What is the Difference Between RIP and OSPF

The main difference between RIP and OSPF is that the RIP is a Distance Vector Routing Protocol that requires routing table updates at constant intervals while OSPF is a Link State Routing Protocol that sends updates only when a network change occurs.

RIP is a dynamic protocol that helps to find the best path to send a packet from the source to the destination. It uses the hop count to determine the best route and to deliver the packets within a short amount of time. On the other hand, OSPF is a protocol that can replace RIP.  A router detects a change in the network and sends the information to other routers so that they will also have the same routing information.  

Key Areas Covered

1. What is RIP
     – Definition, Functionality
2. What is OSPF
     – Definition, Functionality
3. What is the Difference Between RIP and OSPF
     – Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

OSPF, RIP, RIP V1, RIP V2, RIPNG, Router, Routing Protocol

What is RIP

RIP stands for Routing Information Protocol. It is a dynamic routing protocol. It uses the hop count as the routing metric to determine the best path between the source and the destination to transmit the packet.  Hop count refers to the number of routers between the source and the destination. The path with the lowest hop count is the best route. RIP prevents routing loops by limiting the number of hops in a path. The maximum hop count is 15.

RIP protocol updates the network constantly. The updates are always broadcasted. There are three versions of RIP, and they are called RIP Version 1, RIP Version 2 and RIPNG.

RIP V1 – It is a classful routing protocol. It doesn’t send information of mask in its routing update; it sends updates as broadcast. It does not support authentication of update messages.

RIP V2 – It is a classless routing protocol. It doesn’t send information of mask in its routing update. It sends updates as multicasts. Moreover, it supports authentication of RIPv2 update messages.

RIPNG – It runs on IPv6 networks. It sends updates as multicasts.

What is OSPF

OSPF stands for Open Shortest Path First. It is a link state routing protocol. It is a classless protocol and uses Shortest Path First (SPF) algorithm to find the best path between the source and the destination. The routing table changes updates only if there is a change in the routers. In OSPF, there is no hop count restriction.

OSPF was developed by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as one of the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP).  It is designed to move packets within a large autonomous system. It uses multicast address 224.0.0.5 for normal communication and uses 224.0.0.6 to update the designated router. The neighbour routers in OSPF should be present in the same area. They should have the same subnet mask. Furthermore, the stub flag and authentication must be compatible.

Difference Between RIP and OSPF

Definition

RIP is one of the oldest instance vector routing protocols which employs the hop count as a routing metric. OSP is a routing protocol for Internet Protocol (IP) networks that uses a link state routing (LSR) algorithm and falls into the group of interior gateway protocol (OGP). Thus, this describes the fundamental difference between RIP and OSPF.

Full Form

The full form of RIP is Routing Information Protocol while the full form of OSPF is Open Shortest Path First.

Type

RIP is a Distance Vector Routing Protocol while OSPF is a Link State Routing Protocol. This is a major difference between RIP and OSPF.

Default Metric

Another difference between RIP and OSPF is that RIP uses the hop count while OSPF uses the Bandwidth.

Hop Count Limit

RIP can have a maximum hop count of 15. OSPF provides unlimited hop count.

Convergence

In RIP, the convergence is slow, but the convergence in OSPF is fast.

Updating

One other difference between RIP and OSPF is that in RIP, the routing table updates at constant intervals. But, in OSPF, the routing table updates only if there is a change in the network.

Multicast Address

Furthermore, RIP uses the multicast address 224.0.0.9 while OSPF uses the multicast address 224.0.0.5 and 224.0.0.6.

Complexity

While RIP is simple, OSPF is complex.

Usage

There is also a difference between RIP and OSPF based on their usage. RIP is more suitable for smaller networks whereas OSPF is more suitable for larger networks.

Conclusion

The difference between RIP and OSPF is that RIP is a Distance Vector Routing Protocol that requires routing table updates at constant intervals while OSPF is a Link State Routing Protocol that sends updates only when a network change occurs.

Reference:

1. “Computer Network | Routing Information Protocol (RIP).” GeeksforGeeks, 17 May 2018, Available here.
2. “Computer Network | Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) Protocol Fundamentals.” GeeksforGeeks, 20 Apr. 2018, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Fish routing schem” By George Shuklin – Own work (CC BY-SA 1.0) via Commons Wikimedia