Routing & EIGRP

CCNA 3.0
Enhanced Interior Gateway
Routing Protocol (EIGRP)
• Really just an enhanced version of IGRP
• A Cisco proprietary routing protocol
• Called a hybrid protocol, but really just an advanced distance vector
protocol.
• Fast convergence
• Variable length subnet masks
• Partial updates - only when the metric for a route changes
• Multiple network layer support - IP, IPX, and AppleTalk
• A router running EIGRP stores all its neighbor’s routing tables so that it
can quickly adapt or alternate routes.
EIGRP Concepts
 Every EIGRP router maintains a topology
table for each configured network protocol.
 All learned routes to a destination are
maintained in the topology table.
 Features of EIGRP
 Classless Routing Protocol (VLSM, CIDR)
 Faster convergence times and improved scalability
 Multiprotocol support: TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, Appletalk
– Rapid Convergence and Better handling of routing loops –
(DUAL)
 Efficient Use of Bandwidth
– Partial, bounded updates: Incremental updates only to the
routers that need them.
– Minimal bandwidth consumption: Hello packets and by
default uses no more that 50% of link’s bandwidth EIGRP
packets.
 PDM (Protocol Dependent Module)
– Keeps EIGRP modular
– Different PDMs can be added to EIGRP as new routed protocols
are enhanced or developed: IPv4, IPv6, IPX, and AppleTalk
IGRP & EIGRP
They work together and routes are redistributed automatically
RTB(config)# router igrp 2446
RTB(config-router)#network 192.168.1.0
RTB(config)#router eigrp 2446
RTB(config-router)# network 10.1.1.0
RTB(config-router)# network 172.16.1.0
 Displaying Interface Values
Router> show interface s0/0
Serial0/0 is up, line protocol is up
Hardware is QUICC Serial Bandwidth Delay
Description: Out to VERIO
Internet address is 207.21.113.186/30
MTU 1500 bytes, BW 1544 Kbit, DLY 20000 usec,
rely 255/255, load 246/255
Encapsulation PPP, loopback not set
Keepalive set (10 sec)
<output omitted> Reliability Load
shows reliability as a fraction of 255, shows load as a fraction of 255, for
for example (higher is better): example (lower is better):
rely 190/255 (or 74% reliability) load 10/255 (or 3% loaded link)
rely 234/255 (or 92% reliability) load 40/255 (or 16% loaded link)
rely 255/255 (or 100% reliability) load 255/255 (or 100% loaded link)
 EIGRP Terminology
Term Definition
Neighbor table Lists adjacent routers (like
adjacency DB in OSPF
Topology table Each router has one for each
network protocol routed
Routing table Chooses routes from topology
table – maintains one for each
network protocol

Successor Route selected as the primary

route to use to reach a
destination
Feasible successor A backup route to above –
multiple feasible successors
for a destination can be kept in
the topology table
Improvements from IGRP

1. Neighbor discovery & recovery

– Use small “hello” packets to estab. adjacencies
– sent every 5 seconds
– Dynamically learn routes that way
2. Reliable Transport Protocol (RTP)
– A transport layer protocol that guarantees
delivery order
– EIGRP is protocol independent, so has its own
guarantee (compare to TCP)
Improvements from IGRP
3. Dual finite-state machine
– An algorithm that EIGRP uses to calculate routes
– Tracks all routes advertised by neighbors and uses a
composite metric of each route to compare them
4. Protocol-dependent modules
– Each module is responsible for all functions
related to its specific routed protocol
– In other words, there is an IP PDM, an IPX PDM,
an AppleTalk PDM, etc.
Feasible Successors
EIGRP Design Features
EIGRP Technologies
 Neighbor discovery and recovery
 Reliable Transport Protocol
 DUAL finite-state machine algorithm
 Protocol-dependent modules
 By forming adjacencies, EIGRP routers:
– Dynamically learn of new routes that join their
network
– Identify routers that become either unreachable or
inoperable
– Rediscover routers that had previously been
unreachable
 EIGRP Neighbor Table

•This table is the basis for all EIGRP routing

updates & convergence
•Has info about the neighbor routers
•Smooth Round Trip Timer (SRTT) The average
time it takes to send and receive packets from
a neighbor.
•Queue count The number of packets waiting in
queue to be sent.
 EIGRP Topology Table
RouterB#show ip eigrp topology
IP-EIGRP Topology Table for process 44
Codes: P - Passive, A - Active, U - Update, Q - Query, R -
Reply, r - Reply status
P 206.202.17.0/24, 1 successors, FD is 2195456
via 206.202.16.1 (2195456/2169856), Ethernet0
P 206.202.18.0/24, 2 successors, FD is 2198016
via 192.168.0.2 (2198016/284160), Serial0
via 206.202.16.1 (2198016/2172416), Ethernet0

Each EIGRP router maintains a topology table for each configured

network protocol.
This table includes the current routes (successors) and back-up
routes (feasible successors).
P = Passive (good), A = Active (not ready, DUAL running)
EIGRP uses its topology table to store all the information it needs
to calculate a set of distances and vectors to all reachable
destinations.
 Terms
RD=5
RD=5 10
FD=15
FD=15
10 14 15
15
20

6 FD=20

RD=6
Successor – Current Route
 A successor is a route selected as the primary route to use to reach a
destination.
 Successors are the entries kept in the routing table.
Feasible Successor - A backup route
 These routes are selected at the same time the successors are
identified, but they are kept in the topology table.
 Multiple feasible successors for a destination can be retained in the
topology table.
 Terms
RD=5
RD=5 10
FD=15
FD=15
10 14 15
15
20

6 FD=20

RD=6

Feasible distance (FD) is the minimum distance (metric) along a

path to a destination network. (“This Router’s Distance”)
Reported distance (RD) is the distance (metric) towards a
destination as advertised by an upstream neighbor. (“The
Neighbor Router’s Distance”)
 172.30.1.0/24
RouterX’s FD = 30 to 172.30.1.0/24 (Sent as RD to RouterA)
(20) (10)

RouterX
Router H Router G

(10) RouterY’s FD = 21 to 172.30.1.0/24 (Sent as RD to RouterA)

(1)
Best Route
FDDI Ring
Router A RouterYRouter B Router C

FD = 31
(10)
172.30.1
RouterZ’s FD =220 to 172.30.1.0/24 (Sent as RD to RouterA)
.0 is 31
via
RouterY Router D (100) Router E (100) Router F
RouterZ

The Feasible Distance to a network is sent to other

routers, as this router’s Reported Distance.
 172.30.1.0/24
Feasible Successor: RD= 30, FC: RD30 < FD31
(20) (10)

Router H
RouterX Router G

(10)
(1)
(Current) Successor: RD= 21
FDDI Ring
Router A RouterY
Router B Router C

FD = 31
(10)
172.30.1.0 is 31
NOT a Feasible Successor: RD = 220, FC not met: RD220 > FD31
via RouterY

Router D (100) Router E (100) Router F

RouterZ
A neighbor meets the Feasible condition (FC) if the reported distance by the
neighbor is smaller than the current feasible distance (FD) of this router.

 A distance-vector routing protocol not allowing possible paths with loops

paths.
 "If a neighbors metric is less than mine, then I know the neighbor
doesn't have a loop going through me."
A feasible successor (FS) is a neighbor whose reported distance (RD) is less
than the current feasible distance (FD).
Select Routes
 If a link goes down, DUAL looks for an alternative
route path, or feasible successor, in the topology
table.
 If a feasible successor is not found, the route is
flagged as Active, or unusable at present.
 Query packets are sent to neighboring routers
requesting topology information.
 DUAL uses this information to recalculate successor
and feasible successor routes to the destination.
DUAL – Diffusing Update Algorithm
The centerpiece of EIGRP is DUAL fsm (finite state
machine), the EIGRP route-calculation engine.
DUAL selects alternate routes quickly by using the
information in the EIGRP neighbor and topology table.
If a link goes down, DUAL looks for a feasible successor
in its topology table.
Feasible successors provide the next lowest-cost path
without introducing routing loops.
All other routers to the same destination, that also meet
the feasible condition, meaning they are also loop-
free, become feasible successors, or back-up routes.

Router# debug eigrp fsm

EIGRP Packet Types
Packet Definition
Hello - multicast Discovers, verifies, rediscovers
neighbor routers
Acknowledgement Indicates receipt of an EIGRP
during a reliable packet
(unicast)
Update When a router discovers a new
neighbor or a topology change
Query Needing specific info from a
neighbor
Reply Response to a query
Data Structures
 Looking for a New Route RtrD

RtrB
Queries
Replies RtrE

RtrA

X
RtrF

RtrC

RtrG

• If there are no Feasible Successors, the router must ask neighbors for help in hope of
finding a new, loop-free path to the destination.
• Neighbor routers are compelled to reply to this query.
If a neighbor has a route, it will reply with information about the successor(s).
If not, the neighbor notifies the sender that it doesn’t have a route to the destination either.
 EIGRP Routing Table

•Contains routes installed by DUAL FSM as the

best loop-free paths
•Can maintain up to 4 routes per destination
•Maintains a separate routing table for each
protocol
Basic EIGRP Configuration
EIGRP Commands
Router(config)# router eigrp AS
 AS must be the same on all routers.

Router(config-router)# network network-number

Interface Commands
Router(config-if)# bandwidth kilobits
 Serial links should reflect actual link bandwidth
instead of the default of 1544 kbps.
Router(config-if)# eigrp log-neighbor-changes
 This command enables the logging of neighbor
adjacency changes to monitor the stability of the
routing system and to help detect problems.
Configuring EIGRP Summarization
EIGRP Commands
Router(config-router)# no auto-summary
 Like RIP and IGRP, EIGRP automatically summarizes as
major network boundaries.
 This command turns off automatic summarization.

Interface Commands
Router(config-if)# ip summary-address eigrp
autonomous-system-number ip-address mask
[administrative-distance]
 Summarizes addresses being advertised out of this
interface.
 Administrative distance for EIGRP Summary Routes is
5, but can be modified (optional).
Verifying EIGRP
EIGRP debug Commands