Scenario-Based OSPF Questions and Answers:

1. Scenario: Multi-Area OSPF Configuration

o Answer: To configure OSPF in a multi-area design, you'll start by configuring

Area 0 as the backbone area since all OSPF areas must connect to it. Routers
within each area should have OSPF enabled on the relevant interfaces, and the
network command should be used to specify which interfaces participate in
OSPF. Here’s a general approach:

▪ Step 1: Define OSPF on each router.

#router ospf 1

▪ Step 2: Assign the interfaces to the appropriate OSPF areas.

network 192.168.1.0 0.0.0.255 area 0

network 192.168.2.0 0.0.0.255 area 1

network 192.168.3.0 0.0.0.255 area 2

▪ Considerations:

▪ Ensure that Area 0 connects directly to both Area 1 and Area 2.

▪ Area Border Routers (ABRs) will handle the routing between

different areas.

▪ Summarization of routes at the ABRs can be used to reduce the

size of the routing tables.

▪ Carefully plan the area sizes and connectivity to avoid potential

issues with OSPF route summarization and routing loops.

2. Scenario: OSPF Neighbor Adjacency Issue

o Answer: If R1 and R2 are not forming an OSPF neighbor adjacency, follow these
steps to troubleshoot:

▪ Step 1: Verify the OSPF configurations on both routers, ensuring they

belong to the same OSPF area and have the correct OSPF network type
(broadcast, point-to-point, etc.).

▪ Step 2: Check that both routers have compatible OSPF hello and dead
intervals.

▪ Step 3: Ensure that the IP addresses on the connected interfaces are in

the same subnet.

▪ Step 4: Confirm that there are no access control lists (ACLs) blocking
OSPF traffic (Protocol number 89).

▪ Step 5: Verify that the routers can ping each other on the directly
connected interfaces.
 ▪ Possible Reasons:

▪ Mismatched OSPF area ID.

▪ Mismatched OSPF network types.

▪ Different OSPF authentication settings.

▪ Mismatched hello and dead timers.

▪ Incorrect IP addressing or subnet mismatch.

3. Scenario: OSPF Network Design Change

o Answer: To integrate the new network into your existing OSPF network:

▪ Step 1: Connect the new network's OSPF area to your backbone area
(Area 0). If the new network also uses OSPF, configure it as a new area.

▪ Step 2: Set up an Area Border Router (ABR) to connect the new area to
the existing backbone area.

▪ Step 3: Ensure that all routers in the new area can communicate with the
backbone area via the ABR.

▪ Step 4: Use route summarization at the ABR to reduce the number of

routes advertised between areas.

▪ Challenges:

▪ Network address conflicts between the two organizations.

▪ OSPF area and subnet design compatibility.

▪ Potential routing loops or suboptimal routing.

▪ Careful planning is needed to avoid interrupting ongoing

services.

4. Scenario: OSPF Route Redistribution

o Answer: To perform route redistribution between OSPF and EIGRP:

▪ Step 1: Configure route redistribution on the router that runs both OSPF
and EIGRP.

router ospf 1

redistribute eigrp 1 subnets

router eigrp 1

redistribute ospf 1

▪ Step 2: Specify the metrics for the redistributed routes to ensure they are
correctly advertised in both OSPF and EIGRP.

▪ Step 3: Use route maps or distribute lists to filter which routes are
redistributed if necessary.
 ▪ Potential Issues:

▪ Redistribution can lead to routing loops.

▪ Inconsistent metrics might cause suboptimal routing.

▪ Route feedback or "route poisoning" could occur if the same

route is advertised back into the original protocol.

5. Scenario: OSPF Network Scalability

o Answer: To ensure OSPF scalability:

▪ Use Multiple Areas: Divide the network into multiple OSPF areas, with
Area 0 as the backbone area.

▪ Route Summarization: Summarize routes at the ABR to reduce the size

of the OSPF database.

▪ Stub Areas: Use stub or totally stubby areas to minimize the number of
external routes propagated into the area.

▪ LSA Filtering: Filter unnecessary LSAs to reduce the OSPF database

size.

▪ Adjust OSPF Timers: Tune OSPF hello and dead intervals according to
network needs.

▪ Hierarchical Design: Maintain a hierarchical design with a clear

backbone and defined area boundaries.

Normal OSPF Interview Questions and Answers:

1. What is OSPF, and how does it differ from other routing protocols like RIP and
EIGRP?

o Answer: OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is a link-state routing protocol that
uses Dijkstra's algorithm to calculate the shortest path to each destination in the
network. It differs from RIP (Routing Information Protocol), which is a distance-
vector protocol that uses hop count as its metric, and from EIGRP (Enhanced
Interior Gateway Routing Protocol), which is a hybrid protocol combining
aspects of both distance-vector and link-state protocols. OSPF supports
variable-length subnet masks (VLSM) and is more scalable than RIP, while EIGRP
is proprietary to Cisco.

2. Explain the OSPF neighbor relationship and the various states that routers go
through to establish a neighbor adjacency.

o Answer: OSPF routers establish neighbor adjacencies through several states:

▪ Down: Initial state where no hello packets have been received.

▪ Init: Hello packet has been received, but the router's ID is not in the
neighbor's hello packet.
 ▪ 2-Way: Bidirectional communication is established (hello packets
exchanged and IDs recognized).

▪ ExStart: Routers establish which one will initiate the exchange of DBD
packets.

▪ Exchange: Routers exchange DBD packets describing the contents of

their LSDB.

▪ Loading: Routers request the most recent LSAs from their neighbors.

▪ Full: Routers have fully synchronized their LSDBs and are in a complete
adjacency state.

3. What is an OSPF area, and why is it important to use areas in OSPF?

o Answer: An OSPF area is a logical grouping of routers that reduces the

complexity of routing by limiting the extent of link-state updates and reducing
the size of the OSPF database. Using areas helps to optimize OSPF
performance, reduce processing overhead, and enhance scalability by isolating
topology changes to specific areas, thus minimizing the impact on the entire
network.

4. What is the purpose of the OSPF Backbone Area (Area 0), and what role does it play
in the OSPF hierarchy?

o Answer: The OSPF Backbone Area (Area 0) is the central area to which all other
areas must connect. It serves as the hub for routing information between
different areas in an OSPF network. Area 0 ensures that all areas are
interconnected, allowing for the propagation of routing information throughout
the entire OSPF network.

5. Can you explain the OSPF Link-State Advertisement (LSA) types and their functions
within an OSPF network?

o Answer: OSPF uses several types of LSAs:

▪ Type 1: Router LSA – Describes the local router’s interfaces and their
states within an area.

▪ Type 2: Network LSA – Generated by the Designated Router (DR) and

describes the routers attached to a particular network.

▪ Type 3: Summary LSA – Used by ABRs to advertise networks between

areas.

▪ Type 4: ASBR Summary LSA – Used to advertise the location of an

Autonomous System Boundary Router (ASBR).

▪ Type 5: AS External LSA – Describes routes to destinations outside the

OSPF autonomous system.

▪ Type 7: NSSA LSA – Used in Not-So-Stubby Areas (NSSAs) to advertise

external routes while keeping the area mostly stubby.
6. What is the OSPF Designated Router (DR) and Backup Designated Router (BDR), and
how are they elected?

o Answer: The Designated Router (DR) is elected on multi-access networks (like

Ethernet) to reduce OSPF traffic by acting as a central point for exchanging LSAs.
The Backup Designated Router (BDR) takes over if the DR fails. DR and BDR are
elected based on the OSPF priority (higher priority wins) or, if priorities are equal,
the highest router ID.

7. How does OSPF handle routing loops, and what mechanisms does it use to prevent
them?

o Answer: OSPF prevents routing loops through its link-state nature and the use of
Dijkstra's shortest path first algorithm. By maintaining a complete topology map
of the network in each router's link-state database, OSPF ensures that routers
always have an up-to-date view of the network, thus avoiding routing loops.
OSPF’s hierarchical structure, with clearly defined areas, further aids in
preventing loops.

8. What is the difference between OSPF's metric (cost) calculation and that of other
protocols like RIP or EIGRP?

o Answer: OSPF uses a cost metric based on the bandwidth of the links,
calculated as Cost = 10000 Mbps / Bandwidth in Mbps. RIP uses hop count as its
metric, and EIGRP uses a composite metric that considers bandwidth, delay,
load, and reliability. OSPF’s cost metric allows for more granular and accurate
path selection, especially in networks with varied link speeds.

9. Describe how OSPF route summarization works and why it is beneficial in a large
OSPF network.

o Answer: OSPF route summarization is the process of combining multiple IP

networks into a single summary route, reducing the size of the routing table and
OSPF database. Summarization is typically done at the ABR, which reduces the
number of routes advertised to other areas, leading to more efficient OSPF
operation and reducing CPU and memory usage on routers.

10. What is OSPF Stub Area, and what are the different types of stub areas? How do
they help in optimizing the OSPF routing table?

o Answer: An OSPF Stub Area is an area that does not receive external routes
(Type 5 LSAs) and instead relies on a default route for destinations outside the
area. Types of stub areas:

▪ Stub Area: Receives Type 3 LSAs from other areas but not Type 5
external LSAs.

▪ Totally Stubby Area: Only receives a default route (no Type 3 or Type 5
LSAs).

▪ Not-So-Stubby Area (NSSA): Allows external routes from within the area
but blocks Type 5 LSAs from outside the area. Stub areas reduce the size
of the OSPF database and simplify routing within the area, optimizing the
routing table.