Routing and Switching
CPS 411, Essentials: IT Network Practitioners,
Boise State University
Boise, Idaho
Darren Dayton
darrendayton@u.boisestate.edu
September 15, 2024
Abstract— This paper is meant to inform and educate on various routing protocols, their
advantages and disadvantages, and what size and style of network they work best with. As there
are not many alternatives to BGP for external routing, I will be discussing internal routing
protocols only.
Index Terms— Routing, Protocol, Router, Routing Table, Autonomous System, Static Routing,
Dynamic Routing, Default Routing, Network, Intradomain, Discovery, Route Management, Path
Determination, Link-State Routing, Distance Vector Routing
Table of Contents
Item Page(s)
Introduction Page 1,2
Protocol 1: OSPF Page 2,3
Protocol 2: RIP Pages 3,4
Protocol 3: EIGRP Page 4,5
Protocol 4: IS-IS Pages 5,6
Conclusion Page 6
References Page 7
I. INTRODUCTION and understanding how those
protocols work, as well as their
Routing is one of the most
advantages and disadvantages, we
important concepts in networking,
could not accomplish the more
forming the backbone of how
delicate and sophisticated
networks conduct business today.
Without the correct protocol usage,
networking that we are used to including maximum transmission
currently. unit, or MTU, dependability, load,
latency, and bandwidth. It also
This paper will go into some
allows type-of-service, or TOS,
detail on the most common
requests for traffic differentiation, if
protocols, as well as when to use
needed. It also enables multi-path
them, and why. We will also cover
routing depending on said metrics.
whether they are more useful in
larger or smaller networks. All the It is a hierarchical protocol,
protocols covered in this paper will meaning that it can work for medium
be intradomain only, as there are not to large networks, but also
many alternatives for interdomain autonomous systems, which are
routing, so there are less items to basically networks of networks. It is
discuss and examine. [1][2][3][4][5] a link-state protocol, meaning it uses
the state of the link for determining
routing, and an algorithm for
II. PROTOCOL 1: OSPF
computing the distances. OSPF
OSPF, or Open Shortest Path specifically uses the Dijkstra
First, is a protocol that operates on a Algorithm. Link-state routing suffers
simple principle: the shortest open from heavy traffic floods, so it
path is the one the data is routed to. important to remember to designate
That said, it actually uses many TTL, or time to live, fields.
different metrics to determine what
Advantages: Does not send full
that “shortest open path” is,
routing tables at set intervals,
lowering traffic spikes. Does not OSPF works for any size of
have a 15 hop count limit, meaning it network, but smaller networks tend
can route further than 15 hops away. to have less resources, so it could be
Has internal hierarchy ability, less useful there than on larger
making it useful in larger scale networks. Still, it is really dependent
networks. on the setup of the network in
question. Overall, I would use OSPF
Disadvantages: Requires more
over many other protocols simply
memory to store the information
due to the utility and scalability of
needed, as it needs far more data to
the protocol. [1][2][3][4][5][6]
make determinations on routing. It
requires extra processing power to III. PROTOCOL 2: RIP
calculate the route using an
RIP, or Routing Information
algorithm. It is complex to configure
Protocol, and more specifically its
and difficult to troubleshoot.
successor RIPv2, are somewhat
deprecated by today’s standards, but
still in use and important to
understand at a basic level.
RIP works best on smaller
networks, for a variety of reasons,
including how it measures distance.
It is a distance vector protocol,
meaning that it measures distances
with specific vectors, or metrics. In
this case, it uses a “hop count” which mechanism, though it’s fairly
is the number of routers it takes to rudimentary.
get to a destination. It is limited in
Advantages: RIP is simple to
this, as it is locked to a maximum of
implement, easy enough to manage
15 hops.
and troubleshoot, and rather stable
RIP is more interesting as a due to the timer functions on
historical precedent, since at the time refreshes and the like.
of its release in the late 80s it was a
Disadvantages: RIP is limited to
complete game changer. RIPv2,
small networks, with no more than
introduced in 1998, was even more
15 hops available for any one data
of a departure from the norm at the
transaction. It is rather processor
time, as it supported CIDR, or
intensive and does not consider
Classless Inter-Domain Routing (the
things like link speed and network
numbers after the slash at the end of
congestion when determining the
an IP address, such as
best route.
192.168.0.1/24) which significantly
Overall, I like RIP, as it has a lot
increased the address space available
of things going for it when it comes
with IPv4 addressing. It uses
to small networks, especially if they
multicast, not broadcast, so it uses
are off the internet. Security could
less resources by only sending to the
stand to be strengthened on RIP, but
machines that need a refresh. It also
it can be negated as a factor in many
contains a password authentication
ways. As with OSPF, there are many
factors that can determine which
protocol you should use, but in this network segment it is in. It also uses
case the lacking security points to the Diffusing Update Algorithm, or
only using this in non-public-facing DUAL, which enhances and
networks. [1][2][3][4][5][7] accelerates the network calculations,
meaning there is a reduced
IV. PROTOCOL 3: EIGRP
timeframe for stabilizing after a
EIGRP (Enhanced Interior
change is made to the network.
Gateway Routing Protocol) is the
Advantages: It’s versatile,
successor to the formerly used IGRP,
supporting multiple network
though some systems do still use
protocols. It’s more advanced than
IGRP, as EIGRP itself is a Cisco
IGRP, using more modern features.
proprietary protocol. EIGRP itself
Due to the information exchanged
contains another protocol called
between neighbors, the network has
RTP, or Reliable Transport Protocol,
a near real-time understanding of its
that ensures packet transmissions are
environment. It is also efficient in
reliable and acknowledges routing
telling other routers of changes,
updates when they are received.
making the network more
A router running EIGRP queries
responsive. As previously
neighbor routers for routes and adds
mentioned, it also has RTP and
those routes to its routing table. It
DUAL.
also notifies neighbors about
Disadvantages: It is proprietary,
changes, meaning that in a network
which limits both the equipment that
of routers running EIGRP each
can use it, and the equipment that it
router is well informed about the
can work with. The frequent link-state routing protocol like
updating and queries results in loss OSPF. Unlike that protocol, though,
of bandwidth and processing power. ISIS forms adjacencies with
It is complex to configure past the neighboring routers, somewhat like
basics. There is a potential for loops EIGRP, meaning that each router
in the routing, though there are ways contains a link-state database of
to mitigate that. It’s not an open information on its neighbors,
protocol either, which means it isn’t including their interface states, and
universally used. This means there is the cost of reaching them. The basics
far less testing done on real-world of how this system works is as
problems for this protocol. follows: the router sends a packet
called a hello packet to all their
Overall EIGRP does what it
neighbor devices, which contains its
needs to do, and if you are working
ID, priority, and hold time. When a
with Cisco equipment then it’s
router receives this hello packet, it
honestly a really good protocol to
responds with one of its own. If the
use, both for security, and for
routers agree, they form a neighbor
reliability. It’s fairly scalable, as
relationship.
well, so it works for most sizes of
networks. [1][2][3][4][5][8] They then generate a Link-State
Advertisement, or LSA, with all the
V. PROTOCOL 4: IS-IS
information mentioned earlier,
IS-IS (sometimes called ISIS,
including their interfaces, neighbors,
which stands for Intermediate
and cost to reach.
System to Intermediate System) is a
Advantages: ISIS is very and flexibility make it easy to work
scalable, and very flexible. The with, discounting the actual
security supports authentication and configuration.[1][2][3][4][5][9]
encryption, meaning that it’s quite a
VI. CONCLUSION
bit harder to access the network
There are many protocols for many
without the right credentials.
situations, but if picking one to use in a
Disadvantages: Complex both to
specific circumstance, you should lead off
configure and to plan out. There is a
by learning the basics of the commonly used
steep learning curve, as well as being
ones, so that you can plan properly for
resource-intensive, especially for
building or rebuilding the network in
older hardware.
question.
ISIS is quite useful, especially in
larger networks, as the scalability
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