How do routers determine the best route?

Routing protocols use different criteria to determine the best part to a destination.
 As an example, with static routes the administrator decides which path the traffic will
take.
 With RIP hop count is the determining factor or criteria
 and with OSPF bandwidth is the determining factor.
 With EIGRP bandwidth and delay
We as humans do this all the time when driving from point A to point B, we will determine
the best path to take based on criteria such as the speed limit, congestion on a highway or
motorway, the amount of time we have and perhaps some other criteria,
essentially you are working out the best route to take from point A to point B based on
some criteria that’s important to you. Typically to get from point A to point B in the shortest
time possible. in the same way in this topology. when traffic is sent from San Francisco to
San Jose
which path will the traffic take?

As an example, when using the RIP routing protocol. RIP would send the traffic directly from
San Francisco to San Jose. RIP doesn’t take bandwidth into account. so, if we had a network
of 10.1.1.0 in San Francisco and a network of 10.1.2.0 in San Jose
 RIP would take the direct path between those 2 networks and that’s because the
number of hops is less than going via New York.
  RIP will not send traffic via New York, it will send the traffic directly between San
Francisco and San Jose
 RIP, however, is not considering the bandwidth of the links so even though there are
fewer hops it may be quicker to send the traffic via New York rather than directly.

OSPF, on the other hand, takes bandwidth into account so, in this case, OSPF would send
the traffic via New York because the link speeds are greater.
 OSPF is a more powerful routing protocol and makes better decisions because it
takes bandwidth into account when determining the best path. RIP doesn’t. it simply
looks at the number of hops from point A to point B.
 this is a very basic topology simply used as an example to show you how routing
protocols determine the best path or best route to a destination.
The moral of the story is as follows:
 different routing protocols have different criteria to determine the best path from A
to B.
 OSPF once again takes bandwidth into account when determining the best path. RIP
doesn’t, some routing protocols will make better decisions than other routing
protocols.

Generally, today you’re going to use either OSPF or EIGRP in most enterprise networks.
 EIGRP is a popular routing protocol when you have a Cisco only network. EIGRP is a
proprietary Cisco routing protocol and may not be supported by other vendors.
OSPF is an industry standard routing protocol and is therefore better to use when
you have a multi-vendor network.