Meaning of "Open" in OSPF

It just hit me that the word open in Open Shortest Path First is not a verb but an adjective.

I always thought OSPF meant the router would "open" the path that is shortest first, where open means use or connect. Now I know it's more like OpenOffice or OpenSSL, where open means it's an open standard (open source for the two analogies).

I wonder how many people thought the same way I used to?

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astorrs

I made the same assumption when I first heard about it. Just think of it as a double entendre.

GT-Rob

haha I always thought it was an odd name. I mean, it doesn't always take the "shortest" path. Thats more of how RIP would work. But then I guess it is how you define shortest...

lildeezul

open refers to OPEN STANDARD.

OSPF is an open standard for all vendors

darkerosxx

I thought it meant open, as in the path that's open, not closed. Hmmm....

jibbajabba

darkerosxx wrote:

I thought it meant open, as in the path that's open, not closed. Hmmm....

Thought so too at first, but it wouldn't quite make sense so I ASSUMED it was based on the standard ...

networker050184

Man, did no one read the RCF when they first started???

Just kidding, I thought the same thing when I first started learning OSPF

darkerosxx

Pretty cool reading about this:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/internetworking/technology/handbook/OSPF.html wrote:

OSPF has two primary characteristics. The first is that the protocol is open, which means that its specification is in the public domain. The OSPF specification is published as Request For Comments (RFC) 1247. The second principal characteristic is that OSPF is based on the SPF algorithm, which sometimes is referred to as the Dijkstra algorithm, named for the person credited with its creation.

gojericho0

OSPF is an acronym

ITdude

I thought it referred to its personality, as being very "open"

Mishra

I thought..

"God, not another acronym to memorize. I hate this IT crap."

ITdude

Mishra wrote:

I thought..

"God, not another acronym to memorize. I hate this IT crap."

That is probably going to be one of your most important acronyms if you hang out on the data side of things.

Mishra

ITdude wrote:

Mishra wrote:

I thought..

"God, not another acronym to memorize. I hate this IT crap."

That is probably going to be one of your most important acronyms if you hang out on the data side of things.

I dunno. Cisco extremists will try and drag me to the EIGRP side. I've experienced that.

Darthn3ss

what on earth is ospf?

jibbajabba

Darthn3ss wrote:

what on earth is ospf?

Must be some sort of Sushi

empc4000xl

Mishra wrote:

ITdude wrote:

Mishra wrote:

I thought..

"God, not another acronym to memorize. I hate this IT crap."

That is probably going to be one of your most important acronyms if you hang out on the data side of things.

I dunno. Cisco extremists will try and drag me to the EIGRP side. I've experienced that.

they both have there pro's and cons. Since we work with a lot of inexperienced people on the other end of our WAN links, I prefer EIGRP due to the fact that they can do stupid things and the router will still function. When running OSPF, we have had people change settings and they cause LSA Floods which will shut down all other users of the WAN. But I also like OSPF because for some reason for me it seems easy to troubleshoot

ITdude

Mishra wrote:

ITdude wrote:

Mishra wrote:

I thought..

"God, not another acronym to memorize. I hate this IT crap."

That is probably going to be one of your most important acronyms if you hang out on the data side of things.

I dunno. Cisco extremists will try and drag me to the EIGRP side. I've experienced that.

You have to be careful with Cisco zealots and their complex metrics!!!!

see below....