New Training: Explain OSPF Architecture

In this 7-video skill, CBT Nuggets trainer Jeff Kish covers the high-level architecture of OSPF, including the basics of OSPF adjacencies, LSA types, and areas. Watch this new Cisco training.

Learn Cisco with one of these courses:

• Data Center Networking with Cisco Nexus Switches

• Cisco CCNP Data Center

This training includes:

• 7 videos

• 42 minutes of training

You’ll learn these topics in this skill:

• Intro

• OSPF Routing Protocol

• OSPF v2 LSA Types

• OSPF v3 LSA Types

• Standard OSPF Areas

• Stub OSPF Areas

• Review and Quiz

How OSPF Can Supercharge Your Applications

OSPF stands for open shortest path first. It is a basic protocol for network routing, and it's commonly utilized with software-defined networking. OSPF can make applications more efficient, too.

OSPF uses an algorithm to find the shortest available path between point A and point B in a network. It stands to reason that the shortest path is often the fastest. For this reason, devices like routers attempt to find the shortest path for network traffic before resorting to other routing methods.

By utilizing the shortest path, network traffic can reach its destination as fast as possible. This can reduce network latency. By reducing network latency, applications can send and receive data much faster. Some applications may not depend on this, but many applications, like video conferencing software, benefit greatly from that reduced latency. Likewise, some applications, like stock trading apps, demand the fastest data transfer possible.

Though OSPF is a basic routing protocol, you will need to understand how and when to utilize it. OSPF also has two primary revisions today – one for IPV4 networks and one for IPV6 networks. You will need to understand the nuances between both revisions to implement OSPF properly.