What is OSPF Routing protocol?

Open shortest path first is an Open Standard Link State routing protocol which works by
using Dijkastra algorithm to initially construct the shortest paths and follows that by
populating the routing table with resulting best paths.
Mention some characteristics of OSPF?
1.OSPF is a classless routing protocol that supports VLSM and CIDR.
2.It allows for creation of areas and autonomous system.
3.OSPF uses cost as its metric, which is computed based on the bandwidth of the link.
4.It has no hop-count limit. It supports unlimited Hop count.
5.OSPF supports both IPV4 & IPV6.
6.OSPF routes have an administrative distance of 110.
What is the need for dividing the autonomous system into various areas?
we would divide the autonomous system into various areas to keep route updates to a
minimum to conserve resources and to keep problems from propagating throughout the
network.
What is the benefit of dividing the entire network into areas?
The following are benefits of dividing the entire network into areas -
1.Decrease routing overhead.
2.Speed up convergence.
3.Confine network instability to single areas of the network.
What is Backbone Area?
While configuring multi-area OSPF, one area must be called area 0, referred to as backbone
area. All other
areas must connect to backbone area as inter-area trafic is send through the backbone
area.
Explain Area Border Router(ABR)?
It is the router that connects other areas to the backbone area within an autonomous
system. ABR can
have its interfaces in more than one area.
What is Autonomous System Border Router (ASBR)?
It is the Router that connects difierent Autonomous Systems.
What is OSPF Router ID?
Router Id is used to identify the Router. Highest IP address of the router's loopback
interfaces is chosen as
the Router ID, If no loopback is present than highest IP address of the router's physical
interfaces will be
chosen as Router ID
What Parameters must match for two routers to become neighbors?
The following parameters must be the same on both routers in order for routers to become
neighbours:-
1.Subnet
2.Area id
3.Hello and Dead interval time
4.Authentication
How OSPF DR & BDR is elected?
The router with the highest priority becomes the DR and router with second highest
priority becomes the
BDR. If there is a tie in priority, router with the highest Router ID will become DR.
By default priority on Cisco routers is 1. We can manually change it.
If the Router priority is set to 0 (Zero), that router will not participate in DR/BDR election.
DR election process is not preemptive. If a router with a higher priority is added to the
network, it will not
become DR untill we clear OSPF process and DR/BDR election takes place again.
Command to change the priority on an interface
router(config)# interface fa0/0
router(config-if)# ip ospf priority 100
Why DR and BDR are elected in OSPF?
All OSPF routers will form adjacencies with the DR and BDR. If link-state changes, the
update will be sent
only to the DR, which then forwards it to all other routers. This greatly reduces the
flooding of LSAs
therefore conserving the bandwidth.
Explain the various OSPF states?
OSPF routers need to go through several states before establishing a neighbor
relationship:-
1.Down - No Hello packets have been received on the interface.
2.Attempt - In Attempt state neighbors must be configured manually. It applies only to
nonbroadcast multiaccess
(NBMA) networks.
3.Init state - Router has received a Hello message from the other OSFP router.
4.2way state - The neighbor has received the Hello message and replied with a Hello
message of his own.
Bidirectional Communication has been established. In Broadcast network DR-BDR election
can occur after
this point.
5.Exstart state DR & BDR establish adjacencies with each router in the network. Master-
slave election will
takes place (Master will send its DBD first).
6.Exchange state Routing information is exchanged using DBD (Database Descriptor)
packets, Link-State
Request (LSR). Link-State Update packets may also be sent.
7.Loading state LSRs (Link State Requests) are send to neighbors for every network it
doesn't know
about. The Neighbor replies with the LSUs (Link State Updates) which contain information
about requested
networks. The requested information have been received, other neighbor goes through the
same process
8.Full state - All neighbor routers have the synchronized database and adjacencies has
been established.
Explain OSPF LSA, LSU and LSR?
The LSAs (Link-State Advertisements) are used by OSPF routers to exchange routing and
topology
information. When two neighbors decide to exchange routes, they send each other a list of
all LSA in their
respective topology database. Each router then checks its topology database and sends
Link State Request
(LSR) message requesting all LSAs that was not found in its topology table. Other router
responds with the
Link State Update (LSU) that contains all LSAs requested by the neighbor.
What are the steps required to change Neighborship into adjacency?
1.Two-way communication (using Hello Protocol)
2.Database Synchronization which means exchange of Database Description (DD) packets,
Link State
Request (LSR) packets, Link State Update (LSU) packets.
3.After Database synchronization is complete, the two routers are considered adjacent.
Explain OSPF timers?
Hello interval - This defines how often OSPF router will send the hello packet to other OSPF
router.
Dead interval - This defines how long a router will wait for hello packets before it declares
the neighbor
dead.
What is the default Hello Interval?
The default Hello Interval for OSPF is 10 seconds.
What is the default Dead Interval?
The Dead Interval is four times the Hello Interval. By default it is 40 seconds.
What multicast address does OSPF use?
OSPF use the multicast address of 224.0.0.5 & 224.0.0.6.
Tables maintained by OSPF?
Router participating in OSPF routing protocol maintains three OSPF tables:-
1.Neighbor table - Stores information about OSPF neighbors.
command to see # sh ip ospf neighbor
2.Topology table - Stores the topology structure of a network.
command to see # sh ip ospf topology
3.Routing table - Stores the best routes to all known networks.
command to see # sh ip route ospf
What are difierent OSPF LSA types ?
1. Router LSA (Type1) - Each router generates a Type 1 LSA that lists its active interfaces,
IP addresses,
neighbors and the cost. LSA Type 1 is ooded only within an area.
2. Network LSA (Type2) - Type 2 LSA is sent out by the designated router (DR) and lists all
the routers on
the segment it is adjacent to. Type 2 LSA are flooded only within an area. It contains the
information about
DR's.
3. Summary LSA (Type3) - Type 3 LSAs are generated by Area Border Routers (ABRs) to
advertise networks
from one area to the rest of the areas in Autonomous System. It contains the information
about inter-area
routes.
4. Summary ASBR LSA (Type4) - It is generated by the ABR and contain routes to ASBRs.
5. External LSA (Type5) - External LSAs are generated by ASBRs and contain routes to
networks that are
external to current AS.
6. Not-So-Stubby Area LSA (Type7) - Stub areas do not allow Type 5 LSAs. A Not So Stubby
Area (NSSA)
allows advertisement of Type 5 LSA as Type 7 LSAs. Type LSA is generated by an ASBR
inside a Not So
Stubby Area (NSSA) to describe routes redistributed into the NSSA.
How do we configure OSPF Routing Protocol?
router(config)# router ospf 10
router(config-router)# network 12.1.1.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
router(config-router)# network 23.1.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 1
Router ospf 10 command enables the OSPF process. Here 10 indicates the
OSPF process ID and can be
different on neighbor routers. Process ID allows multiple OSPF processes to run
on the same router.
Second command configures 12.1.1.0/24 network in area 0.
Third command configures 23.1.0.0/16 network in area 1.