How does EIGRP differ from OSPF?

Question

Options

• AEIGRP is more prone to routing loops than OSPF
• BEIGRP has a full map of the topology, and OSPF only knows directly connected neighbors
• CEIGRP supports equal or unequal path cost, and OSPF supports only equal path cost.
• DEIGRP uses more CPU and memory than OSPF

• A
  2% (1)
• B
  2% (1)
• C
  89% (42)
• D
  6% (3)

Explanation

EIGRP vs. OSPF: Load Balancing Capabilities

Option C is correct because EIGRP supports both equal-cost and unequal-cost load balancing through its "variance" command, allowing traffic to be distributed across paths with different metrics - a feature unique to EIGRP among common routing protocols. OSPF, by contrast, only performs load balancing across paths that have identical costs.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A is incorrect - EIGRP is actually less prone to routing loops than many protocols; its DUAL algorithm is specifically designed to guarantee loop-free paths.
• B is incorrect - This is backwards; OSPF builds a full link-state map of the topology (using its LSDB), while EIGRP only maintains knowledge of neighbors and feasible successors.
• D is incorrect - OSPF typically consumes more CPU and memory than EIGRP because it must calculate and store the complete network topology using Dijkstra's SPF algorithm.

Memory Tip: Think of EIGRP as the "flexible" protocol - it uses a variance multiplier to allow unequal-cost load balancing. Remember: EIGRP = Extra flexibility, OSPF = Only equal costs.

No community discussion yet for this question.