OSPF inter-area and intra-area routing rules
January 21, 2015 7 Comments
The following lab focuses on intra-area and inter-area route selection process.
For the sake of clarity, I put the final conclusions first, wrapped in a table form, with some explanations to ponder upon, followed by the different lab cases used to check OSPF route selection rules.
For each case, I used interface costs and states to illustrate OSPF selection rules in action.
| Order of preference and criteria | Rules | |
1. Intra-area (O)
|
– Intra-area routes are always preferred over inter-area ones. – Intra-area routing to a destination inside a non-backbone area will take the shortest path without traversing the backbone area.- Intra-area routing to a destination inside a backbone area will take the shortest path without traversing a non-backbone area. |
– ABR’s advertise only intra-area routes from non-backbone area to the backbone area and advertise intra-area and inter-area routes from backbone area to a non-backbone area. – ABRs do not take into account in SPF calculations LSAs received from non-backbone areas. |
| 2. Inter-area (IA) | – Inter-area route between two non-backbone areas must pass through the backbone area. – Inter-area route will take the path with the shortest total cost. |
|
| 3. External routes 3a. Type 1:
3b. Type 2:
|
For more information about comparing OSPF external routes, please refer to the lab OSPF external E1, E2, N1, N2…Who is the winner? | |
- References from RFCs:
| OSPF prevents inter-area routing loops by implementing a split-horizon mechanism, allowing ABRs to inject into the backbone only Summary-LSAs derived from the intra-area routes, and limiting ABRs’ SPF calculation to consider only Summary-LSAs in the backbone area’s link-state database. |
| …Routing in the Autonomous System takes place on two levels, depending on whether the source and destination of a packet reside in the same area (intra-area routing is used) or different areas (inter-area routing is used). In intra-area routing, the packet is routed solely on information obtained within the area; no routing information obtained from outside the area can be used. This protects intra-area routing from the injection of bad routing information.… |
| 3.2. Inter-area routingWhen routing a packet between two non-backbone areas the backbone is used. The path that the packet will travel can be broken up into three contiguous pieces: an intra-area path from the source to an area border router, a backbone path between the source and destination areas, and then another intra-area path to the destination. The algorithm finds the set of such paths that have the smallest cost.…The topology of the backbone dictates the backbone paths used between areas.… |
| … There are four possible types of paths used to route traffic to the destination, listed here in decreasing order of preference: intra-area, inter-area, type 1 external or type 2 external. … |
To understand OSPF mechanism of loop prevention, think conceptually of OSPF areas as nodes in a loop-free tree with depth never bigger than 2.
OSPF tree: loop-free
You can visually see why 2 non-backbone areas cannot directly exchange routes and they must have area0 as an intermediate area to avoid loops:
OSPF tree: loop
Important notes:
- Throughout the lab, I am using cost to manipulate route selection.
-
OSPF takes into account the cost of output interface toward the destination, so be careful when you change the cost on one end of a link, this can cause unwanted asymmetric routing.
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IGP protocols split the router (advertise routes through interfaces) whereas BGP splits the link between routers, this fundamental difference should be clearly depicted in the topology to avoid confusion.
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If you are advertising your loopback networks with mask less than 32 you will have to to set their ospf network type point-to-point (refer to this lab for more information).
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Observe the ospf database inf. for LSA3 “
Routing Bit Set on this LSA“, this is a Cisco-specific implementation of OSPF protocol, indicating that a specific LSA is taken into account in the calculation of the best route. -
Multipath selection is considered locally through FIB and provided by CEF load balancing mechanism, if there next-hops leading to the same destination.
Low-level lab design topology
Here is the lab topology used for testing:
Figure3: Low Level Design Lab topology
Test cases
Case1:
- Traffic between R1 10.10.0.1 (area 123) to R5 50.10.0.5 (area0)
- Default interface ospf costs
Figure4: Case1
R1#Ping 50.10.0.5 source 10.10.0.1 repeat 5 Type escape sequence to abort. Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 50.10.0.5, timeout is 2 seconds: Packet sent with a source address of 10.10.0.1 !!!!! Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 16/27/40 ms R1#trace 50.10.0.5 source 10.10.0.1 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 50.10.0.5 1 192.168.31.3 8 msec 192.168.21.2 12 msec 192.168.31.3 16 msec 2 192.168.42.4 16 msec 192.168.43.4 16 msec 192.168.42.4 32 msec 3 192.168.54.5 28 msec 40 msec 40 msec R1#sh ip route 50.10.0.5 Routing entry for 50.10.0.5/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 4, type inter area Last update from 192.168.12.2 on FastEthernet1/0, 00:42:05 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.13.3, from 3.3.3.3, 00:42:15 ago, via FastEthernet1/1 Route metric is 4, traffic share count is 1 192.168.12.2, from 2.2.2.2, 00:42:05 ago, via FastEthernet1/0 Route metric is 4, traffic share count is 1 R1# R1#sh ip ospf database summary 50.10.0.5 OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 666) Summary Net Link States (Area 123) Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 543 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 50.10.0.5 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 80000002 Checksum: 0x32BD Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 3 Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 587 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 50.10.0.5 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 3.3.3.3 LS Seq Number: 80000002 Checksum: 0x14D7 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 3 R1# R1#
Case2:
- Traffic from R1 10.10.0.1 (area123) to R5 50.20.0.5 (backbone)
- R1 fa1/0 cost = 10
- R2 fa1/1 cost = 10
Figure5: Case2
Making two inter-area paths with unequal total costs, (unequal intra-area costs)
R1#trace 50.10.0.5 source 10.10.0.1 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 50.10.0.5 1 * 192.168.13.3 12 msec 28 msec 2 * 192.168.34.4 16 msec 16 msec 3 * 192.168.45.5 44 msec 44 msec R1#sh ip route 50.10.0.5 Routing entry for 50.10.0.5/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 4, type inter area Last update from 192.168.13.3 on FastEthernet1/1, 00:48:22 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.13.3, from 3.3.3.3, 01:06:54 ago, via FastEthernet1/1 Route metric is 4, traffic share count is 1 R1# R1#sh ip ospf database summary 50.10.0.5 OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 666) Summary Net Link States (Area 123) LS age: 827 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 50.10.0.5 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 80000007 Checksum: 0x825F Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 12 Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 90 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 50.10.0.5 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 3.3.3.3 LS Seq Number: 8000000A Checksum: 0x4DF Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 3 R1#
R5#trace 10.10.0.1 source 50.10.0.5 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 10.10.0.1 1 192.168.45.4 8 msec 4 msec 8 msec 2 192.168.34.3 16 msec * 32 msec 3 * 192.168.13.1 44 msec * R5# R5#sh ip ospf database summ 10.10.0.1 OSPF Router with ID (5.5.5.5) (Process ID 666) Summary Net Link States (Area 0) LS age: 194 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 10.10.0.1 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 80000007 Checksum: 0x50C7 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 2 Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 691 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 10.10.0.1 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 3.3.3.3 LS Seq Number: 80000008 Checksum: 0x30E2 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 2 Summary Net Link States (Area 25) LS age: 198 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 10.10.0.1 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 80000007 Checksum: 0x50C7 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 2 LS age: 203 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 10.10.0.1 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 5.5.5.5 LS Seq Number: 80000007 Checksum: 0xAFF Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 4 R5#
Note that, for the return traffic R5 will receive both summary LSA3 from R2 and R3, but will take into account only R3 because of the ABR’s router ID = 3.3.3.3
Multipath is not considered because there is only one next-hop (R4) in the FIB.
Case3:
- Traffic from R1 10.10.0.1 (area 123) to R5 50.10.0.2 (backbone)
- R1 fa1/0 cost = 10
- R3 fa1/2 cost = 100
Figure6: Case3
R1#sh ip ospf database summ 50.10.0.5 OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 666) Summary Net Link States (Area 123) Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 697 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 50.10.0.5 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 80000004 Checksum: 0x2EBF Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 3 LS age: 46 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 50.10.0.5 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 3.3.3.3 LS Seq Number: 80000002 Checksum: 0xF592 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 102 R1# R1#sh ip route 50.10.0.5 Routing entry for 50.10.0.5/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 13, type inter area Last update from 192.168.12.2 on FastEthernet1/0, 00:01:22 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.12.2, from 2.2.2.2, 00:01:22 ago, via FastEthernet1/0 Route metric is 13, traffic share count is 1 R1# R1#trace 50.10.0.5 source 10.10.0.1 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 50.10.0.5 1 192.168.12.2 20 msec 20 msec 20 msec 2 192.168.24.4 28 msec 20 msec 24 msec 3 192.168.45.5 28 msec 36 msec 40 msec R1#
With unequal costs to ABRs and unequal costs advertised by ABRs, R1 OSPF has chosen the path with the lowest total cost to destination: cost to ABRs + cost of LSA3 summary advertised by each ABR.
Case4:
- Traffic from R1 10.10.0.1 (area 123) to R5 50.10.0.2 (backbone)
- R1 fa1/0 cost = 10
- R3 fa1/2 cost = 10
Figure7: Case4
R1#sh ip ospf database summ 50.10.0.5 OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 666) Summary Net Link States (Area 123) Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 1072 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 50.10.0.5 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 80000004 Checksum: 0x2EBF Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 3 Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 12 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 50.10.0.5 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 3.3.3.3 LS Seq Number: 80000003 Checksum: 0x6C75 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 12 R1# R1#sh ip route 50.10.0.5 Routing entry for 50.10.0.5/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 13, type inter area Last update from 192.168.13.3 on FastEthernet1/1, 00:01:21 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: 192.168.13.3, from 3.3.3.3, 00:01:21 ago, via FastEthernet1/1 Route metric is 13, traffic share count is 1 * 192.168.12.2, from 2.2.2.2, 00:08:09 ago, via FastEthernet1/0 Route metric is 13, traffic share count is 1 R1# R1#trace 50.10.0.5 source 10.10.0.1 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 50.10.0.5 1 192.168.13.3 8 msec 192.168.12.2 8 msec 192.168.13.3 8 msec 2 192.168.24.4 20 msec 192.168.34.4 24 msec 192.168.24.4 16 msec 3 192.168.45.5 20 msec 32 msec 24 msec R1#
With unequal costs to ABRs and unequal costs advertised by ABRs, R1 OSPF has chosen multipath because of the equal total cost to destination: cost to ABRs + cost of LSA3 summary advertised by each ABR.
Case5:
- Traffic from R5 50.10.0.5 (backbone) to R1 10.10.0.1 (area 123)
- R3 fa1/1 cost = 10
Figure8: Case5
R5#sh ip ospf database summary 10.10.0.1 OSPF Router with ID (50.10.0.5) (Process ID 666) Summary Net Link States (Area 0) Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 1906 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 10.10.0.1 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 80000011 Checksum: 0x3CD1 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 2 LS age: 19 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 10.10.0.1 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 3.3.3.3 LS Seq Number: 80000003 Checksum: 0x947A Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 11 ... R5# R5#sh ip route 10.10.0.1 Routing entry for 10.10.0.1/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 4, type inter area Last update from 192.168.45.4 on FastEthernet1/0, 00:02:53 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.45.4, from 2.2.2.2, 00:02:53 ago, via FastEthernet1/0 Route metric is 4, traffic share count is 1 R5# R5#trace 10.10.0.1 source 50.10.0.5 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 10.10.0.1 1 192.168.45.4 4 msec 12 msec 8 msec 2 192.168.24.2 24 msec 20 msec 20 msec 3 192.168.12.1 20 msec 28 msec 20 msec R5#
With equal paths to ABRs R2 and R3, R5 ospf choose the path with the lowest total cost (cost to ABR + cost advertised by ABR)
Case6:
- Traffic from R5 50.10.0.5 (backbone) to R1 10.10.0.1 (area 123)
- R3 fa1/1 cost = 10
- R4 fa1/1 cost = 5
Figure9: Case6
R5#sh ip ospf database summary 10.10.0.1 OSPF Router with ID (50.10.0.5) (Process ID 666) Summary Net Link States (Area 0) Routing Bit Set on this LSA LS age: 573 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 10.10.0.1 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 80000012 Checksum: 0x3AD2 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 2 LS age: 710 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 10.10.0.1 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 3.3.3.3 LS Seq Number: 80000003 Checksum: 0x947A Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 11 ... R5# R5#sh ip route 10.10.0.1 Routing entry for 10.10.0.1/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 8, type inter area Last update from 192.168.45.4 on FastEthernet1/0, 00:02:49 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.45.4, from 2.2.2.2, 00:02:49 ago, via FastEthernet1/0 Route metric is 8, traffic share count is 1 R5# R5#trace 10.10.0.1 source 50.10.0.5 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 10.10.0.1 1 192.168.45.4 16 msec 12 msec 8 msec 2 192.168.24.2 20 msec 20 msec 20 msec 3 192.168.12.1 28 msec 24 msec 20 msec R5#
Note that OSPF on R5 did not choose the shortest path to ABR (R3), but the total cost.
==> The same from area0 to non-backbone area, the router looks at the total cost of LSA3 + cost of the route inside area0
Case7:
- Traffic from R1 10.10.0.1 (area123) to R2 20.10.0.2 (area 123)
- R1 fa1/0 cost = 100
Figure10: Case7
R1#sh ip route 20.10.0.2 Routing entry for 20.10.0.2/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 101, type intra area Last update from 192.168.12.2 on FastEthernet1/0, 00:00:11 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.12.2, from 2.2.2.2, 00:00:11 ago, via FastEthernet1/0 Route metric is 101, traffic share count is 1 R1#trace 20.10.0.2 source 10.10.0.1 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 20.10.0.2 1 192.168.12.2 16 msec 12 msec 8 msec R1#
R3#sh ip route 20.10.0.2 Routing entry for 20.10.0.2/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 102, type intra area Last update from 192.168.13.1 on FastEthernet1/1, 00:01:24 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.13.1, from 2.2.2.2, 00:01:24 ago, via FastEthernet1/1 Route metric is 102, traffic share count is 1 R3#
Case8:
- Traffic from R1 10.10.0.1 (area123) to R2 20.10.0.2 (area 123)
- R1-R2 link down (no inter-area route to 20.10.0.2)
Figure11: Case8
R1#sh ip route 20.10.0.2 % Subnet not in table R1# R1# R1#sh ip ospf database summ R1#sh ip ospf database summary 20.10.0.2 OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 666) R1#
R1 can no more reach the destination in the same area, though it is reachable from R3 which is itself reachable to R1
R3#sh ip route 20.10.0.2 Routing entry for 20.10.0.2/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 3, type inter area Last update from 192.168.34.4 on FastEthernet1/2, 00:01:12 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.34.4, from 2.2.2.2, 00:01:12 ago, via FastEthernet1/2 Route metric is 3, traffic share count is 1 R3#ping 20.10.0.2 Type escape sequence to abort. Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 20.10.0.2, timeout is 2 seconds: !!!!! Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 24/27/32 ms R3#trace 20.10.0.2 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 20.10.0.2 1 192.168.34.4 12 msec 8 msec 12 msec 2 192.168.24.2 16 msec 24 msec 16 msec R3#
OSPF will always choose the intra-area path without crossing area 0
Case9:
- Intra-area traffic from R4 40.10.0.4 (backbone) to R2 20.10.0.2 (backbone)
- R4 f1/1 cost = 100
Figure12: Case9
R4#sh ip route 20.20.0.2 Routing entry for 20.20.0.2/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 101, type intra area Last update from 192.168.24.2 on FastEthernet1/1, 00:01:51 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.24.2, from 2.2.2.2, 00:01:51 ago, via FastEthernet1/1 Route metric is 101, traffic share count is 1 R4#trace 20.20.0.2 source 40.10.0.4 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 20.20.0.2 1 192.168.24.2 20 msec 12 msec 8 msec R4#
R3#sh ip route 20.20.0.2 Routing entry for 20.20.0.2/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 102, type intra area Last update from 192.168.34.4 on FastEthernet1/2, 00:02:44 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.34.4, from 2.2.2.2, 00:02:44 ago, via FastEthernet1/2 Route metric is 102, traffic share count is 1 R3#
R4 chose the worse path through R2 inside the backbone without crossing non-backbone area.
Case10:
- Traffic from R1 10.10.0.2 (area123) to R2 20.20.0.2 (backbone)
- R4-R2 link down (no inter-area route to 20.20.0.2)
Figure13: Case10
R1#sh ip route 20.20.0.2 Routing entry for 20.20.0.2/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 2, type inter area Last update from 192.168.12.2 on FastEthernet1/0, 00:00:02 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.12.2, from 2.2.2.2, 00:00:02 ago, via FastEthernet1/0 Route metric is 2, traffic share count is 1 R1#trace 20.20.0.2 source 10.10.0.2 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 20.20.0.2 1 192.168.12.2 12 msec 8 msec 8 msec R1#
R4#sh ip route 20.20.0.2 % Network not in table R4# R4#sh ip ospf data summ 20.20.0.2 OSPF Router with ID (4.4.4.4) (Process ID 666) R4#
R3#sh ip route 20.20.0.2 % Network not in table R3#sh ip ospf data summary 20.20.0.2 OSPF Router with ID (3.3.3.3) (Process ID 666) Summary Net Link States (Area 123) LS age: 3429 Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward) LS Type: Summary Links(Network) Link State ID: 20.20.0.2 (summary Network Number) Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2 LS Seq Number: 8000001C Checksum: 0x17D7 Length: 28 Network Mask: /32 TOS: 0 Metric: 1 R3#
Though R3 has received the summary LSA3 from R2 though the non-backbone area 123, it did not include it in the routing table, even if it is reachable from R1
Case11:
- Traffic between two non-backbone areas. From area123 to area25.
- Default interface costs
Figure14: Case11
R1#sh ip route 50.20.0.5 Routing entry for 50.20.0.5/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 3, type inter area Last update from 192.168.12.2 on FastEthernet1/0, 00:02:54 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.12.2, from 2.2.2.2, 00:02:54 ago, via FastEthernet1/0 Route metric is 3, traffic share count is 1 R1#trace 50.20.0.5 source 10.10.0.1 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 50.20.0.5 1 192.168.12.2 16 msec 0 msec 8 msec 2 192.168.25.5 20 msec 24 msec 32 msec R1#
From R1, OSPF will choose the path with the lowest total cost within area 123, the backbone and area 25. This happens to be the path through R2, which is directly connected to area25. This seems to defeat the rule B, but it doesn’t, because the ABR R2 has an interface in the backbone.
Case12:
- Traffic generated from R2: 20.10.0.2 (area 123) to R5 50.20.0.5 (area 25).
- R2 fa1/2 cost = 100
Figure15: Case12
R2(config-if)#do sh ip route 50.20.0.5 Routing entry for 50.20.0.5/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 101, type intra area Last update from 192.168.25.5 on FastEthernet1/2, 00:04:03 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.25.5, from 5.5.5.5, 00:04:03 ago, via FastEthernet1/2 Route metric is 101, traffic share count is 1 R2(config-if)# R2(config-if)#do trace 50.20.0.5 source 20.10.0.2 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 50.20.0.5 1 192.168.25.5 20 msec 24 msec 20 msec R2(config-if)#
Even though inter-area link cost is made worse (higher cost), R2 ospf will choose the shortest path without crossing the backbone.
Case13:
- R2 fa1/1 Down
Figure16: Case13
R2#sh ip route 50.20.0.2 % Subnet not in table R2#
R1#sh ip route 50.20.0.5 Routing entry for 50.20.0.5/32 Known via "ospf 666", distance 110, metric 4, type inter area Last update from 192.168.13.3 on FastEthernet1/1, 00:08:28 ago Routing Descriptor Blocks: * 192.168.13.3, from 3.3.3.3, 00:12:15 ago, via FastEthernet1/1 Route metric is 4, traffic share count is 1 R1#trace 50.20.0.5 source 10.10.0.1 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 50.20.0.5 1 192.168.13.3 12 msec 8 msec 8 msec 2 192.168.34.4 16 msec 16 msec 20 msec 3 192.168.45.5 20 msec 28 msec 28 msec R1#
Note that, as soon as R2 interface connected to the backbone is down, R2 can no more reach area25. And R1 will turn to the path advertised through R3.
Case14:
- R2 fa1/1 Down
- R1 fa1/1 Down
Figure17: Case14
R1#sh ip route 50.20.0.5 % Network not in table R1#t
Even though R1 link to R2 is up and R2 link (area 25) to R5 is up, R1 will not be able to use the inter-area path, because it doesn’t cross the backbone (not even a connected interface to the backbone).
