Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP)

Interior Gateway Routing Protocol is a distance vector routing protocol developed by Cisco systems for
routing multiple protocols across small and medium sized Cisco networks. It is proprietary which requires
that you use Cisco routers. This contrasts with IP RIP and IPX RIP, which are designed for multi-vendor
networks. IGRP will route IP, IPX, Decnet and AppleTalk which makes it very versatile for clients running
many different protocols. It is somewhat more scalable than RIP since it supports a hop count of 100, only
advertises every 90 seconds and uses a composite of five different metrics to select a best path destination.
Note that since IGRP advertises less frequently, it uses less bandwidth than RIP but converges much slower
since it is 90 seconds before IGRP routers are aware of network topology changes. IGRP does recognize
assignment of different autonomous systems and automatically summarizes at network class boundaries. As
well there is the option to load balance traffic across equal or unequal metric cost paths.
Characteristics
 Distance Vector
 Routes IP, IPX, Decnet, Appletalk
 Routing Table Advertisements Every 90 Seconds
 Metric: Bandwidth, Delay, Reliability, Load, MTU Size
 Hop Count: 100
 Fixed Length Subnet Masks
 Summarization on Network Class Address
 Load Balancing Across 6 Equal or Unequal Cost Paths ( IOS 11.0 )
 Update Timer: 90 seconds
 Invalid Timer: 270 seconds
 Holddown Timer: 280 seconds
 Metric Calculation = destination path minimum BW * delay (usec)
 Split Horizon
Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)
Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol is a hybrid routing protocol developed by Cisco systems for
routing many protocols across an enterprise Cisco network. It has characteristics of both distance vector
routing protocols and link state routing protocols. It is proprietary which requires that you use Cisco
routers. EIGRP will route the same protocols that IGRP routes (IP, IPX, Decnet and Appletalk) and use the
same composite metrics as IGRP to select a best path destination. As well there is the option to load
balance traffic across equal or unequal metric cost paths. Summarization is automatic at a network class
address however it can be configured to summarize at subnet boundaries as well. Redistribution between
IGRP and EIGRP is automatic as well. There is support for a hop count of 255 and variable length subnet
masks.
Convergence
Convergence with EIGRP is faster since it uses an algorithm called dual update algorithm or DUAL, which
is run when a router detects that a particular route is unavailable. The router queries its neighbors looking
for a feasible successor. That is defined as a neighbor with a least cost route to a particular destination that
doesn't cause any routing loops. EIGRP will update its routing table with the new route and the associated
metric. Route changes are advertised only to affected routers when changes occur. That utilizes bandwidth
more efficiently than distance vector routing protocols.
Autonomous Systems
EIGRP does recognize assignment of different autonomous systems which are processes running under the
same administrative routing domain. Assigning different autonomous system numbers isn't for defining a
backbone such as with OSPF. With IGRP and EIGRP it is used to change route redistribution, filtering and
summarization points.
Characteristics
 Advanced Distance Vector
 Routes IP, IPX, Decnet, Appletalk
  Routing Advertisements: Partial When Route Changes Occur
 Metrics: Bandwidth, Delay, Reliability, Load, MTU Size
 Hop Count: 255
 Variable Length Subnet Masks
 Summarization on Network Class Address or Subnet Boundary
 Load Balancing Across 6 Equal or Unequal Cost Paths (IOS 11.0)
 Hello Timer: 1 second on Ethernet / 60 seconds on Non-Broadcast
 Holddown Timer: 3 seconds on Ethernet / 180 seconds on Non-Broadcast
 Metric Calculation = destination path minimum BW * delay (msec) * 25
 Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) Support
 Split Horizon
 LSA Multicast Address: 224.0.0.10
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
Open Shortest Path First is a true link state protocol developed as an open standard for routing IP across
large multi-vendor networks. A link state protocol will send link state advertisements to all connected
neighbors of the same area to communicate route information. Each OSPF enabled router, when started,
will send hello packets to all directly connected OSPF routers. The hello packets contain information such
as router timers, router ID and subnet mask. If the routers agree on the information they become OSPF
neighbors. Once routers become neighbors they establish adjacencies by exchanging link state databases.
Routers on point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links (as specified with the OSPF interface type setting)
automatically establish adjacencies. Routers with OSPF interfaces configured as broadcast (Ethernet) and
NBMA (Frame Relay) will use a designated router that establishes those adjacencies.
Areas
OSPF uses a hierarchy with assigned areas that connect to a core backbone of routers. Each area is defined
by one or more routers that have established adjacencies. OSPF has defined backbone area 0, stub areas,
not-so-stubby areas and totally stubby areas. Area 0 is built with a group of routers connected at a
designated office or by WAN links across several offices. It is preferable to have all area 0 routers
connected with a full mesh using an Ethernet segment at a core office. This provides for high performance
and prevents partitioning of the area should a router connection fail. Area 0 is a transit area for all traffic
from attached areas. Any inter-area traffic must route through area 0 first. Stub areas use a default route
injected from the ABR to forward traffic destined for any external routes (LSA 5,7) to the area border
router. Inter-area (LSA 3,4) and intra-area (LSA 1,2) routing is as usual. Totally Stubby areas are a Cisco
specification that uses a default route injected from the ABR for all Inter-area and external routes. The
Totally Stubby area doesn't advertise or receive external or Inter-area LSA's. The Not-So-Stubby area ABR
is a transit area that will import external routes with type 7 LSA and flood them to other areas as type 5
LSA. External routes aren't received at that area type. Inter-area and intra-area routing is as usual. OSPF
defines internal routers, backbone routers, area border routers (ABR) and autonomous system boundary
routers (ASBR). Internal routers are specific to one area. Area border routers have interfaces that are
assigned to more than one area such as area 0 and area 10. An autonomous system boundary router has
interfaces assigned to OSPF and a different routing protocol such as EIGRP or BGP. A virtual link is
utilized when an area doesn't have a direct connection to area 0. A virtual link is established between an
area border router for an area that isn't connected to area 0, and an area border router for an area that is
connected to area 0. Area design involves considering geographical location of offices and traffic flows
across the enterprise. It is important to be able to summarize addresses for many offices per area and
minimize broadcast traffic.
Convergence
Fast convergence is accomplished with the SPF (Dijkstra) algorithm which determines a shortest path from
source to destination. The routing table is built from running SPF which determines all routes from
neighbor routers. Since each OSPF router has a copy of the topology database and routing table for its
particular area, any route changes are detected faster than with distance vector protocols and alternate
routes are determined.
Designated Router
Broadcast networks such as Ethernet and Non-Broadcast Multi Access networks such as Frame Relay have
a designated router (DR) and a backup designated router (BDR) that are elected. Designated routers
establish adjacencies with all routers on that network segment. This is to reduce broadcasts from all routers
sending regular hello packets to its neighbors. The DR sends multicast packets to all routers that it has
established adjacencies with. If the DR fails, it is the BDR that sends multicasts to specific routers. Each
router is assigned a router ID, which is the highest assigned IP address on a working interface. OSPF uses
the router ID (RID) for all routing processes.
Characteristics
 Link State
 Routes IP
 Routing Advertisements: Partial When Route Changes Occur
 Metric: Composite Cost of each router to Destination (100,000,000/interface speed)
 Hop Count: None (Limited by Network)
 Variable Length Subnet Masks
 Summarization on Network Class Address or Subnet Boundary
 Load Balancing Across 4 Equal Cost Paths
 Router Types: Internal, Backbone, ABR, ASBR
 Area Types: Backbone, Stubby, Not-So-Stubby, Totally Stubby
 LSA Types: Intra-Area (1,2) Inter-Area (3,4), External (5,7)
 Fast Hello Timer Interval: 250 msec. for Ethernet, 30 seconds for Non-Broadcast
 Dead Timer Interval: 1 second for Ethernet, 120 seconds for Non-Broadcast
 Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) Support
 LSA Multicast Address: 224.0.0.5 and 224.0.0.6 (DR/BDR) Don't Filter!
 Interface Types: Point to Point, Broadcast, Non-Broadcast, Point to Multipoint, Loopback
Integrated IS-IS
Integrated Intermediate System - Intermediate System routing protocol is a link state protocol similar to
OSPF that is used with large enterprise and ISP customers. An intermediate system is a router and IS-IS is
the routing protocol that routes packets between intermediate systems. IS-IS utilizes a link state database
and runs the SPF Dijkstra algorithm to select shortest paths routes. Neighbor routers on point to point and
point to multipoint links establish adjacencies by sending hello packets and exchanging link state databases.
IS-IS routers on broadcast and NBMA networks select a designated router that establishes adjacencies with
all neighbor routers on that network. The designated router and each neighbor router will establish an
adjacency with all neighbor routers by multicasting link state advertisements to the network itself. That is
different from OSPF, which establishes adjacencies between the DR and each neighbor router only. IS-IS
uses a hierarchical area structure with level 1 and level 2 router types. Level 1 routers are similar to OSPF
intra-area routers, which have no direct connections outside of its area. Level 2 routers comprise the
backbone area which connects different areas similar to OSPF area 0. With IS-IS a router can be an L1/L2
router which is like an OSPF area border router (ABR) which has connections with its area and the
backbone area. The difference with IS-IS is that the links between routers comprise the area borders and
not the router. Each IS-IS router must have an assigned address that is unique for that routing domain. An
address format is used which is comprised of an area ID and a system ID. The area ID is the assigned area
number and the system ID is a MAC address from one of the router interfaces. There is support for variable
length subnet masks, which is standard with all link state protocols. Note that IS-IS assigns the routing
process to an interface instead of a network.
Characteristics
 Link State
 Routes IP, CLNS
 Routing Advertisements: Partial When Routing Changes Occur
 Metric: Variable Cost (default cost 10 assigned to each interface)
 Hop Count: None (limited by network)
  Variable Length Subnet Masks
 Summarization on Network Class Address or Subnet Boundary
 Load Balancing Across 6 Equal Cost Paths
 Hello Timer Interval: 10 seconds
 Dead Timer Interval: 30 seconds
 Area Types: Hierarchical Topology similar to OSPF
 Router Types: Level 1 and Level 2
 LSP Types: Internal L1 and L2, External L2
 Designated Router Election, No BDR
 Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) Support
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
Border Gateway Protocol is an exterior gateway protocol, which is different from the interior gateway
protocols discussed so far. The distinction is important since the term autonomous system is used
somewhat differently with protocols such as EIGRP than it is with BGP. Exterior gateway protocols such
as BGP route between autonomous systems, which are assigned a particular AS number. AS numbers can
be assigned to an office with one or several BGP routers. The BGP routing table is comprised of destination
IP addresses, an associated AS-Path to reach that destination and a next hop router address. The AS-Path is
a collection of AS numbers that represent each office involved with routing packets. Contrast that with
EIGRP, which uses autonomous systems as well. The difference is their autonomous systems refer to a
logical grouping of routers within the same administrative system. An EIGRP network can configure many
autonomous systems. They are all managed by the company for defining route summarization,
redistribution and filtering. BGP is utilized a lot by Internet Service Providers (ISP) and large enterprise
companies that have dual homed internet connections with single or dual routers homed to the same or
different Internet Service Providers. BGP will route packets across an ISP network, which is a separate
routing domain that is managed by them. The ISP has its own assigned AS number, which is assigned by
InterNIC. New customers can either request an AS assignment for their office from the ISP or InterNIC. A
unique AS number assignment is required for customers when they connect using BGP. There are 10
defined attributes that have a particular order or sequence, which BGP utilizes as metrics to determine the
best path to a destination. Companies with only one circuit connection to an ISP will implement a default
route at their router, which forwards any packets that are destined for an external network. BGP routers will
redistribute routing information (peering) with all IGP routers on the network (EIGRP, RIP, OSPF etc)
which involve exchange of full routing tables. Once that is finished, incremental updates are sent with
topology changes. The BGP default keepalive timer is 60 seconds while the holddown timer is 180
seconds. Each BGP router can be configured to filter routing broadcasts with route maps instead of
sending/receiving the entire internet routing table.
Characteristics
 Path Vector
 Routes IP
 Routing Advertisements: Partial When Route Changes Occur
 Metrics: Weight, Local Preference, Local Originated, As Path, Origin Type, MED
 Hop Count: 255
 Variable Length Subnet Masks
 Summarization on Network Class Address or Subnet Boundary
 Load Balancing Across 6 Equal Cost Paths
 Keepalive Timer: 60 seconds
 Holddown Timer: 180 seconds
 Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) Support
 Designated Router: Route Reflector
BGP Routing Table Components
 Destination IP Address / Subnet Mask
 AS-Path
  Next Hop IP Address

Exterior Gateway Protocol

A gateway running EGP announces that it can reach networks that are part of its autonomous system. It
does not announce that it can reach networks outside its autonomous system. For example, the exterior
gateway for our imaginary autonomous system nuts-as can reach the entire Internet through its external
connection, but only one network is contained in its autonomous system. Therefore, it would only
announce one network (172.16.0.0) if it ran EGP.
Before sending routing information, the systems first exchange EGP Hello and I-Heard-You (I-H-U)
messages. These messages establish a dialog between two EGP gateways. Computers communicating via
EGP are called EGP neighbors , and the exchange of Hello and I-H-U messages is called acquiring a
neighbor .
Once a neighbor is acquired, routing information is requested via a poll . The neighbor responds by sending
a packet of reachability information called an update . The local system includes the routes from the update
into its local routing table. If the neighbor fails to respond to three consecutive polls, the system assumes
that the neighbor is down and removes the neighbor's routes from its table. If the system receives a poll
from its EGP neighbor, it responds with its own update packet.
Unlike the interior protocols discussed above, EGP does not attempt to choose the "best" route. EGP
updates contain distance-vector information, but EGP does not evaluate this information. The routing
metrics from different autonomous systems are not directly comparable. Each AS may use different criteria
for developing these values. Therefore, EGP leaves the choice of a "best" route to someone else.
When EGP was designed, the network relied upon a group of trusted core gateways to process and
distribute the routes received from all of the autonomous systems. These core gateways were expected to
have the information necessary to choose the best external routes. EGP reachability information was passed
into the core gateways, where the information was combined and passed back out to the autonomous
systems.
A routing structure that depends on a centrally controlled group of gateways does not scale well and is
therefore inadequate for the rapidly growing Internet. As the number of autonomous systems and networks
connected to the Internet grew, it became difficult for the core gateways to keep up with the expanding
workload. This is one reason why the Internet moved to a more distributed architecture that places a share
of the burden of processing routes on each autonomous system. Another reason is that no central authority
controls the commercialized Internet. The Internet is composed of many equal networks. In a distributed
architecture, the autonomous systems require routing protocols, both interior and exterior, that can make
intelligent routing choices. Because of this, EGP is no longer popular.
Border Gateway Protocol
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the leading exterior routing protocol of the Internet. It is based on the
OSI InterDomain Routing Protocol (IDRP). BGP supports policy-based routing , which uses non-technical
reasons (for example, political, organizational, or security considerations) to make routing decisions. Thus
BGP enhances an autonomous system's ability to choose between routes and to implement routing policies
without relying on a central routing authority. This feature is important in the absence of core gateways to
perform these tasks.
Routing policies are not part of the BGP protocol. Policies are provided externally as configuration
information. As described in Chapter 2 , the National Science Foundation provides Routing Arbiters (RAs)
at the Network Access Points (NAPs) where large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) interconnect. The RAs
can be queried for routing policy information. Most ISPs also develop private policies based on the bilateral
agreements they have with other ISPs. BGP can be used to implement these policies by controlling the
routes it announces to others and the routes it accepts from others. In the gated section of this chapter we
discuss the import command and the export command, which control what routes are accepted (import)
and what routes are announced (export). The network administrator enforces the routing policy through
configuring the router.
BGP is implemented on top of TCP, which provides BGP with a reliable delivery service. BGP uses well-
known TCP port 179. It acquires its neighbors through the standard TCP three-way handshake. BGP
neighbors are called peers . Once connected, BGP peers exchange OPEN messages to negotiate session
parameters, such as the version of BGP that is to be used.
The UPDATE message lists the destinations that can be reached through a specific path and the attributes
of the path. BGP is a path vector protocol . It is called a path vector protocol because it provides the entire
end-to-end path of a route in the form of a sequence of autonomous system numbers. Having the complete
AS path eliminates the possibility of routing loops and count-to-infinity problems. A BGP UPDATE
contains a single path vector and all of the destinations reachable through that path. Multiple UPDATE
packets may be sent to build a routing table.
BGP peers send each other complete routing table updates when the connection is first established. After
that, only changes are sent. If there are no changes, just a small (19-byte) KEEPALIVE message is sent to
indicate that the peer and the link are still operational. BGP is very efficient in its use of network bandwidth
and system resources.
By far the most important thing to remember about exterior protocols is that most systems never run them.
Exterior protocols are only required when an AS must exchange routing information with another AS. Most
routers within an AS run an interior protocol such as OSPF. Only those gateways that connect the AS to
another AS need to run an exterior routing protocol. Your network is probably an independent part of an
AS run by someone else. Internet Service Providers are good examples of autonomous systems made up of
many independent networks. Unless you provide a similar level of service, you probably don't need to run
an exterior routing protocol.
Choosing a Routing Protocol
Although there are many routing protocols, choosing one is usually easy. Most of the interior routing
protocols mentioned above were developed to handle the special routing problems of very large networks.
Some of the protocols have only been used by large national and regional networks. For local area
networks, RIP is still the most common choice. For larger networks, OSPF is the choice.
If you must run an exterior routing protocol, the protocol that you use is often not a matter of choice. For
two autonomous systems to exchange routing information, they must use the same exterior protocol. If the
other AS is already in operation, its administrators have probably decided which protocol to use, and you
will be expected to conform to their choice. Most often this choice is BGP.
The type of equipment affects the choice of protocols. Routers support a wide range of protocols, though
individual vendors may have a preferred protocol. Hosts don't usually run routing protocols at all, and most
UNIX systems are delivered with only RIP. Allowing host systems to participate in dynamic routing could
limit your choices. gated , however, gives you the option to run many different routing protocols on a
UNIX system. While the performance of hardware designed specifically to be a router is generally better,
gated gives you the option of using a UNIX system as a router.
 An autonomous system (AS) is a group of networks that fall under one administrative entity. (In the
diagram, each cloud represents an AS.)
 Routers within an AS are called interior gateways, and interior router protocols are used by the
interior gateways for routing within an AS. (In the diagram, the yellow and blue boxes represent the
interior gateways and RIP, Routing Information Protocol, is the routing protocol used within the
ASes. Interior gateways are also known as interior routers.)
 Routers that are used to connect autonomous systems are called exterior gateways and the exterior
routing protocol is the routing protocol used by the exterior gateways. Usually, an exterior gateway
is also an interior gateway. (Blue boxes represent the exterior gateways.)
 Often an exterior gateway connects to a router of a backbone network, called a core router. (In the
diagram, red boxes represent the core routers and BGR is the routing protocol used among the core
and exterior gateways.)
 Distance vector based.
o Each router passes to its neighbors a 'Distance Vector', which is the router's estimations of
'distance' from it to all other routers in the network. (The term 'distance' used here is in a
generic sense. It can be delays, number of hops, and other metrics.)
o A router that receives the above 'Distance Vector' information makes adjustments of its own
estimations and sends out its 'distance vector' to its neighbors either immediately or at a
scheduled time.
o Based on the 'distance' vectors, each router determines a routing table that is used to route
the packets along the shortest paths.
o The algorithm to determine the shortest paths is based on the Bellman-Ford algorithm
 Link state based.
o Each router estimates the costs, called "Link State", on all the links it connects to. The term
'cost' used here is in a generic sense. It can be delays, number of hops, and other metrics.
(The term "number of hops" means the number of links between the source and destination
routers, which is equal to the number of intermediate routers plus one.)
o The router sends the 'link state' to every router in the network.
 o Based on link states from all other routers in the network, every router in the network has
exactly the same topological database, from which the router determines the shortest paths
to all other routers.
o From the shortest paths, the router determines a routing table that is used to route the packets
along the shortest paths
o The algorithm to determine the shortest paths is based on the Dijkstra algorithm

Exterior Router Protocols

Exterior router protocols refer to the class of routing protocols between exterior gateways. An external
gateway is a router that connects two or more different autonomous systems (AS). (An autonomous system
is an Internet that is under the administration of a single organization.) There have been two such routing
protocols:
 Exterior gateway protocol, and
 Border gateway protocol.
The term 'exterior gateway protocol' has been used in two different meanings. In a broader sense, it is a
classification of any routing protocols between exterior gateways. In a narrower sense, it is a specific
instance of the class of exterior router protocols. Using this narrower definition, it is a 'Distance Vector'
based routing protocol. However, this is no longer being used in the modern Internet. It has been replaced
by "Border gateway protocol" (BGP).

BGP has four message types for routing information exchange. "Open" messages for opening active
sessions and for acquiring neighbors, "Keep-alive" messages for letting neighbors know a gateway's
existence, "Update" messages for updating changes in routing tables, and "notification" messages for
closing active sessions.

BGP uses the same 'Distance Vector' algorithm to determine and update routing tables. However, instead of
listing 'distance' for each destination, it lists the actual path. Instead of using numerically measurable
numbers as metrics to determine the 'distance', such as number of hops, it uses 'policy' determined metrics,
such as avoidance of passing through certain networks. Instead of using the full routing table as the update
message, it uses incremental changes.

Difference between distance vector and link state routing protocols

The following table summarizes the difference: