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Distance vector vs link state routing
Short answer
Distance vector protocols share whole routing tables with neighbours, use Bellman-Ford, and converge slowly. Link state protocols flood link states to all routers, build a complete topology map, use Dijkstra, and converge fast. RIP is DV; OSPF is LS.
Differentiate between link state and distance vector routing (compare the operation of link state routing with distance vector routing).
Distance vector (DV) routing: each router tells its neighbours its whole routing table (distances to all destinations) periodically, and learns routes by the Bellman-Ford algorithm. Link state (LS) routing: each router floods information about the state of its own links to all routers; each router then builds the full network map and computes shortest paths using Dijkstra's algorithm.
| Point | Distance vector | Link state |
|---|---|---|
| Information shared | Whole routing table | Only the state/cost of its own links |
| Shared with | Directly connected neighbours only | All routers in the area (flooding) |
| When | Periodic (e.g. every 30 s in RIP) | When a change occurs (plus a refresh) |
| Algorithm | Bellman-Ford | Dijkstra |
| Knowledge of topology | Only distance and next hop ("routing by rumour") | Complete topology map |
| Convergence | Slow; count-to-infinity problem | Fast; loop-free |
| Bandwidth use | High (periodic tables) | Low in steady state, high at startup |
| CPU / memory | Low | High |
| Metric | Hop count (RIP) | Cost based on bandwidth, delay (OSPF) |
| Scalability | Small networks (RIP max 15 hops) | Large networks, hierarchical areas |
| Examples | RIP, IGRP | OSPF, IS-IS |
DV is easier to configure but converges slower; LS is more complex and resource-hungry but more reliable for large networks.
✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)
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