Difference between OSPF vs RIP- simple and quick

Today i will discuss more about the difference between OSPF and RIP protocol. Many of you know these protocols in details but some of you are still are the initial stage of studying these protocols.
First of all i am just taking the key points on both the protocols to understand the basics about these protocols

RIP- Routing Information Protocol
RIP is a distance vector routing protocol which shares the routing table information within the network after every 30 seconds. Routers select the best path on the basis of HOP counts. lets take an example, If we have a source and destination with two paths described below:-

Path 1 : R1---> R2----> R4---> R6--->R7 
Path 2 : R1---> R3---->R5----> R7

So above is two path available from the source R1 to the destination R7, what you guys think which path can be followed by RIP Protocol.

Yes you are right, Path 2 will be followed on the basis of the shortest Hop counts, In this way RIP-Routing Information Protocol works. 

Fig 1.1- RIP basic topology


In a complex network, you may have multiple routing protocols running simultaneously. Different routing protocols use different metrics to calculate the best path for destination. In this situation router may receive different routes information for a single destination network. 

Key points to remember for RIP-Routing Information Protocol(RIPv1 and RIPv2)
  • RIPv1 uses broadcast for routing update while RIPv2 uses multicast for routing updates
  • RIPv1 sends broadcast on 255.255.255.255 destination while RIPv2 send multicast on 224.0.0.9 destination
  • RIPv1 does not support VLSM while RIPv2 supports VLSM.
  • RIPv1 does not support any authentication while RIPv2 supports MD5 authentication
  • RIPv1 only supports classful routing and RIPv2 supports Classless routing
  • RIPv1 does not support discontiguous network while RIPv2 supports.
OSPF- Open Shortest Path First
OSPF is a Link state routing protocol and works on the its path selection attributes and the detailed selection will be discussed in another article.

Fig 1.2- OSPF basic topology


Key points to remember for OSPF-Open Shortest Path First
  • OSPF advertises the status of directly connected links using Link-State Advertisements (LSAs). 
  • OSPF will form neighbor relationships with adjacent routers in the same Area 
  • OSPF sends link state advertisements if there is change in the network after every 30 Minutes.
  • OSPF traffic is multicast either to address 224.0.0.5 (all OSPF routers) or 224.0.0.6 (all Designated Routers). 
  • OSPF routes have a AD value is 110. 
  • OSPF is a classless protocol, and thus supports VLSMs. 
  • OSPF uses cost as its metric, which is computed based on the bandwidth of the link. 
Difference between the RIPv2 and OSPF routing Protocols

Fig 1.3- Difference RIP vs OSPF


Above is the image shows the difference between these two protocols in simple and quick way. In this way you will remember these protocols and understand where to deploy what protocol on the basis of the network size.