Difference in protocol types
Hi,
I was reading on the forum about knowing the difference between distance vector and link state, and I understand the difference between the individual routing protocols, however, im looking for a one-liner (or at least less than 100 lines
) description of the differences.
Distance-Vector:
- Routes by rumor. Sends it routing table to the next in line, and so on and so forth.
- Convergence can be an issue since you explicitly trust your neighbor to report on the correct state of a link/network.
- Most distance-vector protocols send out their entire routing table on predefined timers to sync up.
- Examples of routing protocols:
- RIP
- IGRP
- EIGRP (Advanced Distance Vector).
Link-State:
- Each router "makes" its own map of the network, instead of relying on its neighbors routing tables.
- Changes are flooded through the entire network so the link state algorithm can run on each router as soon as possible and make a quick convergence.
However, the line's are blurring with EIGRP and even the current RIP implementations, which feature triggered updates, and in EIGRP's case, partial updates and no timed updates.
Just looking for a few more conceptual differences to add to my mind map.
I was reading on the forum about knowing the difference between distance vector and link state, and I understand the difference between the individual routing protocols, however, im looking for a one-liner (or at least less than 100 lines

Distance-Vector:
- Routes by rumor. Sends it routing table to the next in line, and so on and so forth.
- Convergence can be an issue since you explicitly trust your neighbor to report on the correct state of a link/network.
- Most distance-vector protocols send out their entire routing table on predefined timers to sync up.
- Examples of routing protocols:
- RIP
- IGRP
- EIGRP (Advanced Distance Vector).
Link-State:
- Each router "makes" its own map of the network, instead of relying on its neighbors routing tables.
- Changes are flooded through the entire network so the link state algorithm can run on each router as soon as possible and make a quick convergence.
However, the line's are blurring with EIGRP and even the current RIP implementations, which feature triggered updates, and in EIGRP's case, partial updates and no timed updates.
Just looking for a few more conceptual differences to add to my mind map.
Studying for CCNP (All done)
Comments
Distance vector only know about directly connected neighbors and what they tell them (hence the routing by rumor).
That's about as short as I can get it.
Distance vector information is generated by the neighboring router and not always 100% authentic (because it is not coming from source)
Because distance vector protocols don't have the "whole picture" it has to rely on other mechanisms for convergence. For example EIGRP will have to query if no feasible successors are found in the topology table
I like the concise explanation, couldn't have said it better myself