EIGRP

Enhanced interior gateway routing protocol (EIGRP) is a Cisco-proprietary routing protocol based on IGRP. EIGRP supports CIDR, allowing network designers to maximize address space by using CIDR and VLSM. Faster convergence times, improved scalability, and superior handling of routing loops.

EIGRP

EIGRP can replace Novell RIP and AppleTalk Routing Table Maintenance Protocol (RTMP). EIGRP is an advanced distance-vector routing protocol that relies on features commonly associated with link-state protocols. Like OSPF, partial updates and neighbor discovery, are similarly put to use by EIGRP.

EIGRP and IGRP

EIGRP is an ideal choice for large, multiprotocol networks built primarily on Cisco routers. It is Cisco proprietary.

EIGRP and IGRP

Despite being compatible with IGRP, EIGRP uses a different metric calculation and hop-count limitation. EIGRP scales IGRP's metric by a factor of 256. That is because EIGRP uses a metric that is 32 bits long, and IGRP uses a 24-bit metric. By multiplying or dividing by 256, EIGRP can easily exchange information with IGRP.

EIGRP and IGRP

EIGRP also imposes a maximum hop limit of 224, slightly less than IGRP's generous 255. Redistribution, is automatic between IGRP and EIGRP as long as both processes use the same autonomous system (AS) number.

EIGRP and IGRP

EIGRP will tag routes learned from IGRP (or any outside source) as external because they did not originate from EIGRP routers. IGRP cannot differentiate between internal and external routes. Notice that in the show ip route command, EIGRP routes are flagged with D, and external routes are denoted by EX.

EIGRP Design

EIGRP acts like a link-state protocol when updating neighbors and maintaining routing information. EIGRP's advantages are:

EIGRP Design

Rapid convergence-converges quickly because EIGRP relies on a state-of-the-art routing algorithm called the Diffusing Update Algorithm (DUAL). DUAL guarantees loop-free operation at every instant throughout a route computation and allows all routers involved in a topology change to synchronize at the same time.

EIGRP Design

Efficient use of bandwidth- Partial, bounded updates - EIGRP routers make partial, incremental updates rather than sending their complete tables. EIGRP routers send these partial updates only to the routers that need the information, not to all routers in an area like OSPF does.

EIGRP Design

Minimal consumption of bandwidth when the network is stable - Instead of using timed routing updates; EIGRP routers keep in touch with each other using small hello packets. Support for VLSM and CIDR. Multiple network-layer support - EIGRP supports IP, IPX, and AppleTalk through protocol-dependent modules (PDMs).

EIGRP Design and Terminology

EIGRP keeps routing and topology information in several tables, or databases. The following terms are related to EIGRP and its tables and are used throughout this chapter: Neighbor table - Each EIGRP router maintains a neighbor table that lists adjacent routers.

EIGRP Design and Terminology

Topology table - Every EIGRP router maintains a topology table for each configured network protocol. All learned routes to a destination are maintained in the topology table.

EIGRP Design and Terminology

Routing table - EIGRP chooses the best routes to a destination from the topology table and places these routes in the routing table.

EIGRP Design and Terminology

Successor - A successor is a route selected as the primary route to use to reach a destination. Multiple successors for a destination can be retained in the routing table. Feasible successor - A feasible successor is a backup route. These routes are selected at the same time the successors are identified, but are kept in the topology table.

Neighbor Discovery

EIGRP routers establish adjacencies with neighbor routers by using small hello packets. Hellos are sent by default every 5 seconds. An EIGRP router assumes that, as long as it is receiving hello packets from known neighbors, those neighbors (and their routes) remain viable. By forming adjacencies, EIGRP routers do the following:

Neighbor Discovery

Dynamically learn of new routes that join their network. Identify routers that become either unreachable or inoperable. Rediscover routers that had previously been unreachable.

RTP-Routing Transport Protocol

RTP is a transport-layer protocol that can guarantee ordered delivery of EIGRP packets to all neighbors. EIGRP is protocol-independent (i.e., it does not rely on TCP/IP to exchange routing information the way that RIP, IGRP, and OSPF do). To stay independent of IP, EIGRP uses its own proprietary transport-layer protocol to guarantee delivery of routing information: RTP.

DUAL finite-state machine (FSM).

The centerpiece of EIGRP is the Diffusing Update Algorithm (DUAL), EIGRP's route-calculation engine. The full name of this technology is DUAL finite-state machine (FSM).

DUAL finite-state machine (FSM).

An FSM is an abstract machine, not a mechanical device with moving parts. FSMs define a set of possible states that something can go through, what events cause those states, and what events result from those states.

DUAL finite-state machine (FSM).

Designers use FSMs to describe how a device, computer program, or routing algorithm will react to a set of input events. The DUAL FSM contains all the logic used to calculate and compare routes in an EIGRP network.

DUAL finite-state machine (FSM).

DUAL tracks all the routes advertised by neighbors and uses the composite metric of each route to compare them. DUAL also guarantees that each path is loop-free. Lowest-cost paths are then inserted by the DUAL protocol into the routing table.

DUAL finite-state machine (FSM).

DUAL selects alternate routes quickly by using the information in the Topology and Routing tables. If a link goes down, DUAL looks for a feasible successor in its neighbor and topology tables.

PDM-Protocol Dependent Modules

One of EIGRP's most attractive features is its modular design. In theory, EIGRP can easily adapt to new or revised routed protocols (e.g., IPv6) by adding protocol-dependent modules. Support for routed protocols such as IP, IPX, and AppleTalk is included in EIGRP through protocol-dependent modules (PDMs).

EIGRP Packet Types

EIGRP relies on several different kinds of packets to maintain its various tables and establish complex relationships with neighbor routers: Hello Packets EIGRP relies on hello packets to discover, verify, and rediscover neighbor routers.

EIGRP Packet Types

If a neighbor is not heard from for the duration of the hold time, EIGRP considers that neighbor down, and DUAL must step in to re-evaluate the routing table. By default, the hold time is three times the hello interval, but an administrator can configure both timers as desired.

EIGRP Packet Types

Acknowledgment Packets An EIGRP router uses acknowledgment packets to indicate receipt of any EIGRP packet during a "reliable" exchange. Update Packets Update packets are used when a router discovers a new neighbor. Update packets are also used when a router detects a topology change.

EIGRP Packet Types

Query and Reply Packets EIGRP routers use query packets whenever it needs specific information from one or all of its neighbors. A reply packet is used to respond to a query. If an EIGRP router loses its successor and cannot find a feasible successor for a route, DUAL places the route in the active state.

EIGRP Packet Types

At this point, the router multicasts a query to all neighbors, searching for a successor to the destination network. Neighbors must send replies that either provide information on successors or indicate that no successor information is available.

EIGRP Tables

The Neighbor Table The most important table in EIGRP is the neighbor table. An EIGRP neighbor table includes the following key elements:

EIGRP Tables

Neighbor address (Address) - The networklayer address of the neighbor router. Hold time (Hold Uptime) - The interval to wait without receiving anything from a neighbor before considering the link unavailable. Originally, the expected packet was a hello packet, but in current Cisco IOS software releases, any EIGRP packets received after the first hello will reset the timer.

EIGRP Tables

Smooth Round-Trip Timer (SRTT) - The average time that it takes to send and receive packets from a neighbor. This timer is used to determine the retransmit interval (RTO). Queue count (Q Cnt) - The number of packets waiting in queue to be sent. If this value is constantly higher than zero, then there may be a congestion problem at the router. A zero means that there are no EIGRP packets in the queue.

EIGRP Tables

The Routing Table The routing table contains the routes installed by DUAL as the best loop-free paths to a given destination. EIGRP routers maintain a separate routing table for each routed protocol.

EIGRP Tables
The Topology Table EIGRP uses its topology table to store all the information it needs to calculate a set of distances and vectors to all reachable destinations. EIGRP maintains a separate topology table for each routed protocol.

EIGRP Tables
The topology table is made up of all the EIGRP routing tables in the autonomous system. By tracking this information, EIGRP routers can find alternate routes quickly. The topology table includes the following fields:

EIGRP Tables

Feasible distance (FD is xxxx) - The feasible distance (FD) is the lowest calculated metric to each destination. Route source (via xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) The source of the route is the identification number of the router that originally advertised that route.

EIGRP Tables

Reported distance (FD/RD) - The reported distance (RD) of the path is the distance reported by an adjacent neighbor to a specific destination. Show IP EIGRP Topology is the command to see the above items.

EIGRP Tables

EIGRP sorts the topology table so that the successor routes are at the top, followed by feasible successors. At the bottom, EIGRP lists routes that DUAL believes to be loops in the topology table. Entries in the topology table can be in one of two states: active or passive. A passive route is one that is stable and available for use. An active route is a route in the process of being recomputed by DUAL.

Route Tagging

EIGRP classifies routes as either internal or external. EIGRP uses a process called route tagging to add special tags to each route. These tags identify a route as internal or external, and may include other information as well.

Route Tagging

Routes learned (redistributed) from other routing protocols, such as RIP, OSPF, and IGRP are external. Static routes originating from outside the EIGRP AS and redistributed inside are also external routes.

Route Tagging

External routes can be accepted, rejected, or propagated based on any of the route tags, including the administrator tag. Because you can configure the administrator tag as you see fit, the route-tagging feature affords a high degree of control. This level of precision and flexibility proves especially useful when EIGRP networks interact with BGP networks, which themselves are policy-based.