IGRP Routing Protocol

Introduction with Historical Background

The Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) was developed by Cisco Systems in mid 1980s. It is a distance-vector routing protocol and uses the metric called composite metric to calculate the best route between two communication networks. The main purpose of IGRP is to exchange information about networks available within an autonomous system. It supports up to 255 hops, has unlimited hop count, and can perform load balancing over several paths simultaneously. IGRP also allows for easy scalability from large networks down to small ones or vice versa; this makes it suitable for use in many different applications.

Features, Aspects, Applications and Specifications of IGRP Routing

Features of IGRP Routing

IGRP routing is known for its support for multiple metrics. This feature allows IGRP to choose the most efficient path for data packets to travel based on a variety of factors, including bandwidth, delay, reliability, and load. Additionally, IGRP supports load balancing, which distributes traffic evenly across the network to prevent congestion and ensure that data packets are delivered quickly and efficiently.

Another key feature of IGRP routing is its ease of configuration and maintenance. IGRP Routing Protocol is an ideal communication protocol for large enterprise networks, especially those with hundreds or thousands of devices. It also supports a high degree of security with its proprietary algorithm that calculates routes and authentication for authorized devices participating in the routing process.

Aspects of IGRP Routing

IGRP routing employs a hierarchical design, where routers are organized into domains or areas. Each router maintains a routing table that contains information about the best path to each destination network. The router periodically sends updates to its neighbors to inform them of changes to the routing table.

In addition, IGRP routing uses a composite metric to evaluate the best path for data packets to travel. The composite metric is based on a combination of metrics, including bandwidth, delay, reliability, and load. This ensures that the most efficient path is chosen for data packets to travel.

Applications of IGRP Routing

It provides reliable high performance communication, making it a go-to communication protocol for large networks. In addition to its scalability, IGRP can be used in combination with other Cisco technologies such as OSPF and BGP to create a comprehensive communication solution. This combination of IGRP communication with other protocols helps ensure a reliable communication network within large enterprises. IGRP is particularly useful in networks with a high volume of voice and video traffic, as well as real-time data transfer networks, such as financial trading systems and manufacturing plants.

Specifications of IGRP Routing

To start sharing routing information within a single autonomous system, IGRP routing employs a distance-vector routing protocol (AS). It can support up to 255 hops and can handle large networks with ease. IGRP routing's support for multiple metrics, load balancing, and security features makes it a popular choice for network administrators who need to manage complex networks with minimal effort.

Additionally, IGRP's scalability feature allows for communication to be quickly and easily adapted to networks with more or fewer devices. This communication protocol is thus ideal for large networks looking for a communication solution that can be adjusted as needed. It supports a high degree of security with its proprietary algorithm that calculates routes and authentication for authorized devices participating in the routing process.

Specification	Description
Routing protocol	IGRP uses a distance-vector routing protocol to share routing information within a single autonomous system (AS).
Maximum number of hops	IGRP can support up to 255 hops.
Network size	IGRP is designed to handle large networks with ease.
Metrics	IGRP supports multiple metrics, including bandwidth, delay, reliability, load, and MTU.
Load balancing	IGRP supports load balancing, which allows multiple paths to be used for traffic distribution.
Security	IGRP's scalability feature allows for communication to be quickly and easily adapted to networks with more or fewer devices.
Ease of management	IGRP is a popular choice for network administrators who need to manage complex networks with minimal effort.

Working of IGRP

Explanation of the distance-vector routing protocol used by IGRP

IGRP uses a distance-vector routing protocol to share routing information between routers within the same Autonomous System (AS). Distance-vector protocols send routing updates periodically to their neighboring routers, including information about the paths to various networks. Each router then updates its routing table with the new information. This process repeats at regular intervals to keep all routers up to date with the current network topology.

The importance of metrics in IGRP

In IGRP, each link is assigned a set of metrics that determine the desirability of a particular path. Metrics are values assigned to each path that indicate the distance, reliability, bandwidth, and load of the path. IGRP assigns a default metric to each path based on its bandwidth, but the administrator can modify these metrics to reflect the specific needs of the network. By using multiple metrics, IGRP can choose the most efficient path for data packets to travel.

How IGRP calculates the best path for data packets to travel:

IGRP calculates the best path to a destination network using a composite metric. The composite metric is a weighted sum of the individual metrics assigned to the path. By combining multiple metrics, IGRP can choose the most efficient path for data packets to travel. IGRP updates its routing table based on the best path, and then sends this information to its neighboring routers. The process of updating routing tables and sharing information among routers continues until all routers have up-to-date routing information.

In addition to the composite metric, IGRP uses a split horizon algorithm to prevent routing loops. This algorithm ensures that a router does not send routing updates about a network to the router from which it learned about the network.

Overall, the distance-vector protocol, combined with the use of metrics and the composite metric, allows IGRP to provide an efficient and scalable routing solution for large enterprise networks.

The advantages and disadvantages of IGRP routing protocol

Advantages

• It is easy to configure and manage

• It is scalable from large networks down to small ones or vice versa.

• It supports load balancing over multiple paths simultaneously.

• It provides reliable communication between routers in an autonomous system.

Disadvantages

• It uses the composite metric, which can make it difficult to determine the best route between two communication networks.

• Its hop count limit of 255 can be restrictive for larger networks.

• Its triggered updates may cause communication delays when there are changes in the network topology

Recent Advancements in the Field of IGRP Routing Protocol

In recent years there have been several advancements in the field of IGRP routing protocol. For example, some vendors have developed their own implementations of IGRP such as Juniper's Routing Engine and Extreme Networks' Core OS. These implementations use different algorithms to calculate routes and provide advanced features like load balancing over multiple paths simultaneously, dynamic route summarization, and support for IPv6 communication.

Alternatives of IGRP Routing Protocol

Routing Information Protocol (RIP), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), and OSPF are IGRP alternatives (Open Shortest Path First). All these alternatives offer more features than IGRP and support modern communication applications such as voice, data, and video communication.

Conclusion

IGRP routing protocol is an efficient communication tool for communication within a single network or between networks connected by routers that exchange their routing information with each other. It has several features such as load balancing over multiple paths simultaneously and support for IPv6 communication which make it suitable for many applications. However, its hop count limit of 255 can be restrictive for larger networks, and its triggered updates may cause communication delays when there are changes in the network topology. Alternatives to IGRP are RIP (Routing Information Protocol), EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol) and OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) which offer more advanced features than IGRP.