Introduction To Ospf - D-Link DES-3326SR Manual

Introduction to OSPF

The Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol that uses a link-state algorithm to determine routes to
network destinations. A "link" is an interface on a router and the "state" is a description of that interface and its
relationship to neighboring routers. The state contains information such as the IP address, subnet mask, type of
network the interface is attached to, other routers attached to the network, etc. The collection of link-states are
then collected in a link-state database that is maintained by routers running OSPF.
OSPF specifies how routers will communicate to maintain their link-state database and defines several concepts
about the topology of networks that use OSPF.
To limit the extent of link-state update traffic between routers, OSPF defines the concept of Area. All routers
within an area share the exact same link-state database, and a change to this database on one router triggers an
update to the link-state database of all other routers in that area. Routers that have interfaces connected to more
than one area are called Border Routers and take the responsibility of distributing routing information between
areas.
One area is defined as Area 0 or the Backbone. This area is central to the rest of the network in that all other
areas have a connection (through a router) to the backbone. Only routers have connections to the backbone and
OSPF is structured such that routing information changes in other areas will be introduced into the backbone,
and then propagated to the rest of the network.
When constructing a network to use OSPF, it is generally advisable to begin with the backbone (area 0) and
work outward.
The Link-State Algorithm
An OSPF router uses a link-state algorithm to build a shortest path tree to all destinations known to the router.
The following is a simplified description of the algorithm's steps:
1. When OSPF is started, or when a change in the routing information changes, the router
generates a link-state advertisement. This advertisement is a specially formatted packet that
contains information about all the link-states on the router.
2. This link-state advertisement is flooded to all router in the area. Each router that receives the
link-state advertisement will store the advertisement and then forward a copy to other routers.
3. When the link-state database of each router is updated, the individual routers will calculate a
Shortest Path Tree to all destinations − with the individual router as the root. The IP routing
table will then be made up of the destination address, associated cost, and the address of the
next hop to reach each destination.
4. Once the link-state databases are updated, Shortest Path Trees calculated, and the IP routing
tables written − if there are no subsequent changes in the OSPF network (such as a network
link going down) there is very little OSPF traffic.
The Shortest Path Algorithm
The Shortest Path to a destination is calculated using the Dijkstra algorithm. Each router is places at the root of a
tree and then calculates the shortest path to each destination based on the cumulative cost to reach that
destination over multiple possible routes. Each router will then have its own Shortest Path Tree (from the
perspective of its location in the network area) even though every router in the area will have and use the exact
same link-state database.
The following sections describe the information used to build the Shortest Path Tree.
D-Link DES-3326SR Layer 3 Switch
156
Chapter 22