OSPF Link-State Advertisement Throttling

Last Updated: November 1, 2011

The OSPF Link-State Advertisement Throttling feature provides a dynamic mechanism to slow down link-state advertisement (LSA) updates in Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) during times of network instability. It also allows faster OSPF convergence by providing LSA rate limiting in milliseconds.

Finding Feature Information

Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest feature information and caveats, see the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the Feature Information Table at the end of this document.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Prerequisites for OSPF LSA Throttling

It is presumed that you have OSPF configured in your network.

Information About OSPF LSA Throttling

Benefits of OSPF LSA Throttling

Prior to the OSPF LSA Throttling feature, LSA generation was rate-limited for 5 seconds. That meant that changes in an LSA could not be propagated in milliseconds, so the OSPF network could not achieve millisecond convergence.

The OSPF LSA Throttling feature is enabled by default and allows faster OSPF convergence (in milliseconds). This feature can be customized. One command controls the generation (sending) of LSAs, and another command controls the receiving interval. This feature also provides a dynamic mechanism to slow down the frequency of LSA updates in OSPF during times of network instability.

How OSPF LSA Throttling Works

The timers throttle lsa all command controls the generation (sending) of LSAs. The first LSA is always generated immediately upon an OSPF topology change, and the next LSA generated is controlled by the minimum start interval. The subsequent LSAs generated for the same LSA are rate-limited until the maximum interval is reached. The "same LSA" is defined as an LSA instance that contains the same LSA ID number, LSA type, and advertising router ID.

The timers lsa arrival command controls the minimum interval for accepting the same LSA. If an instance of the same LSA arrives sooner than the interval that is set, the LSA is dropped. It is recommended that the arrival interval be less than or equal to the hold-time interval of the timers throttle lsa all command.

How to Customize OSPF LSA Throttling

Customizing OSPF LSA Throttling

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    enable

2.    configure terminal

3.    router ospf process-id

4.    timers throttle lsa all start-interval hold-interval max-interval

5.    timers lsa arrival milliseconds

6.    end

7.    show ip ospf timers rate-limit

8.    show ip ospf


DETAILED STEPS
  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1
enable


Example:

Router> enable

 

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

  • Enter your password if prompted.
 
Step 2
configure terminal


Example:

Router# configure terminal

 

Enters global configuration mode.

 
Step 3
router ospf process-id


Example:

Router(config)# router ospf 1

 

Configures an OSPF routing process.

 
Step 4
timers throttle lsa all start-interval hold-interval max-interval


Example:

Router(config-router)# timers throttle lsa all 100 10000 45000

 

(Optional) Sets the rate-limiting values (in milliseconds) for LSA generation.

  • The default values are as follows:
    • start-intervalis 0 milliseconds.
    • hold-intervalis 5000 milliseconds.
    • max-intervalis 5000 milliseconds.
 
Step 5
timers lsa arrival milliseconds


Example:

Router(config-router)# timers lsa arrival 2000

 

(Optional) Sets the minimum interval (in milliseconds) between instances of receiving the same LSA.

  • The default value is 1000 milliseconds.
  • We suggest you keep the millisecondsvalue of the LSA arrival timer less than or equal to the neighbors' hold-interval value of the timers throttle lsa all command.
 
Step 6
end


Example:

Router(config-router)# end

 

Exits router configuration mode.

 
Step 7
show ip ospf timers rate-limit


Example:

Router# show ip ospf timers rate-limit



Example:



Example:

LSAID: 10.1.1.1 Type: 1 Adv Rtr: 172.16.2.2 Due in: 00:00:00.028



Example:

LSAID: 192.168.4.1 Type: 3 Adv Rtr: 172.17.2.2 Due in: 00:00:00.028

 

(Optional) Displays a list of the LSAs in the rate limit queue (about to be generated).

  • The example shows two LSAs in the queue. Each LSA is identified by LSA ID number, Type (of LSA), Advertising router ID, and the time in hours:minutes:seconds (to the milliseconds) when the LSA is due to be generated.
 
Step 8
show ip ospf


Example:

Router# show ip ospf



Example:



Example:

Routing Process "ospf 4" with ID 10.10.24.4



Example:

Supports only single TOS(TOS0) routes



Example:

Supports opaque LSA



Example:

Supports Link-local Signaling (LLS)



Example:

Initial SPF schedule delay 5000 msecs



Example:

Minimum hold time between two consecutive SPFs 10000 msecs



Example:

Maximum wait time between two consecutive SPFs 10000 msecs



Example:

Incremental-SPF disabled



Example:

Initial LSA throttle delay 100 msecs



Example:

Minimum hold time for LSA throttle 10000 msecs



Example:

Maximum wait time for LSA throttle 45000 msecs



Example:

Minimum LSA arrival 1000 msecs



Example:

LSA group pacing timer 240 secs



Example:

Interface flood pacing timer 33 msecs



Example:

Retransmission pacing timer 66 msecs



Example:

Number of external LSA 0. Checksum Sum 0x0



Example:

Number of opaque AS LSA 0. Checksum Sum 0x0



Example:

Number of DCbitless external and opaque AS LSA 0



Example:

Number of DoNotAge external and opaque AS LSA 0



Example:

Number of areas in this router is 1. 1 normal 0 stub 0 nssa



Example:

External flood list length 0



Example:

Area 24



Example:

Number of interfaces in this area is 2



Example:

Area has no authentication



Example:

SPF algorithm last executed 04:28:18.396 ago



Example:

SPF algorithm executed 8 times



Example:

Area ranges are



Example:

Number of LSA 4. Checksum Sum 0x23EB9



Example:

Number of opaque link LSA 0. Checksum Sum 0x0



Example:

Number of DCbitless LSA 0



Example:

Number of indication LSA 0



Example:

Number of DoNotAge LSA 0



Example:

Flood list length 0

 

(Optional) Displays information about OSPF.

  • The output lines that specify initial throttle delay, minimum hold time for LSA throttle, and maximum wait time for LSA throttle indicate the LSA throttling values.
 

Configuration Examples for OSPF LSA Throttling

Example OSPF LSA Throttling

This example customizes OSPF LSA throttling so that the start interval is 200 milliseconds, the hold interval is 10,000 milliseconds, and the maximum interval is 45,000 milliseconds. The minimum interval between instances of receiving the same LSA is 2000 milliseconds.

router ospf 1
 log-adjacency-changes
 timers throttle lsa all 200 10000 45000
 timers lsa arrival 2000
 network 10.10.4.0 0.0.0.255 area 24
 network 10.10.24.0 0.0.0.255 area 24

Additional References

The following sections provide references related to OSPF LSA throttling.

Related Documents

Related Topic

Document Title

Cisco IOS commands

Cisco IOS Master Commands List, All Releases

OSPF commands

Cisco IOS IP Routing: OSPF Command Reference

Configuring OSPF

"Configuring OSPF"

Standards

Standard

Title

None

--

MIBs

MIB

MIBs Link

No new or modified MIBs are supported by this feature, and support for existing MIBs has not been modified by this feature.

To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS XE releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/go/mibs

RFCs

RFC

Title

None

--

Technical Assistance

Description

Link

The Cisco Support and Documentation website provides online resources to download documentation, software, and tools. Use these resources to install and configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/support/index.html

Feature Information for OSPF Link-State Advertisement Throttling

The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Table 1 Feature Information for OSPF Link-State Advertisement Throttling

Feature Name

Releases

Feature Information

OSPF Link-State Advertisement Throttling

Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1 Cisco IOS XE Release 2.6

The OSPF Link-State Advertisement Throttling feature provides a dynamic mechanism to slow down link-state advertisement (LSA) updates in OSPF during times of network instability. It also allows faster OSPF convergence by providing LSA rate limiting in milliseconds.

The following commands are introduced or modified in the feature documented in this module:

  • debug ip ospf database-timer rate-limit
  • show ip ospf
  • show ip ospf timers rate-limit
  • timers lsa arrival
  • timers throttle lsa all

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)

Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.

© 2011 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.