other areas well summarized? For this reason, it's difficult to specify a maximum number of routers per area. Consult your local sales or system engineer for specific network design help. Number of Neighbors The number of routers connected to the same LAN is also important. Each LAN has a DR and BDR that build adjacencies with all other routers. The fewer neighbors that exist on the LAN, the smaller the number of adjacencies a DR or BDR have to build. That depends on how much power your router has. You could always change the OSPF priority to select your DR. Also if possible, try to avoid having the same router be the DR on more than one segment. If DR selection is based on the highest RID, then one router could accidently become a DR over all segments it is connected to, This router would be doing extra effort while other routers are idle. Hore neighbors = mere work for DR/BDR ttNumber of Areas per ABR ABRs will keep a copy of the database for all areas they service. If a router is connected to five areas for example, it will have to keep a list of five different databases. The number of areas per ABR is a number that is dependent on many factors, including type of area (normal, stub, NSSA), ABR CPU power, number of routes per area, and number of external routes per area. For this reason, a specific number of areas per ABR cannot be recommended. Of course, it's better not to overload an ABR when you can always spread the areas over other routers. The following diagram shows the difference between one ABR holding five different databases (including area 0) and two ABRs holding three databases each. Again, these are just guidelines, the more areas you configure per ABR the lower performance you get. In some cases, the lower performance can be tolerated. Full Mesh vs. Partial Mesh Non Broadcast Multi-Access (NBMA) clouds such as Frame Relay or X.25, are always a challenge. The combination of low bandwidth and too many link-states is a recipe for problems. A partial mesh topology has proven to behave much better than a full mesh. A carefully laid out point-to-point or point-to-multipoint network works much better than multipoint networks that have to deal with DR issues.Partial Mesh Full vesh (Works better) (not recommended) Memory Issues It is not easy to figure out the memory needed for a particular OSPF configuration. Memory issues usually come up when too many extemal routes are injected in the OSPF domain. A backbone area with 40 routers and a default route to the outside world would have less memory issues compared with a backbone area with 4 routers and 33,000 external routes injected into OSPF. Memory could also be conserved by using a good OSPF design. Summarization at the area border routers and use of stub areas could further minimize the number of routes exchanged. The total memory used by OSPF is the sum of the memory used in the routing table ( show ip route summary ) and the memory used in the link-state database. The following numbers are a rule of thumb estimate. Each entry in the routing table will consume between approximately 200 and 280 bytes plus 44 bytes per extra path. Each LSA will consume a 100 byte overhead plus the size of the actual link state advertisement, possibly another 60 to 100 bytes (for router links, this depends on the number of interfaces on the router). This should be added to memory used by other processes and by the |OS itself. If you really want to know the exact number, you can do a show memory with and without OSPF being turned on. The difference in the processor memory used would be the answer (keep a backup copy of the configs). Normally, a routing table with less than 500K bytes could be accommodated with 2 to 4 MB RAM; Large networks with greater than 500K may need 8 to 16 MB, or 32 to 64 MB if full routes are injected from the Internet Summary The OSPF protocol defined in RFC 1583, provides a high functionality open protocol that allows multiple vendor networks to communicate using the TCP/IP protocol family. Some of the benefits of OSPF are, fast convergence, VLSM, authentication, hierarchical segmentation, route summarization, and aggregation which are needed to handle large and complicated networks. Appendix A: Link-State Database Synchronization(fm): RTA Down Hello (DR-0,None Seen) DOWN TWO-WAY a Saree INIT yen (DR-R1, B2ma 23 Seen) oe oeihbor ——_—_—_—__——_——_—__» Exstart DD (Seq-y,M) (MasteriStave DD (Seq=x,M) DDiSeq=x, 5) DD (Seq=x+1,M) Exchmge DD (Seq-x+1,5) FULL ~t FULL In the above diagram, routers on the same segment go through a series of states before forming a successful adjacency. The neighbor and DR election are done via the Hello protocol. Whenever a router sees itself in his neighbor's Hello packet, the state transitions to "2-Way". At that point DR and BDR election is performed on multi-access segments. A router continues forming an adjacency with a neighbor if either of the two routers is a DR or BDR or they are connected via a point-to-point or virtual link. In the Exstart state.the two neighbors form a Master/Slave relationship where they agree onainitial sequence number. The sequence number is used to detect old or duplicate Link-State Advertisements (LSA). In the Exchange state, Database Description Packets (DD) will get exchanged. These are abbreviated link-state advertisements in the form of link-state headers. The header supplies enough information to identify a link. The master node sends DD packets which are acknowledged with DD packets from the slave node. All adjacencies in exchange state or greater are used by the flooding procedure. These adjacencies are fully capable of transmitting and receiving all types of OSPF routing protocol packets In the Loading state, link-state request packets are sent to neighbors, asking for more recent advertisements that have been discovered but not yet received. Each router builds a list of required LSAs to bring its adjacency up to date. A Retransmission List is maintained to make sure that every LSA is acknowledged. To specify the number of seconds between link-state advertisement retransmissions for the adjacency you can use: ip _ospé_xotransnit-interval seconds Link-state update packets are sent in response to request packets. The link-state update packets will be flooded over all adjacencies. In the Full state, the neighbor routers are fully adjacent, The databases for a common area are an exact match between adjacent routers. Each LSA has an age field that gets periodically incremented while it is contained in the database or as it gets flooded throughout the area, When an LSA reaches a Maxage it gets flushed from the database if that LSA is not on any neighbors retransmission list. Link-State Advertisementsoo Link-state advertisements are broken into five types. Router Links (RL) are generated by all routers. These links describe the state of the router interfaces inside a particular area. These links are only flooded inside the router's area. Network Links (NL) are generated by a DR of a particular segment; these are an indication of the routers connected to that segment. Summary Links (SL) are the inter-area links (type 3); these links will list the networks inside other areas but still belonging to the autonomous system. Summary links are injected by the ABR from the backbone into other areas and from other areas into the backbone. These links are used for aggregation between areas. Other types of summary links are the asbr-summary links. These are type 4 links that point to the ASBR. This is to make sure that all routers know the way to exit the autonomous system. The last type is type 5, External Links (EL), these are injected by the ASBR into the domain The above diagram illustrates the different link types. RTA generates a router link (RL) into area 1, and it also generates a network link (NL) since it happens the be the DR on that particular segment. RTB is an ABR, and it generates RL into area 1 and area 0. RTB also generates summary links into area 1 and area 0. These links are the list of networks that are interchanged between the two areas, An ASBR summary link is also injected by RTB into area 1. This is an indication of the existence of RTD, the autonomous system boundary router (ASBR). Similarly RTC, which is another ABR, generates RL for area 0 and area 2, and a SL (3) into area 2 (since it is not announcing any ASBR), and a SL (3,4) into area 0 announcing RTD. RTD generates a RL for area 2 and generates an EL for external routes leamed via BGP. The external routers will be flooded all over the domain The following table is a summary of the link state advertisements Ls Typ | Advertisement Description eRouter Link advertisements. Generated by each router for each area it belongs to, They describe the states of the router's link to the area. These are only flooded within a particular area. Network Link advertisements. Generated by Designated Routers. They describe the set of routers attached to a particular network. Flooded in {the area that contains the network. ‘Summary Link advertisements, Generated by Area Border routers. They describe inter-area (between areas) routes. Type 3 describes routes to networks, also used for aggregating routes. Type 4 describes routes to ASBR. [AS external link advertisements. Originated by |ASBR. They describe routes to destinations external to the AS. Flooded all over except stub areas. If you look at the OSPF database in detail, using show ip ospf database detail , you will see different keywords such as Link-Data, Link-ID, and Link-state ID. These terms become confusing as the value of each depends on the link state type and the link-type. We will go over this terminology and will provide a detailed example on the OSPF database as seen from the router. The Link-State ID basically defines the identity of the link-state depending on the LS type. Router Links are identified by the router ID (RID) of the router that originated the advertisement. Network Links are identified by the relative IP address of the DR. This makes sense because Network Links are originated by the Designated Router. Summary Links (type 3) are identified by the IP network numbers of the destinations they are pointing at. ASBR Summary Links (Summary Links type 4) are identified by the RID of the ASBR. Finally, External Links are identified by the IP network numbers of the external destinations they are pointing at. The following table summarizes this information: LS Link State ID (In the high level view of the Typ | database when referencing a router this is e _| called Link ID) 1 |[The originating Router’s Router ID (RID). The IP interface address of the network's Designated Router. The destination network number. 4 _ |The router ID of the described AS boundary router. The external network number. 2 Next, we will describe the different links available: Stub network links: This term has nothing to do with stub areas. A stub segment is a segment that has one router only attached to it. An Ethernet or Token Ring segment that has one attached router is considered a link to a stub network, A loopback interface is also considered a link to stub network with a 255.255.255.255 mask (Host route)Point-to-point links: These could be physical or logical (subinterfaces) point-to-point serial link connections. These links could be numbered (an IP address is configured on the link) or unnumbered. Transit links: These are interfaces connected to networks that have more than one router attached, hence the name transit. Virtual links: These are logical links that connect areas that do not have physical connections to the backbone. Virtual links are treated as numbered point-to-point links. The link-ID is an identification of the link itself. This is different for each link type. A transit link is identified by the IP address of the DR on that link. A numbered point-to-point link is identified by the RID of the neighbor router on the point-to-point link. Virtual links are identical to point-to- point links. Finally, links to stub networks are identified by the IP address of the interface to the stub network. The following table summarizes this information: Link ID (This Link Type applies to individual Links) Point-to-Point Neighbor Router [D Link to transit network Interface address of DR Link to stub network (In case of loopback mask is Newerk/subnet 255.255.255.255) Virtual Link Neighbor Router 1D The Link Data is the IP address of the link, except for stub network where the link data is the network mask. Link Type Link Data Stub network Network Mask Other networks (applies to | Router’s associated IP router links only) interface address Finally, an Advertising Router is the RID of the router that has sent the LSA. OSPF Database Example303950 350 25055255255" HET IBF on 108.250.5199 xa Ape TC Bie bCeee 15.68 Bar ‘OSPF Ed Given the network diagram above, the following configurations, and the IP route tables, let us look at different ways of understanding the OSPF database. Roe interface Loopback? ip address 203.250.13.41 255.255.255.255 interface Etherneto ip address 203.250.15.68 255.255.255.192 interface Ethernet! ip address 203.250.15.193 255.255.255.192 router ospé 10 network 203.250.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 0 nected, § - tic, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M~ mobile, B- BGP D - GRP external, 0 - OSPF, IA - OSPE ints external type 2, £ - HGP i - I-18, Ll - s-18 level-1, 12 - 18-18 level-2, * resort is 202.250.15.67 to network 0.0.0.0 202.250.16.0 255.255.255.192 © B2 203.250.16.128 (110/10) via 203.250.15.67, 00:00:50 203.250.13.0 255.255.255.255 is subnetted, 1 subnets ¢ 203.250.1341 is direct popback0 203.2: 203.250.15.57, default Gateway of Lai is subnetted, 2 subn erneto 5015.0 255.255.255.192 is susnetted, 3 subnets 0 TA 203.250.15.0 [110/74] via 00:00:50, Etherneto © 203.250.15.64 is directly connected, Etherneto ¢ 203.250.15.192 is directly connected, Sthernetl O*82 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 [110/10) via 203.250.15.87, 00:00:50, Etherneto RTE# ip subne: 255.255.255.192 interface Serial0 ip address 203.250.15.2 255.255.255.192 router ospf 10 zero interface Ethernet0 ip address 203.250.16.130 redistribute rip metric 10 subnets network 203.250.15.0 0.0.0.63 area 1 default-information originate metric 10 router rip network 203.250.16.0 ip rout 9.0.0.0 9.0.0.0 Etherneto RIEIshow Ap route codes: ¢ - connected, S - static, 1 - IGRP, R- RIP, M- mobile, B - BGP D- BIGRP, Ex = BIGRE external, 0 - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area El - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF externa’ type 2, E = SGP 1 - ISIS, Li - IS-IS level-1, U2 - 18-18 level-2, * - candidate default Gateway of last resort is 0.0.0.0 to network 0.0.0.0 203.250.16.0 255.255.255.192 is subnetted, 1 subnets © 203.250.16.128 is dixectly connected, Ethernet0 203.250-13.9 ig variably subnetted, 2 2 masks 9 TA 203.250.13.41 255.255.255.255 [110/75] via 203.250 00:16:31, Serialo 203,250.15.9 255.255.255.192 is subnetted, 3 subnets © 203.250,15.0 is directly connected Serial0 0 TA 203.250.15.64 [110/74] via 203.250.15.1, 00:16:31, Serialo 0 TA 203,250.15.192 [110/84] via 203,250.15.1, 00:16:31, SerialO S* 0.0.9.0 0.0.0.0 is directly connected, BthernetoRICA Sp subnet-zero is face ip address 203.250.15.67 255.255.255.192 in Serial ip address 203.250.15.1 255.255.255.192 router capt 10 network 202.250.15.64 0.0.0.63 area 0 né sd, S ~ stat fork 203.250.15.0 0.0.0.63 area 1 RI¥#ahow ip route Codes: C - conne: A - 1GRP, R - RIP, ~ mob: = EIGRE externa?, 0 - ose: = oser inter PD - RIGRE area El - OSPY external type 1, 52 - OSvY external type 2, E - HGP i - 18-8, LI - 1-18 level resort ia 203.250.15.2 © E2 203.250.16.128 (110/10) via 203.250.15.2, 04:49:05, Seriall 203.250.13.0 255.255.255.255 is subnetted, 1 subnets 0 203.250.13.41 [110/11] via 203.250.1568, 04:49:05, Ethernet0 203.250.15.0 255.255.255.192 is 1, 12 - Is-t8 tevel-2, * ~ candida’ network defauit Gateway of La 0.0.0.0 203.250.16.0 255.255.255.192 is aubnetted, 1 subné subnested, 3 subnets © 203.250.15.0 is directly connected, Serial! ¢ 203.250.15.64 is directly connected, Ethernet 0 203.250.15.192 [110/20] via 203.250.15.88, 04:49:06, Etherneto OR? 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 [110/10] via 203.250.15.2, 04:49:08, seriall General View of the Database RUCHshow 4p espf database OSPF Router with =D (203.250.15.67) (Process ID 10) Router Link States (avea 1) Link 2D ADV Router Age Seg} Checksum Link count 203.250.15.67 203.250.15.57 48 0x80000008 oxB122 2 203.250.16.130 203.250.16.130 212 ox80000008 oxIF44 2 Summary Net Link States (Area 1) Link ID ADV Router Age Seq# Checksum 203.250.13.41 203.250.15.67 602 0x80090002 OxB0AA 203.250.15.64 203.250,15.67 620 OxB00000R9 Ox3E3C 203.250.15.192 203.250,15.67 638 0xB00000H5 OxAS¢E Router Link States (Area 0) Link ID ADV Router Age Seq# Checksum Link count 203.250.13.41 203.250.13.41 179 0x80000029 Ox9ADA 3 203.250.15.67 203.250.15.67 675 oxso0001z2 0xD023 1 Net Link States (Area 0) Link ID ADV Router Age Seg Checksum 203.250.15.68 203.250.13.41 334 0x80000001 OxP6RS Summary Net Link States (Area 0} Link ID ADV Router Age Seat Checksum 203.259,15.0 203.250,15.67 792 0x80900002 OxXAEBD Summary ASB Link States {Area 0) Link ID ADV Router Age Seq Checksum 203.250.16.130 203.250.15.67 579 9x80000001 OXF9AF AS Externe Link States Link ID ADV Router Age Seq Checksum Tag 0.0.0.0 203.250.16.130 1787 9x80000001 oxB8CE 10 203.250.216.128 203.250.16.130 5 oxE0000002 ox93c4 9 This is a general look at the whole OSPF database. The database is listed according to the areas. In this case, we are looking at RTC's database which is an ABR. Both area 1 and area O's databases are listed. Area 1 is composed of router links and summary links. No network links exist because no DR exists on any of the segments in area 1. No Summary ASBR links exist in area 1 because the only ASBR happens to be in area 0. External links do not belong to any particular area as they are flooded all over. Note that all the links are the cumulative links collected from all routers in an area. We will mainly concentrate on the database in area 0. The Link-ID indicated here is actually the Link-State ID. This is a representation of the whole router, not a particular link, This is a bit confusing, but just remember that this high level Link-ID (should be Link-State ID) represents the whole router and not just a link. Router Links Router Link States (Area 0) Link 203,250.13.41 179 0x80000029 OxBADA 3 203.250.15.67 203.250.15.67 675 OxB0000E2 oxDD23 2 We will start with the router links. There are two entries listed for 203.250.13.41 and 203.250.15.67, these are the RIDs of the two routers in area 0. The number of links in area 0 for each router is also indicated. RTA has three links to area 0 and RTC has one link. A detailed view of RTC's router links follows: ADV Router age Seq Checksum Link count 203.250.1341 Router with ID (203.250.15.67) (Process 1D RaCAshow ip ospf database router 203.250.15.67 0s! nk 10) Router tes (Area 1) LS age: 1169 Options: (No TOS-capabi:Link State Ib: 203.250.15.67 adver’ oxB112 Length: 48 (poins-to-pe 1g Router: 203.250.1567 LS Seq Number: 80000008 Checksum: wea Border Router Number of Links: 2 Link connected to: another Router AD: 203.250.16.130 (1 ies: 64 Link connected t ) (Line 1D) Neighboring Row! Data) Router interface address: 203,250.15. mun Network (Link ID) Network/eubnet number: 202.250.15.0 (Link Data) Network Mask: 255.255.255.192 mumber of 708 metric#: 0 708 0 Metrica: 64 One thing to note here is that OSPF generates an extra stub link for each point-to-point interface Do not get confused if you see the link count larger than the number of physical interfaces. of DOS meteies: 0 YOS 0 Me: a stub Router Link states (Area 0) Ls age: 1227 options: (Wo LS Type: Router Links Link State 1D: 203.250.15.67 Advertising Router: 203.250.15.67 LS seq Nuniber: 80000003 Checksum: OxA041 Length: 36 Area Border Router Mumber of Linke: 2 Link 1: 203.250.15.68 (Link Dat Router Interface address: 203.250.15.67 Nunber of TOS metrics: 0 70S 0 Metrics: 10 Note that the Link ID is equal to the IP address (not the RID) of the attached DR; in this case it is 203.250.15.68. The Link Data is RTC's own IP address. capability) connected to: a Transit Network (Link ID) Designated Router addre Network ks, Net Link States (Area 0) Link 7D abv Router age Seat checksum 203.250.15.68 203.250.13.41 334 0x80000001 oxpeas One network link is listed, indicated by the interface IP address (not the RID) of the DR, in this case 203.250.15.68. A detailed view of this entry follows: RICAshow ip ospf database network OSPF Router with ID (203,250,15.57) (Process ID 10) Net Link on this LSA LS age 203.250.15.68 (address of Designated Router) Advertising Route: 203.250.13.41 LS Seq Number: 80000002 Checksum: 0xB4B6 Length: 32 Network Mask: 255.255.255.192 tes (Area 0) Routing Bit 5 (Mo Tos-capability) LS Type Network Links Link state 1 Attached Router: 203.250.13.41 Attached Router: 203.250.15.67 Note that the network link lists the RIDs of the routers attached to the transit network; in this case the RIDs of RTA and RTC are listed. Summary Links Sunmary Net Link States (Area 0) Link 1D ADV Router Age Seat Checksum 203.250.15.0 203.250.15.67 792 oxeoaa0002 0: D a 0 has one summary Link represented by the IP network address of the Link 203.250.15.0. This link was injected by the ABR RIC from area 1 int: a 0. A detailed view of this summary Link follows, summary Links for a 1 are not listed here RuCAshow 4p ospf database summary (area 1 is not list ya) Summary Net Link States (Area 0) LS age: 615 opti 203.250.15.0 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 203.250.15.67 LS Seq Number: 80000003 64 wna: (No YOS-capability) LS Type: Summary Links (Network) Link sta Checksum: OxACBE Length: 28 Wi Summary ASBR Links fork Mask: 255.255.255.192 10S: 0 Me!Summary ASE Link States (Avea 0) Link 1D aby Router age Seat checksum 202.250.16.130 203.250.15.67 379 0x80000001 oxP9ae This is an indication of who the ASBR is. In this case the ASBR is RTE represented by its RID 203.250.16.130. The advertising router for this entry into area 0 is RTC with RID 203.250.15.67. A detailed view of the summary ASBR entry follows: RvCHshow 4p ospf database asbr-sunmary OSP! Xouter with ID (203.2 67) (process 29 10) Sunmary ASB Link States (Area 0) LS age: 802 options: (No TOS-capability) LS Type: Summary Linke (AS Boundary Router) Link State ID: 203.250.16.130 (aS Boundary Router a Advertising Router: 203.250.15.67 LS Seq Number: 80000003 Checksum: OxPSBL Length: 28 Network Mask: 0.0.0.0 Tos: 0 Metric: 64 External Links AS External Link States Link 7D ADV Router age Seat checksum Tag 0.9.0.0 203.250.16.130 1787 oxB0000001 oxs8cE 19, 203.250.16.128 203.250.168.130 5 ox80000002 ox93c4 0 We have two external Links, the first one is the 0.0.0.0 injected into OSPF via the default- information originate command. The other entry is network 203.250.16.12 8 which is injected into OSPF by redistribution, The router advertising these networks is 203,250.16.130, the RID of RTE. The following is the detailed view of the external routes: x show 4p ospf database external OSPF Router with 1D (203.250.15.67) (Process 1D 10) AS External Link States Routing Bit Set on thi: ty) us Type: AS External Link Link State ID: 0.0.0.0 (xxternal Network Number ) Advertising Route: Mask: 9.0.0.0 Met ESA LS age: 208 options: (Ne TOS-capabi 203.250.16.130 LS Seq Number: 80000002 Checksum: 0x96CF Length: 36 Netwo: fe 10 Forward Address: 0.0.0.0 External 1S Type: AS ing Router: Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path) Tos Route Pag Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 226 Options: (No T0S-capab: External Link Link State 1D: 203.250.216.128 (External Network Number) Advert 203.250.216.130 LS Seq thinber: 20000002 Checksum: 0x93C4 Length: 36 Net Metric Type: 2 External Route Tag: 0 Note the forward address. Whenever this address is 0.0.0.0 it indicates that the external routes are reachable via the advertising router, in this case 203, 250.16.130. This is why the identity of the ASBR is injected by ABRs into other areas using ASBR summary links. Mask: 255.255.255.192 jer than any Link state path) TOS: 0 Metric: 10 Forward Address: 0.0.0.0 This forward address is not always 0.0.0.0. In some cases, it could be the IP address of another router on the same segment. The following diagram wil illustrate this situation:RIB, 425. 211.0.0 — OSPF In the above situation RTB, is running BGP with RTA, and OSPF with the rest of the domain. RTA. is not running OSPF. RTB is redistributing BGP routes into OSPF. According to OSPF, RTB is an ASBR advertising external routes. The forwarding address in this case is set to 125.211.1.1 and not to the advertising router (0.0.0.0) RT B. This makes sense because there is no need to make the extra hop. An important thing to remember is that routers inside the OSPF domain should be able to reach the forwarding address via OSPF in order for the external routes to be put in the IP routing table. If the forwarding address is reached via some other protocol or no t accessible, the external entries would be in the database but not in the IP routing table. Another situation would arise if both RTB and RTC are ASBRs (RTC is also running BGP with RTA). In this situation, in order to eliminate the duplication of the effort, one of the two routers will not advertise (will flush) the external routes. T he router with the higher RID will win. The Full Database Finally, this is a listing of the whole database as an exercise. You should now b e able to go over each entry and explain what is going on: RaCHhow 4p espf database router OSPF Kouter with ID (203.250.15.67) (Process ID 10} Kouter Link States (Area 1) LS age: 926 Options: (No T0S-capability) LS type: Router Links Link State 1D: 203.250.15.57 Advertising Kouter: 203.250.15.87 LS Seq Number: 80000035 Checksum: 0x5738 Length! 48 Area Border Router Number of Links: 2 Link connected to: another Ro (poine-to-poine) (Link ID) Neighboring Router TD: 203.250.16.130 (Link Data} Router Interface address. 203.250.15.1 wunber of TOS metrics: 0 TOS 0 Metrics: 64 Link connected a stub Network (Link 1D) Network/subnet number; 203.250.15.0 (Link Data) Network Mask: 255.255.255.192 Number of Tos metrics: 0 0 Metrics: 64 Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 958 options: (No To: capability) LS Type: Router Links Link State 1D: 203.250.16.130 adv srtising Router 203.250.16.130 LS Seq Number: 80000038 Checksum: OxDATS Length: 48 AS Roundary Router Nunber of nkg: 2 Link connected to: another Router (point-c: point) (Link ID) Neighboring Router =p 203.250.15.87 (Link Data) Router Interface address: 203.250.15.2 Nunber of TOS netrics: 0 0S 0 Metrics: 64 Link connected to: a Stub Network (Link ID) Network/subnet number: 203.250.15.0 (Link Data) Network Mask; 255.255.255.192 Mumber of TOS metrics: 0 TOS 0 Metrics: 64 Router Link States (Area 0) Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 1107 Options: (No TOS-capability) LS type: Router Links Link State 1D: 203.250.13.41 Advertising Router: 203.250.13.41 LS Seq Number 8000002 Checksum: OXCOBO Length: 60 AS Boundary Router Number of Links: 3 Link connected to: a Stub Network (Link ID) Network/subnet number: 203.250,13.41 (Link Data) Network Mask. 255.255.255.255 Number of TOS metrics: 0 TOS 0 Metrics: 1 Link connected to: a Stub Network (Link 1D) Network/subnet number: 203.250.15.192 (Link Data} Network Mask: 255.255.255.192 Nunber of TOS metrles: 0 TOS O Metrics: 10 Link connected to: @ Transit Network (Link 1D) Designated Router address: 203.250.15.68 (Link Data) Router Interface address: 203.250.15.68 Number of 70s