Difference between EIGRP, OSPF vs BGP Routing Protocols?
All dynamic routing protocols serve the same purpose: to move data traffic directly to the optimal path toward a destination when given the choice between multiple paths. Let’s examine the three most popular routing protocols used within enterprises today to see how they differ and how they are best used within the network infrastructure. Now is an equally good time to clarify the comparison of routing protocols (EIGRP, OSPF, and BGP). All routing protocols have their strengths and weaknesses. Let’s look at the comparison routing protocol and the diagram on each routing protocol.
There are three major types of routing protocols
- The enhanced interior gateway routing protocol (EIGRP)
- Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
- Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol) is Cisco’s proprietary routing protocol based on the diffusing update algorithm. EIGRP has a faster router convergence among all the three protocols we are talking about.
OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is the most widely used Protocol in the network of large enterprises. OSPF is based on the shortest path first (SPF) algorithm, which is used to calculate the shortest path for each node.
BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is similar to the postal service of the Internet. It is the protocol that makes the Internet work. It is done by enabling data routing on the Internet.
Let’s discuss each of the above protocols.
| EIGRP | OSPF | BGP |
| It is a hybrid distance vector protocol. | It is an Shortest Path Forward (Dijkstra) used in Internet Protocol. | It is expressed as a path vector protocol. |
| EIGRP is a popular option for both large and small routing within campus networks. | It is a link-state routing protocol and includes the group of interior gateway protocols. | It is the main routing protocol of the Internet and is responsible for maintaining a table of Internet Protocol networks |
| Many network engineers believe that EIGRP is the best choice for a routing protocol on private networks because it provides the best balance between speed, scalability, and ease of management. | It is slightly more complex to set up and manage than EIGRP; it is relatively easy to run once things like the autonomous system routing domain hang. | It is a routing protocol used on the Internet; Therefore, the most common enterprise use when connecting to your ISP is to run BGP on your Internet edge. |
| The only drawback of EIGRP is that it is not for a long time and can only run on CISCO software and hardware | Odds are that unless a network is very small, outdated or primarily Cisco, the dynamic routing protocol in use on the LAN will be OSPF. | This protocol can be used for dynamic failover from one ISP link to another if the primary connection fails. |
| EIGRP saves all routes instead of the best route to ensure rapid convergence. | OSPF is based on link-state technology using the SPF algorithm that computes the shortest path. | The Internet is usually very large for this routing method and if used, each router must have a huge link-state database |
| Generally, optimization based on SAL to DUAL work that assured loop-free operation and provided a means for the quick junction. | OSPF is most widely used in networks of large commercial companies. | BGP can also be configured to learn full or partial routing tables to make better routing decisions |
| EIGRP maintains a neighbor routing table and only exchanges the information that it is a neighbor will not be included. | OSPF is a protocol with a layer of the network that works on protocol number 89 and uses the 110 as AD value. | BGP uses the concept of autonomous systems (AS). An autonomous system is a group of networks under a general administration. |
| EIGRP 90 (Internal), 170 (External) is AD | 110 AD | eBGP 20, iBGP 200 is AD |
| Multicast: 224.0.0.10 | Protocol number: 89 Multicast: 224.0.0.5/224.0.0.6 | TCP 179 |
| EIGRP cost metric = 256((K1Scaled Bw) + (K2Scaled Bw)/(256 – Load) + (K3Scaled Delay)*(K5/(Reliability + K4))) | OSPF cost = reference bandwidth / interface bandwidth | BGP = Path manipulation |
| LAN facing Routing Protocol | LAN facing Routing Protocol | WAN facing Routing Protocol |
As you can see, every routing protocol has its own positive and negative and situations where they work best. Because of this, many organizations run multiple routing protocols on the same network and use route redistribution techniques to play them alongside each other.