Network Scalability

Many may claim that EIGRP is advantageous over OSPF because of it’s fast convergence, but when your network scales larger and larger, you start running into the limitations of EIGRP regardless of it’s fast convergence.

The following is a quote from a Network World article (http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/16276) which I highly recommend you read. There is no need in me re-explaining what this article does a very good job of.

>>>The primary scaling limitation with EIGRP is that it doesn’t have a capability for setting internal boundaries, important for controlling prefix summarization and database sizes, the way OSPF areas do. You can artificially do this by using multiple EIGRP processes, but why use a kludge to accomplish something OSPF does as an integral part of the protocol?<<<

On another note, scalability can also mean the adaption or use of new protocols or protocols which you have yet to use.

Just like you can scale an EIGRP network to an OSFP network, you can also scale your non-VoIP network to support VoIP and/or wireless even if you don’t currently use those now. But you have to have the equipment in place which can scale to those new or previously unused protocols.

Likewise, you can scale CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) which is a Cisco proprietary protocol to LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) and inter-operate with non-Cisco devices as well.

Thus scaling and/or scalability has a very wide meaning.

Walt