A Hybrid Distance Vector Link State Algorithm: Distributed Sequence Number

Requirements in data centers to meet the increasing demands on traffic have evolved. There is a need for a simple, scalable routing protocol, which has the flexibility and ease of management to support large networks. Distance vector routing protocols are very simple and easy to implement but they suffer from routing loops. Link state protocols, on the other hand, have the advantages of fast convergence, area division of the routing domain, at the expense of the added complexity of implementation, configuration, and troubleshooting. A new loop free protocol is proposed in this paper that combines the simplicity of the distance vector protocols, loop freedom, and the ability to be used in large scale mesh networks as in link state protocols. The protocol uses a hybrid distance vector link state algorithm. It employs techniques from Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Babel, and Open Shortest Path First Protocol (OSPF). Simplicity, ease of implementation, and scalability make the proposed solution appropriate for large scale networks. Additionally, it can be used to perform the underlay routing in SDN (Software Defined Networks) overlay networks in place of IS-IS (Intermediate-System to Intermediate-System) protocol, which is usually used in these solutions. The combination of distance vector and link state helps to reduce the size of information in the database that is needed to be maintained by each node. It also helps to reduce the overhead and computing load after topology changes.