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CompTIA Network+ 2.1 Cisco CCST Networking 4.4
TechKnowSurge Catalog Interactives Distance Vector or Link State?
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Distance Vector or Link State?

Whole tables or just the changes, fewest hops or a full map: distance vector or link state? Five in a row.

⚑ Complete this interactive to capture a CTF flag worth 5 points.

About this interactive

The lesson's comparison: - **Distance vector** (RIP, RIP version 2): each router sends its whole routing table to its neighbours, which add one to the hop count and pass it on. A router knows the next hop and the distance, not the map. It picks the fewest hops even over a slow link. Simple and light, but slower to converge and not very scalable. Bellman-Ford algorithm. - **Link state** (OSPF, IS-IS): every router builds a map of all the links and calculates the shortest path with Dijkstra's algorithm; OSPF's cost counts bandwidth. After convergence it sends only the changes. Faster convergence and scales well, but more complex and uses more CPU and memory. - **EIGRP**, Cisco's, sits between the two, so it is left off the cards.

What you'll learn

Aligned to

CompTIA Network+
2.1 Explain characteristics of routing technologies.
Cisco CCST Networking
4.4 Explain basic routing concepts

Key terms

Distance Vector
DV
A type of routing algorithm where each router periodically shares its entire routing table with directly connected neighbors, calculating the best path based on a distance metric such as hop count. Distance vector protocols such as RIP converge more slowly than link-state protocols but are simpler to configure.
Link State
LS
A routing algorithm category where each router maintains a complete map of the network topology and independently calculates shortest paths using Dijkstra's SPF algorithm. Link-state protocols such as OSPF and IS-IS converge faster and scale better than distance-vector protocols.
Hop Count
A metric used by distance vector protocols that counts the number of routers a packet must pass through to reach its destination.
Convergence
The state in which all routers in a network have consistent and up-to-date routing information after a topology change.
Routing Information Protocol
RIP
One of the oldest distance-vector routing protocols, using hop count as its sole routing metric with a maximum of 15 hops to prevent routing loops. RIP sends full routing table updates periodically and converges slowly compared to modern protocols, making it suitable only for small networks.
Open Shortest Path First
OSPF
A link-state interior gateway routing protocol that maintains a complete map of the network topology and uses Dijkstra's Shortest Path First algorithm to calculate optimal, loop-free routes. OSPF divides networks into hierarchical areas to improve scalability and supports VLSM and rapid convergence.
Intermediate System to Intermediate System
IS-IS
A link-state routing protocol used within an autonomous system that organizes routers into areas and uses Dijkstra's SPF algorithm to calculate shortest paths. IS-IS is widely deployed by ISPs and large enterprise networks as an alternative to OSPF, particularly in environments requiring fast convergence at scale.
Dijkstra's Algorithm
A shortest-path algorithm used by OSPF to calculate the lowest-cost path to every destination network based on the link-state database.

Topics

Dynamic Routing Distance Vector Link State Rip Ospf Convergence Interactive Streak Sort

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