Installing and Administering Internet Services

240 Chapter 8
Configuring gated
Overview
NOTE Do not mix RIP and OSPF protocols within a single network, because the
routing information might conflict.
Table 8-1 compares the advantages and disadvantages of the RIP and
OSPF protocols.
Table 8-1 Comparison of RIP and OSPF Protocols
gated supports the following exterior gateway protocols:
RIP OSPF
Advantage: RIP is easy to configure. Disadvantage: OSPF is complicated to
configure and requires network design and
planning.
Advantage: An end system (a system with
only one network interface) can run RIP in
passive mode to listen for routing
information without supplying any.
Disadvantage: OSPF does not have a
passive mode.
Disadvantage: RIP may be slow to adjust
for link failures.
Advantage: OSPF is quick to adjust for link
failures.
Disadvantage: RIP generates more protocol
traffic than OSPF, because it propagates
routing information by periodically
transmitting the entire routing table to
neighbor routers.
Advantage: OSPF generates less protocol
traffic than RIP, because each router
transmits only information about its links
instead of the whole routing table, and
because OSPF allows you to divide an
autonomous system into areas, each with a
designated router that exchanges
inter-area routing information with other
routers. Intra-area routing information is
isolated to a single area.
Disadvantage: RIP is not well suited to
large networks, because RIP packet size
increases as the number of networks
increases.
Advantage: OSPF works well in large
networks.