Routing Protocols Of Cisco - Essay Example

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0Introduction 2 2.0 Routing 2 2 Routing protocols 2 2.2 Static routing 3 2.3 Dynamic routing 3 2.4 Static Routing Versus Dynamic Routing 3 2.0RIPv2 4 3.1 Characteristics of RIPv2 4 3.2 Operation of RIPv2 5 3.3 Application of RIPv2 5 3.0EIGRP 5 4.1 Characteristics of EIGRP 6 4.2 Operation of EIGRP 6 4.3 Application of EIGRP 6 5.0 OSPF 7 5.1 Characteristics of OSPF 7 5.2 Operation of the OSPF 7 5.3 Application of the OSPF protocol 7 6.0 Conclusion 8 7.0 Bibliography 8 8.0 Appendices 9 1.0 Introduction Cisco’s network linking protocols have found wide application as a way of ensuring proper routing and hence efficient data traffic within computer networks. The application of various protocols as a framework of determining the path of data transfer demonstrates the use of static and dynamic routing protocols, which are discussed in the following section. This paper also gives a critical analysis of the RIPv2, EIGRP and OSPF in terms of their characteristics, operations, and application within computer networks. 2.0 Routing 2.1 Routing protocols A routing protocol is defined as a procedure, which stipulates the mode of communication between two or more routers within a computer network. In addition, routing protocols provide rules through which routers in a network environment choose the paths to be followed between nodes through application of various routing algorithms. Rachel (2006) says that because routers only have knowledge on the networks to which they are directly attached, routing protocols become necessary as a way of enabling sharing of information among routers throughout a computer network. 2.2 Static routing Meehan (2002) says that static routing is the manual addition of routers into the routing board. As such, there is no communication among routers in static routing. As a result, the system administrator enters the fixed or static paths manually into the router without the routers sharing knowledge on the network topology. 2.3 Dynamic routing Dynamic routing, which is also called adaptive routing, describes a computer network in which routers are able to alter their route or path depending on the changes in the conditions of communication circuits. For instance, a router is able to adjust to failing lines or overloads in traffic. 2.4 Static Routing Versus Dynamic Routing Static routing is not a form of routing protocol because it is a manual procedure. On the other hand, dynamic routing uses protocols, which are usually supported by various software applications. Through the protocols, which define the path of routers, dynamic routers provide knowledge on various destinations. In static routing, the paths to be followed by routers are hard-coded on network devices as demonstrated by Meehan (2002). This means that the direction of traffic is fixed. In dynamic routing, routing protocols are used in determination of the most appropriate path to send traffic. If a specific path is not preferred, a different route is used in sending data packets. OSPF and EIGRP are examples of protocols used in dynamic routing. Static routing is applicable in computer networks when the number of devices to be configured is very few. Moreover, static routing it is often used when the routes are not likely to change. On the other hand, dynamic routing is used is a relatively complex network with many paths and conditions which would affect the path of data traffic. 2.0 RIPv2 Routing Information Protocol version 2 (RIPv2) is a newer version of the RIP protocol. It is widely used in computer networks because of its great efficiency. Moreover, this protocol is easy to configure, implement, and manage. Furthermore, it requires very little overhead to run as explained by Meehan (2002). 3.1 Characteristics of RIPv2 Rachel (2006) asserts that being a distance vector and old protocol, RIP is very stable. As a result, Cisco does not need to do a lot of development on it as in the case of the advanced protocols. Because of the stability of this protocol, users feel safe when upgrading the IOS into a newer version of the protocol such as RIPv1 and RIPv2. RIP v1 is the same as the previous versions, which are distance vector protocols, but it has routing enhancements as an upgrade of the older versions. The characteristics of the RIPv2 are based on the routing enhancements, which are added to it. The major routing enhancement of this protocol is related to the manner in which it handles routing updates. In dealing with routing updates, RIPv2 uses multicasts instead of broadcasts. 3.2 Operation of RIPv2 According to Meehan (2002), RIPv2 speeds up convergence in a network by supporting the triggered updates of the paths of data traffic. As a result, this protocol operates by relaying the routing information neighboring routers. The enhancement, which characterizes the RIPv2 protocol, is that it was upgraded into a classless protocol. This means that the protocol operates by supporting variable length subnet masking (VLSM). Because of this enhancement to the RIPv2, users of networks are enabled to use more subnet masks for a specific class of the network number. 3.3 Application of RIPv2 The RIPv2 protocol is used in situations where there is need to maximize the efficiency of the addressing design of the network. Moreover, the RIPv2 protocol is used where a summary of routing information is required as an enabler for creation of large scalable networks. RIPv2 is applied in authenticating the routing within the network as said by Rachel (2006). The application of RIPv2 in authentication thus enables network administrators to restrict the routers which are allowed to participate within the RIPv2 protocol. The system administrator does this by the use a hashed value of the network password. It important to note that despite the enhancements done on the RIPv2 protocol, it remains to be a distance vector protocol like its previous versions. 3.0 EIGRP Cisco released the Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) early in the 90s. The aim of Cisco was to provide medium and large firms a more scalable protocol. According to Rachel (2006), the design of the EIGRP is meant for its application with Cisco products. 4.1 Characteristics of EIGRP The EIGRP is characterized by the large distances it is able to reach as compared to the RIP protocol, which is restricted to only 16 hops. Moreover, the EIGRP provides quick convergence of devices, which have recently been added to the network. As a result, this protocol leads to minimal traffic of data within the network. The characteristic of the EIGRP, which acts as a major drawback, is the fact that it has many tables, which leads to a large amount of overhead during the storage and sending of updates to the routers of the network. 4.2 Operation of EIGRP The EIGRP acts as a distance vector protocol and hence saves distance when determining the most appropriate route in reaching a specified destination. In its operation, the EIGRP gives information of the routing tables to the neighboring routers just as how most of the distance vector protocols operate. Moreover, the EIGRP operates by saving the routing tables of the adjacent neighbors. Rachel (2006) says that this enables the protocol to form relationships with neighboring routers. In this manner, the EIGRP operates as a linked-state protocol. The EIGRP also informs other routers in the network when new routers join the computer network. 4.3 Application of EIGRP The EIGRP is applied where there is increased network width. The EIGRP metric is very large and therefore it is able to support thousands of hops. This makes the EIGRP more suitable for networks, which require increased network width as compared to RIP whose network width is limited to only 15 hops. Moreover, in cases of automatic redistribution in the network, the EIGRP is ideal. This is made possible because of the possibility of automatically redistributing IGRP routes to EIGRP and vice versa. 5.0 OSPF Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol is used in computer networks to enhance the learning of routers about routes. Through this protocol, routers of a network are able to communicate routing information through advertisements. 5.1 Characteristics of OSPF Link State Advertisements (LSAs) are used to communicate routing information by routers, which use the OSPF protocol. Moreover, the OSPF is characterized with the use of classless ranges of IP address. 5.2 Operation of the OSPF Routers, which apply the OSPF protocol, maintain the operations of the network through discovery of their neighbors, data synchronization, and calculation of routes as explained by Meehan (2002). In the operation of the OSPF protocol, the routers track all network links or connections. This includes links between routers and the network to which data packets are to be sent. This operation of an OSPF protocol makes it to act as a link state routing protocol. 5.3 Application of the OSPF protocol The application of the OSPF protocol is common in complex networks because of its ability to increase the efficiency of the network. By organizing the network in a hierarchical structure efficiency is guaranteed in the network as explained by Rachel (2006). A reduced number of the advertised routes demonstrate the indication efficient transfer of data in a network, which applies the OSPF routing protocol. As a result, the network load is minimized. 6.0 Conclusion Static routing is manual placement of routers in a static path of data traffic while dynamic routing involves flexible paths of routing data packets, which depend on the conditions of the network. The RIPv2, EIGRP, and OSPF network linking protocols have various differences and similarities in character, operation, and application which have led to their diverse use and preference within computer networks. 7.0 Bibliography Meehan, M. 2002, Cisco makes its routing software more resilient, Computerworld, vol. 36, no. 21, 14-17. Rachel, S.G. 2006, Routing TCP/IP. Vol. 1/The TCP/IP Guide: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Internet Protocols Reference", Library Journal, vol. 131(1), 146-149. 8.0 Appendices Figure 1: Illustration of the Routing protocols Read More