RIP vs OSPF | difference between RIP and OSPF
This page on RIP vs OSPF describes difference between RIP and OSPF. The useful links to difference between various terms are provided here.
Both are protocols or algorithms involved in building routing table. Router is a device which filters traffic based on logical address or IP address and routes the IP packets accordingly.
Router operates at OSI layer-3(network layer). Router is essential in a internet,without this internet will not exist. Routing table entries will be filled in statically by network administrator or will be filled in dynamically with the help of routing protocols.
Router table will have destination IP address,next hop and router port interface. There are different types of routers viz. core routers,exterior routers and interior routers. These routers use different protocols and algorithms to build the routing table.
Interior routers use Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP). Both RIP and OSPF are examples of interior routing protocols. RIP stands for Routing Information Protocol and OSPF stands for Open Shortest Path First(OSPF). We will see difference between RIP and OSPF protocols below.
RIP-Routing Information Protocol
RIP is a distance vector protocol and OSPF is a link state protocol. RIP determines optimal route for the packet to reach destination by hop count. Let us see how RIP works.
In RIP participant routers are classified as active and passive. Active router sends its routing table to the others and listens for their updates. Passive router listens for updates from other participants but does not propagate its own routing entries.
RIP router broadcasts update message once in 30 seconds. RIP works best when the network is in equilibrium condition and will have problem as the network grows and will have to wait for long to build the table. To avoid this problem, RIP sets limit on maximum number of router hops from source PC to the destination PC.The hop count limit in RIP is 15. RIP is gradually taken over by OSPF.
OSPF-Open Shortest Path First
Initially OSPF can in place with RFC 1131 in the year 1989, later the update OSPF ver.2 is described in RFC 2328.
Each router is assigned with router ID, here link state routers build internal map of the network topology. Each router prepares network into tree format after keeping itself at the root. This network tree is known as shortest path tree.
Following table mentions difference between RIP and OSPF. Also refer difference between various networking terminologies on the left side panel.
| RIP | OSPF |
|---|---|
| It is a distance vector protocol | It is a link state protocol |
| The metrics used in RIP is hop count | The metrics used in OSPF are bandwidth and delay |
| RIP uses distance vector algorithm to calculate the best path | OSPF uses the SPF algorithm to calculate the best path |
| In RIP protocol, networks are not divided in areas or tables | In OSPF, routing is carried out in autonomous system, into areas, sub areas as well as backbone areas |
| Maximum hop count is 15 | No hop count |
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