Setup Guide
An ABR can connect to many areas in an AS, and is considered a member of each area it connects to.
Autonomous System Border Router (ASBR)
The autonomous system border area router (ASBR) connects to more than one AS and exchanges information with the routers in other 
ASs.
Generally, the ASBR connects to a non-interior gate protocol (IGP) such as BGP or uses static routes.
Internal Router (IR)
The internal router (IR) has adjacencies with ONLY routers in the same area, as Router E, M, and I shown in the example in the Router 
Types.
Designated and Backup Designated Routers
OSPF elects a designated router (DR) and a backup designated router (BDR). Among other things, the DR is responsible for generating 
LSAs for the entire multiaccess network.
Designated routers allow a reduction in network trac and in the size of the topological database.
• The DR maintains a complete topology table of the network and sends the updates to the other routers via multicast. All routers in an 
area form a slave/master relationship with the DR. Every time a router sends an update, the router sends it to the DR and BDR. The DR 
sends the update out to all other routers in the area.
• The BDR is the router that takes over if the DR fails.
Each router exchanges information with the DR and BDR. The DR and BDR relay the information to the other routers. On broadcast 
network segments, the number of OSPF packets is further reduced by the DR and BDR sending such OSPF updates to a multicast IP 
address that all OSPF routers on the network segment are listening on.
These router designations are not the same ad the router IDs described earlier. The DRs and BDRs are congurable in Dell EMC Networking 
OS. If you do not dene DR or BDR, the system assigns them. OSPF looks at the priority of the routers on the segment to determine which 
routers are the DR and BDR. The router with the highest priority is elected the DR. If there is a tie, the router with the higher router ID 
takes precedence. After the DR is elected, the BDR is elected the same way. A router with a router priority set to zero cannot become the 
DR or BDR.
Link-State Advertisements (LSAs)
A link-state advertisement (LSA) communicates the router’s local routing topology to all other local routers in the same area.
The LSA types supported by Dell EMC Networking are dened as follows:
• Type 1: Router LSA — The router lists links to other routers or networks in the same area. Type 1 LSAs are ooded across their own 
area only. The link-state ID of the Type 1 LSA is the originating router ID.
• Type 2: Network LSA — The DR in an area lists which routers are joined within the area. Type 2 LSAs are ooded across their own 
area only. The link-state ID of the Type 2 LSA is the IP interface address of the DR.
• Type 3: Summary LSA (OSPFv2), Inter-Area-Prex LSA (OSPFv3) — An ABR takes information it has learned on one of its 
attached areas and can summarize it before sending it out on other areas it is connected to. The link-state ID of the Type 3 LSA is the 
destination network number.
• Type 4: AS Border Router Summary LSA (OSPFv2), Inter-Area-Router LSA (OSPFv3) — In some cases, Type 5 External LSAs are 
ooded to areas where the detailed next-hop information may not be available. An ABR oods the information for the router (for 
example, the ASBR where the Type 5 advertisement originated. The link-state ID for Type 4 LSAs is the router ID of the described 
ASBR).
• Type 5: LSA — These LSAs contain information imported into OSPF from other routing processes. They are ooded to all areas, 
except stub areas. The link-state ID of the Type 5 LSA is the external network number.
664
Open Shortest Path First (OSPFv2 and OSPFv3)










