I currently manage a Large network (300) routers running OSPF and IPX. When I first got here the network was Proteon routers. The routers were severely limited in memory. Think 2500's with 8Mb RAM. We had a Cisco 5500 w/ RSM in the core and started to replace the Proteons with Bay ASN. So we had a Proteon/Cisco/Bay OSPF network. The only vendor compatibility problems were Proteon vs. everything else. The Bay's and Cisco's worked together fine. The IPX network is very large. 900 routes and 3500 SAP's. The Bay couldn't handle it. Honestly they were underspec'd (done before I got here). So the customer decided to replace the Bay with Cisco. We now have 2 7206VXR's in the core and 300+ 2600's in the remotes with about 20 3600's in regional centers. I like OSPF because or all the built in tweaks with different areas etc.
I know of a much larger network here locally running BGP and EIGRP. You can do lot's with EIGRP in terms of different AS's and summarization. They have done some innovative things with the network and it works very well. In essence they have made an EIGRP network look and behave like an OSPF network. I would also look at IS-IS. It is a clean, neat protocol. I know many who aren't in the SP area are scared of IS-IS but it is a great protocol. Think OSPF without the Area 0 concept. You create different Areas of L1 routers and tie them together with L1/L2 routers. The primary problem in any large network is memory consumption on the routers. If all the routers must maintain full routing tables you can eat up a lot of memory. Whether you go OSPF, EIGRP, or IS-IS, you need to segment the network into logical summarization boundaries. I would draw out your network from a layer-2 perspective, find the logical boundaries for summarization, and then see what works for a routing protocol. In a poorly designed large network it doesn't matter if you are running OSPF, EIGRP, or IS-IS. Have I done a good job of not answering your question??? Email me if you want to discuss this further. Bill Carter CCIE 5022 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Madory Douglas C 1Lt 603 ACS/LGC Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 10:21 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: OSPF vs EIGRP [7:41613] What experiences have people had in setting up and maintaining OSPF vs EIGRP on a large network? I'm aware of the proprietary implications of EIGRP and the basic differences in design of the protocols - how they are _supposed_ to work, but, in practice, would you say one is more stable / dependable / manageable than the other? Also, what about OSPF between Cisco and non-Cisco products? Do they always work together like they're supposed to? If you have some first-hand experience with this, I'd really like to hear about it. Thanks, Doug. ------------------------ Douglas Madory,1st Lt Flt CC, C4I Systems 603 ACS / LGC UVA '99 WAHOOWA! ------------------------ Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=41620&t=41613 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
