Routing and Switching Selection Criteria - Essay Example

Routing and Switching Selection Criteria Distance vector and link are two forms of routing protocol. Distance vector routing is called so because it takes into account two factors i.e. the metric of distance and its vector. The directly connected neighbors exchange the routing information. Link state routing on the other hand requires all the routers and it reaches almost all the routers present in the network. The examples of distance vector routing protocol are IGRP and RIP whereas that of Link State Routing Protocol are IS-IS and OSPF.

There are several factors that limit the working of distance vector and link state. The needs memory of distance vector are low and its updating is done only on broadcast not on multicast and its HOP is limited and coverage time is quite slow and does not have any hierarchical structure. There are not many limitations of link state protocol however it may scale a distance which is much greater than the distance vector protocol and its function are more like a CPU. EIGRP may have short coverage times and it easily adapts to the changes that occur.

Therefore it may be considered as the best suited method for designing new protocol for LAN architecture. The physical topology may also be considered as an important factor for determining the protocol. EIGRP is the Cisco propriety protocol and therefore it restricts the selection of the vendors. EIGRP can be used in the campus core and in some of the routing protocols in order to overcome this restriction (Routing Protocol Deployment, 2013).ReferenceRouting Protocol Deployment. (2013). Retrieved January 22, 2014, from Cisco Ebook: http://ciscodocuments.blogspot.com/2011/06/chapter-7-selecting-routing-protocols_3334.html