Chapter – 7

Advanced
OSPF
CCNP ENARSI
300-410
By-
Ramakrishnan
OSPF Link-State Advertisements
OSPF uses six LSA types for IPv4 routing:

 Type 1, router: LSAs that advertise network prefixes within an area

 Type 2, network: LSAs that indicate the routers attached to broadcast segment
within an area
 Type 3, summary: LSAs that advertise network prefixes that originate from a
different area
 Type 4, ASBR summary: LSA used to locate the ASBR from a different area
 Type 5, AS external: LSA that advertises network prefixes that were
redistributed in to OSPF
 Type 7, NSSA external: LSA for external network prefixes that were
redistributed in a local NSSA area

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LSA TYPES
LSA Type 1: Router Link
 Type 1 LSAs are the essential building blocks in the LSDB
 Type 1 LSAs are not advertised outside Area , thus making the underlying layer invisible topology invisible to
other areas.
 show ip ospf database router

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During the SPF tree calculation, network link types are one of the following:

 Transit: A transit network indicates that an adjacency was formed and that a DR was elected on that
link.

 Point-to-point: Point-to-point links indicate that an adjacency was formed on a network type that does
not use a DR. Interfaces using the OSPF point-to-point network type advertise two links. One link is the
point-to-point link type that identifies the OSPF neighbor RID for that segment, and the other link is a
stub network link that provides the subnet mask for that network.

 Stub: A stub network indicates that no neighbor adjacencies were established on that link. Point-to-
point and transit link types that did not become adjacent with another OSPF router are classified as a
stub network link type. When an OSPF adjacency forms, the link type changes to the appropriate type:
point-to-point or transit.

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LSA Type 2: Network Link
 Type 2 LSA represents a multi-access network segment that uses a DR.
 The DR always advertises the Type 2 LSA and identifies all the routers attached to that network segment.
 Type 2 LSAs are not flooded outside the originating OSPF area
 show ip ospf database network

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LSA Type 3: Summary Link
 Type 3 LSAs represent networks from other areas.
 ABRs do not forward Type 1 or Type 2 LSAs into other areas. When an ABR receives a Type 1 LSA, it creates a
Type 3 LSA referencing the network in the original Type 1 LSA.
 If an ABR receives a Type 3 LSA from Area 0 (backbone), it regenerates a new Type 3 LSA for the nonbackbone
area
 show ip ospf database summary X.X.X.X (IP address)

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LSA Type 3: Summary Link
The advertising router for Type 3 LSAs is the last ABR that advertises the prefix.
The metric in the Type 3 LSA uses the following logic:

 If the Type 3 LSA is created from a Type 1 LSA, it is the total path metric to reach the originating router in the
Type 1 LSA.

 If the Type 3 LSA is created from a Type 3 LSA from Area 0, it is the total path metric to the ABR plus the metric
in the original Type 3 LSA.

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LSA Type 5: External Routes
 When a route is redistributed into OSPF, the router is known as an autonomous system boundary router (ASBR)
 Type 5 LSAs are not associated with a specific area and are flooded throughout the OSPF domain
show ip ospf database external

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LSA Type 4: ASBR Summary
 A Type 4 LSA locates the ASBR for a Type 5 LSA.
 Type 4 LSAs provide a way for routers to locate the ASBR when the router is in a different area from the ASBR.
 Routers examine the Type 5 LSA, check to see whether the RID is in the local area, and if the ASBR is not local,
they require a mechanism to locate the ASBR.
show ip ospf database absr-summary

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LSA Type 4: ASBR Summary
The metric for a Type 4 LSA uses the following logic:
 When the Type 5 LSA crosses the first ABR, the ABR creates a Type 4 LSA with a metric set to the total path
metric to the ASBR.
 When an ABR receives a Type 4 LSA from Area 0, the ABR creates a new Type 4 LSA with a metric set to the
total path metric of the first ABR plus the metric in the original Type 4 LSA.

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LSA Type 7: NSSA External Summary
A Type 7 LSA exists only in NSSAs where route redistribution is occurring.
The ABR does not advertise Type 7 LSAs outside the originating NSSA, but it converts the Type 7 LSA into a Type 5
LSA for the other OSPF areas.
If the Type 5 LSA crosses Area 0, the second ABR creates a Type 4 LSA for the Type 5 LSA.
show ip ospf database nssa-external

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Overview of LSA types

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LSA Type 4: ASBR Summary
The metric for a Type 4 LSA uses the following logic:
 When the Type 5 LSA crosses the first ABR, the ABR creates a Type 4 LSA with a metric set to the total path
metric to the ASBR.
 When an ABR receives a Type 4 LSA from Area 0, the ABR creates a new Type 4 LSA with a metric set to the
total path metric of the first ABR plus the metric in the original Type 4 LSA.

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 OSPF Stubby Areas
 OSPF stubby areas provide a method to filter out external routes and the option to
block interarea routes.
 OSPF stubby areas are identified by the area flag in the OSPF hello packet.

The four types of OSPF stubby areas :

• Stub areas
• Totally stubby areas
• Not-so-stubby areas (NSSAs)
• Totally NSSAs

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Stub Areas
 OSPF stub areas prohibit Type 5 LSAs (external routes) and Type 4 LSAs (ASBR summary LSAs) from entering the
area at the ABR
 When a Type 5 LSA reaches the ABR of a stub area, the ABR generates a default route for the stub via a Type 3
LSA
 A benefit to using a Type 3 LSA is that it cannot be advertised from a non-backbone area into a backbone area.

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Stub Areas

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Totally Stubby Areas
 Totally stubby areas prohibit Type 3 LSAs (interarea), Type 4 LSAs (ASBR summary LSAs), and Type 5 LSAs
(external routes) from entering the area at the ABR.
 ABRs for totally stubby areas advertise the default route into the totally stubby areas the instant an interface is
assigned to Area 0.
 Only intra-area and default routes should exist within a totally stubby area.

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Totally Stubby Areas

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Not-So-Stubby Areas
 The not-so-stubby-area (NSSA) prohibits Type 5 LSAs from entering at the ABR but allows for redistribution of
external routes into the NSSA.
 As the ASBR redistributes the network into OSPF in the NSSA, the ASBR advertises the network with a Type 7
LSA instead of a Type 5 LSA. When the Type 7 LSA reaches the ABR, the ABR converts the Type 7 LSA to a Type 5
LSA.
 The ABR does not automatically advertise a default route when a Type 5 or Type 7 LSA is blocked, command
default-information-originate can be appended to the configuration if a default route is needed in the NSSA.

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Not-So-Stubby Areas

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Totally NSSAs
 OSPF areas that need to block Type 3 and Type 5 LSAs and still provide the capability of redistributing external
networks into OSPF should use the totally NSSA.
 The ASBR advertises the network with a Type 7 LSA. As the Type 7 LSA reaches the ABR, the ABR converts the
Type 7 LSA to a Type 5 LSA.
 When an ABR for a totally NSSA receives a Type 3 LSA from the backbone, the ABR generates a default route for
the totally NSSA.

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Totally NSSAs

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OSPF Path Selection
OSPF executes Dijkstra’s shortest path first (SPF) algorithm to create
a loop-free topology of shortest paths.
Path selection prioritizes paths by using the following logic:
• Intra-area
• Interarea
• External Type 1
• External Type 2

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Link Costs: The default reference bandwidth is 100 Mbps

 Command auto-cost reference-bandwidth bandwidth-in-mbps changes the reference bandwidth

for all OSPF interfaces associated with that process.
 If the reference bandwidth is changed on one router, then the reference bandwidth should be
changed on all OSP
 OSPF cost can be set manually with the command ip ospf cost 1-65535 under the interface.

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 Intra-Area Routes
 Routes advertised using a Type 1 LSA for an area are always preferred over Type 3 LSAs
 If multiple intra-area routes exist, the path with the lowest total path metric is installed in the
OSPF Routing Information Base (RIB) and is then presented to the router’s global RIB.
 If there is a tie in metric, both routes are installed into the OSPF RIB.

Inter-area Routes

The next priority for selecting a path to a network is selection of the path with the lowest total path
metric to the destination.
If there is a tie in metric, both routes are installed in the OSPF RIB.
All interarea paths for a route must go through Area 0 to be considered.

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External Route Selection
External routes are classified as Type 1 or Type 2.
 Type 1 routes are preferred over Type 2 routes.
 Type 1 metric equals the redistribution metric plus the total path metric to the ASBR. In other words, as the LSA
propagates away from the originating ASBR, the metric increases.
 The Type 2 metric equals only the redistribution metric. The metric is the same for the router next to the ASBR as
it is for the router 30 hops away from the originating ASBR. This is the default external metric type that OSPF
uses.
 An ABR does not install O E1 and O N1 routes into the RIB at the same time. O N1 is always given preference for
a typical NSSA, and its presence prevents the O E1 from being installed on the ABR.
 An ABR does not install O E2 and O N2 routes into the RIB at the same time. O N2 is always given preference for
a typical NSSA, and its presence prevents the O E2 from being installed on the ABR.

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The path R1→R2→R4→R6 has a metric of 20, which ties with the path R1→R3→R5→R7.
The forwarding metric of the R1→R2→R4→R6 path is 31, and the forwarding metric of the R1→R3→R5→R7 path is 30.
R1 installs the R1→R3→R5→R7 path into the routing table.

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OSPF Equal-Cost Multipathing
If OSPF identifies multiple paths in the SFP algorithm, those routes
are installed into the routing table using equal-cost multipathing
(ECMP).
The default maximum number of ECMP paths is four.
The default ECMP setting can be overwritten with the
command maximum-paths maximum-paths under the
OSPF process to modify the default setting.

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Summarization of Routes
A method of shrinking the LSDB involves summarizing network
prefixes.
Summarization of routes also helps SPF calculations run faster.
Summarization occurs between areas on the ABRs.

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 Summarization FUNDAMETALS
 Summarization of routes also helps SPF calculations run faster, occurs between areas on the ABRs.
 Type 1 and Type 2 LSAs are exchanged for simpler Type 3 LSAs.
 If the 10.1.12.0/24 link fails, all the routers in Area 1 still run the SPF calculation, but routers in Area 0 are not
affected because the 10.1.13.0/24 and 10.1.34.0/24 networks are not known outside Area 1.

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Interarea Summarization
 Interarea summarization reduces the number of Type 3 LSAs that an ABR advertises into an area when it receives Type 1 LSAs.
 When a Type 1 LSA in the summarization range reaches the ABR from the source area, the ABR creates a Type 3 LSA for the
summarized network range. The ABR suppresses the more specific Type 1 LSAs, thereby reducing the number of Type 1 LSAs
being generated.
 Interarea summarization does not impact the Type 1 LSAs within the source area.
 The default metric for the summary LSA is the smallest metric associated with an LSA; however, it can be set as part of the
configuration.
 OSPF behaves identically to Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) in that it checks every prefix in the
summarization range
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 Configuration of Interarea Summarization
area area-id range network subnet-mask [advertise | not-advertise] [cost metric]

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 The default behavior is to advertise the summary prefix.
 The ABR performing interarea summarization installs discard routes, which are routes to the Null0 interface that match the
summarized network. Discard routes prevent routing loops where portions of the summarized network range do not have a
more specific route in the RIB.
 The administrative distance (AD) for the OSPF summary discard route for internal networks is 110, and it is 254 for external
networks.

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External Summarization
 During OSPF redistribution, external routes advertise into the OSPF domain as Type 5 or Type 7 LSAs (NSSA).
 Performed on the ASBR.
 The summarizing ASBR installs a discard route to Null0 that matches the summarized network range as part of a
loop-prevention mechanism.

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 Discontiguous Network
 An OSPF network is dis-contiguous when interarea traffic is trying to cross a non-backbone area.

ABRs follow three fundamental rules for creating Type 3 LSAs:

 Type 1 LSAs received from an area create Type 3 LSAs into backbone area and non-backbone areas.
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 Type 3 LSAs received from Area 0 are created for the non-backbone area.
 Type 3 LSAs received from a non-backbone area are only inserted into the LSDB for the source area. ABRs do not create a Type
3 LSA for the other areas (including a segmented Area 0).

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Virtual Links
 OSPF virtual links provide a method to overcome discontiguous networks.
 The area in which the virtual link endpoints are established is known as the transit area.
 At least one endpoint virtual link router has to be a member of Area 0, and virtual links cannot be formed on any
OSPF stubby areas.

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show ip ospf virtual-links

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POOJITHA NAGARAJA
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