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OSPF Summarization

1. Intro

In the previous post we applied OSPF basic config on our test network. We had 2 areas; one of them is a Totally NSSA area.

In this post will do some OSPF route summarization on the same topology, continuing from where we left off. For easy reference find the OSPF database as it looks after the end of part 1. For easy reference, find next the same topology:

OSPF Summarization

2. OSPF Summarization for Type 3 LSA

In our OSPF database and routing table we have the following subnets for router to router links:

  • 17.8.x.x/24 for Area 0
  • 17.18.x.x/24 for Area 1
  • 17.28.x.x/24 for Area 2

All of these are Type 3 LSAs and we can summarize them at the ABR routers. To be more precise, this happens when Type 1/2 LSA are translated to Type 3 LSA while the pass from one area to another. Find next the config:

We can do the same for Area 2 Type 3 LSA:

We can see the summarized route 17.18.0.0/16 from R3, but we can also see the more specific routes from R4. This is because only R3 is doing summarization at the moment. We need the same command on R4:

And of course we can do the same for Area 0 and 17.8.x.x/16 routes using the following command on R3, R5. For R6 we don’t actually need the area-range, because Area 2 is configured with no-summaries.

3. OSPF Summarization for Type 5 LSA

This is about the 1.1.x.x/24 routes and the associated Type 5 LSAs that are originated in Area 1. As a networking engineer you may have 2 idea when summarizing these routes:

  • Summarization on the ASBR:
    • We can summarize right at the source of the routes in OSPF, on the R1 ASBR.
    • ! Note: In Junos there is no area-range command for external routes on the ASBR.
    • We can ‘manually’ do the summarization with an aggregate route.
  • Summarization on ABR:
    • The idea is to summarize routes when they pass from Area 1 to Area 0, on R3/R4.
    • Well, you may want to apply this option, but this is not supported!
    • ! Note: Summarization of Type 5 prefixes on the ABR is not possible in Junos !

There is only one option available, so we will do this summarization on the ASBR instead.

4. OSPF Summarization for Type 7 LSA

This is about the 2.2.x.x/24 routes and the associated Type 7 LSAs that are originated in Area 2. Same as the previous section, a networking engineer you may have 2 idea when summarizing these routes:

  • Summarization on the ASBR:
    • We can summarize right at the source of the routes in OSPF, on the R1 ASBR.
    • ! Note: In Junos there is no area-range command for external routes on the ASBR.
    • We can ‘manually’ do the summarization with an aggregate route.
    • As we can see, makes no difference if these are Type 5 or Type 7 routes.
  • Summarization on the ABR :
    • The idea is to summarize routes when they pass from Area 1 to Area 0, on R3/R4.
    • It is important to mention that routes are translated from Type 7 to Type 5 when they pass to Area 0.
    • ! Note: This time, we can do summarization on the ABR, this time it is possible on Junos !
    • The exception and key part here, is that the area is NSSA (Type 7 LSA).
    • set protocols area 2 nssa area-range 2.2.0.0/16
    • Make sure to apply the area-range command under the nssa stanza.

Now both option are available. In the previous section we already saw how to do summarization on ASBR, so this time we will do summarization on the ABR:

5. Conclusion

There are multiple options when doing summarization in OSPF:

  • Type 3 LSA
    • ABR only – when LSAs pass from one area to another (Type 1/2 are translated to Type 3)
  • Type 5 LSA
    • ASBR – using an aggregate route
    • ABR not possible – when LSA pass from one area to another
  • Type 7 LSA
    • ASBR – using an aggregate route
    • ABR – when LSA pass from one area to another (Type 7 are translated to Type 5)

External Resources: