RFC 1245 (rfc1245) - Page 1 of 12


OSPF Protocol Analysis



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



Network Working Group                                     J. Moy, Editor
Request for Comments: 1245                                 Proteon, Inc.
                                                               July 1991


                         OSPF protocol analysis



Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not
specify any Internet standard. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Please send comments to .

Abstract

This is the first of two reports on the OSPF protocol. These reports are
required by the IAB/ IESG in order for an Internet routing protocol to
advance to Draft Standard Status. OSPF is a TCP/IP routing protocol,
designed to be used internal to an Autonomous System (in other words,
OSPF is an Interior Gateway Protocol).

Version 1 of the OSPF protocol was published in RFC 1131. Since then
OSPF version 2 has been developed. Version 2 has been documented in RFC
1247.  The changes between version 1 and version 2 of the OSPF protocol
are explained in Appendix F of RFC 1247. It is OSPF Version 2 that is
the subject of this report.

This report attempts to summarize the key features of OSPF V2. It also
attempts to analyze how the protocol will perform and scale in the
Internet.

1.0  Introduction

This document addresses, for OSPF V2, the requirements set forth by the
IAB/IESG for an Internet routing protocol to advance to Draft Standard
state. This requirements are briefly summarized below. The remaining
sections of this report document how OSPF V2 satisfies these
requirements:

o  What are the key features and algorithms of the protocol?

o  How much link bandwidth, router memory and router CPU cycles does the
   protocol consume under normal conditions?

o  For these metrics, how does the usage scale as the routing
   environment grows? This should include topologies at least an order



[Moy]