May 02, 2018

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LAB # 09: Routing protocol IGRP

1. IGRP (Interior Gateway Routing Protocol)

Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) is a proprietary distance vector routing protocol
used to communicate routing information within a host network. It was invented by Cisco.

Figure 1. Passing Routing Table

Interior routing protocols also must have a list of networks specified before routing begins.
IGRP requires an AS (Autonomous System) number.
On the Internet, an autonomous system (AS) is the unit of router policy, either a single network
or a group of networks that is controlled by a common network administrator (or group of
administrators) on behalf of a single administrative entity (such as a university, a business
enterprise, or a business division).
An autonomous system is also sometimes referred to as a routing domain. An autonomous
system is assigned a globally unique number, sometimes called an Autonomous System
Number (ASN).

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Figure 2. Autonomous System

Networks within an autonomous system communicate routing information to each other using
an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP). An autonomous system shares routing information with
other autonomous systems using the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). Previously, the Exterior
Gateway Protocol (EGP) was used. In the future, the BGP is expected to be replaced with the
OSI Inter-Domain Routing Protocol (IDRP).

Until 2007, AS numbers were defined as 16-bit integers, which allowed for a maximum of
65,536 assignments. RFC 4893 introduced 32-bit AS numbers, which Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority (IANA) has begun to allocate to regional Internet registries (RIRs),
although this proposed standard has now been replaced by RFC 6793.

These numbers are written preferably as simple integers (in a notation sometimes referred to
as "asplain") ranging from 0 to 4,294,967,295, or in the form called "asdot" which looks like
x.y, where x and y are 16-bit numbers. Numbers of the form 0.y are exactly the old 16-bit AS
numbers. The accepted textual representation of autonomous system numbers is defined in
RFC 5396 as "asplain". The special 16-bit ASN 23456 ("AS_TRANS") was assigned by IANA
as a placeholder for 32-bit ASN values for the case when 32-bit-ASN capable routers ("new
BGP speakers") send BGP messages to routers with older BGP software ("old BGP speakers")
which do not understand the new 32-bit ASNs.

The first and last ASNs of the original 16-bit integers, namely 0 and 65,535, and the last ASN
of the 32-bit numbers, namely 4,294,967,295 are reserved and should not be used by operators.
ASNs 64,512 to 65,534 of the original 16-bit AS range, and 4,200,000,000 to 4,294,967,294
of the 32-bit range are reserved for Private Use by RFC 6996, meaning they can be used
internally but should not be announced to the global Internet. All other ASNs are subject to
assignment by IANA.

IGRP manages the flow of routing information within connected routers in the host network or
autonomous system. The protocol ensures that every router has routing tables updated with the
best available path. IGRP also avoids routing loops by updating itself with the changes
occurring over the network and by error management.
Cisco created Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) in response to the limitations in
Routing Information Protocol (RIP), which handles a maximum hop count of 15. IGRP
supports a maximum hop count of up to 255. The primary two purposes of IGRP are to:

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• Communicate routing information to all connected routers within its boundary or
autonomous system
• Continue updating whenever there is a topological, network or path change that occurs

IGRP sends a notification of any new changes, and information about its status, to its
neighbors every 90 seconds.

IGRP manages a routing table with the most optimal path to respective nodes and to networks
within the parent network. Because it is a distance vector protocol, IGRP uses several
parameters to calculate the metric for the best path to a specific destination. These parameters
include delay, bandwidth, reliability, load and maximum transmission unit (MTU).
The basic characteristics of IGRP are as follows:

1) Administrative distance 100

2) Uses Reliability, Load and Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU.)

3) Maximum Hop Count allowed is up to 255

4) Loads balance up to six unequal links, uses bandwidth to determine how to load balance.

5) The router sends complete copy of the routing table to its neighbors every 90 sec.
A route is considered invalid if 3 route update intervals passed; 90 * 3 = 270 sec.

6) When a route becomes invalid, it will remain in the routing table for 7 update intervals

7 * 90(630 sec), before it is removed.

Below is the command sequence for enabling IGRP in routers:

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Figure 3. IGRP Commands

IGRP configuration example:

Figure 4. IGRP Configuration

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Do it Yourself

1. Connect 4 routers together by using IGRP as routing protocol

Given below is instruction on how to configure each router perform this lab on boson
network simulator first create the network at design platform then save it and re open it using
Boson Netsim for CCNP

At Router 1
Serial 0

Commands at Router 1 Serial 0

1) interface s 0
2) ip address 13.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
3) no shut
4) clock rate 64000
5) exit

At Router 1
Serial 1

Commands at Router 1 Serial 1

1) interface s 1
2) ip address 11.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
3) no shut
4) clock rate 64000
5) exit

Finally:
Router(config)# router igrp 1
Router(config)# network 11.0.0.0

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Router(config)# network 13.0.0.0

Here 1 is Autonomous number that is used to define an area where all existing routers
can communicate with each other change autonomous number if you want to separate
routers connected in a network.

At Router 2

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2. Implement IGRP in the following network

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