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Thinking about switching from RIP to a contemporary protocol. OSPF
seems to be the darling of the industry, but in many ways EIGRP seems a
fine competitor, IF your shop is all Cisco routers. I note the
following advantages to EIGRP.

1 - Route summarization at bit level, and summarize at any router
2 - True loop-free environment via DUAL (OSPF gets close, but can loop)
3 - Quieter than OSPF on stable network. OSP must send link state
database every 30 minutes
4 - Although EIGRP can't be configured into areas, traffic can be
bounded via autonomous system numbers
5 - Unequal multi-path routing
6 - Easier upgrade from IGRP since metrics are similar

Do you agree / disagree? Thanx!

"jimbo" <> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> Thinking about switching from RIP to a contemporary protocol. OSPF
> seems to be the darling of the industry, but in many ways EIGRP seems a
> fine competitor, IF your shop is all Cisco routers. I note the
> following advantages to EIGRP.
>
> 1 - Route summarization at bit level, and summarize at any router


EIGRP does have an advantage over OSPF in it's ability to sumarize routes.


> 2 - True loop-free environment via DUAL (OSPF gets close, but can loop)

I wouldn't put this into an 'advantage' category.
Personally, I've never seen an OSPF "loop."
EIGRP can get "sia."

> 3 - Quieter than OSPF on stable network. OSP must send link state
> database every 30 minutes

Really not an issue, IMHO.


> 4 - Although EIGRP can't be configured into areas, traffic can be
> bounded via autonomous system numbers

And manually redistributing between AS boundaries
leaves a crack in the door for administrative snafu.

> 5 - Unequal multi-path routing

A valuable feature within the 'core,' or where there are multiple 'high
speed' facilities in use.
Can be bad when low speed facilities are installed in a route table.


> 6 - Easier upgrade from IGRP since metrics are similar


Non-issue.



> Do you agree / disagree? Thanx!



Eigrp requires a well thought out address scheme, with contiguous subnet
space and route summarizatuion to avoid SIA.
OSPF is a little more forgiving in this respect.

Also, OSPF is a standard.

For all the neat things EIGRP does, I'll stick with open standards, thank
you.

The other advantage of EIGRP is that is scales very well in large networks,
with the caveat that you have a well thought out IP addressing scheme. With
this in mind it is not necessary to create "routing areas" with EIGRP. My
network consists of over 900 locations with approximately 1400 routers in a
single EIGRP AS. Our network is extremely stable, but this is with a well
thought out addressing scheme to optimize the use of summary routes and
distribute lists to minimize the routing tables on low-end platforms. Our
network has been on many occasions (due to mergers/acquisitions) both an
OSPF and EIGRP network, and prefer EIGRP because IMHO it is easier to
manage.

Scott


"John Agosta" <j_agosta@remove_wideopenwest.kom> wrote in message
news:VoidnXGlu6bRQ9DfRVn-...
>
> "jimbo" <> wrote in message
> news: oups.com...
>> Thinking about switching from RIP to a contemporary protocol. OSPF
>> seems to be the darling of the industry, but in many ways EIGRP seems a
>> fine competitor, IF your shop is all Cisco routers. I note the
>> following advantages to EIGRP.
>>
>> 1 - Route summarization at bit level, and summarize at any router
>
>
> EIGRP does have an advantage over OSPF in it's ability to sumarize routes.
>
>
>> 2 - True loop-free environment via DUAL (OSPF gets close, but can loop)
>
> I wouldn't put this into an 'advantage' category.
> Personally, I've never seen an OSPF "loop."
> EIGRP can get "sia."
>
>> 3 - Quieter than OSPF on stable network. OSP must send link state
>> database every 30 minutes
>
> Really not an issue, IMHO.
>
>
>> 4 - Although EIGRP can't be configured into areas, traffic can be
>> bounded via autonomous system numbers
>
> And manually redistributing between AS boundaries
> leaves a crack in the door for administrative snafu.
>
>> 5 - Unequal multi-path routing
>
> A valuable feature within the 'core,' or where there are multiple 'high
> speed' facilities in use.
> Can be bad when low speed facilities are installed in a route table.
>
>
>> 6 - Easier upgrade from IGRP since metrics are similar
>
>
> Non-issue.
>
>
>
>> Do you agree / disagree? Thanx!
>
>
>
> Eigrp requires a well thought out address scheme, with contiguous subnet
> space and route summarizatuion to avoid SIA.
> OSPF is a little more forgiving in this respect.
>
> Also, OSPF is a standard.
>
> For all the neat things EIGRP does, I'll stick with open standards, thank
> you.
>
>
>

>> "jimbo" <> wrote
>>> Thinking about switching from RIP to a contemporary protocol. OSPF
>>> seems to be the darling of the industry, but in many ways EIGRP seems a
>>> fine competitor, IF your shop is all Cisco routers. I note the
>>> following advantages to EIGRP.
>>> * * *
>>> Do you agree / disagree? Thanx!

EIGRP versus OSPF has been hashed out in this newsgroup every couple
of years for the past ten years... A quick search of Google News
(try, for example, EIGRP versus OSPF) will turn up several well
thought out threads which discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of each.

The bottom line is that for most networks there is no significant
advantage to either, but there are a few pathological topologies
where one or the other stumbles badly. For example, OSPF can have
problems with large hub and spoke networks with high density hub
routers and multiple links to each spoke. Similarly, EIGRP can be
problematic if there are large numbers of alternate paths which
can not be configured to be feasible successors.

There is also the "obvious" limitation that whichever protocol is
selected must be available on all routers you plan to use. Perhaps
most important, neither protocol is "scaleable" if you don't
understand each protocol's specific limitations and architect your
network to avoid them.

--
Vincent C Jones, Consultant Expert advice and a helping hand
Networking Unlimited, Inc. for those who want to manage and
Tenafly, NJ Phone: 201 568-7810 control their networking destiny
http://www.networkingunlimited.com

[Missiongeek]

I just love reading posts like this.