Table Of Contents
Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Prerequisites for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Information About Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Importance of Fast Network Failure Detection
How to Reduce Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Using Bidirectional Forwarding Failure Detection to Decrease Failure Detection Times
Configuring BFD Session Parameters on the Interface
Configuring BFD Support for IS-IS
Using IP Event Dampening to Decrease Failure Detection Times
Tuning IS-IS Hello Parameters to Decrease Link Failure Detection Times
Benefits of Configuring a Point-to-Point Adjacency
Monitoring IS-IS Network Convergence Time
Configuration Examples for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Configuring BFD in an IS-IS Network: Example
Configuring IS-IS to Achieve Fast Convergence by Reducing Failure Detection Times: Example
Feature Information for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
First Published: November 30, 2007Last Updated: March 26, 2009
This module describes how to customize IS-IS configuration to help you achieve fast convergence in your network. This module describes how to configure Bidirectional Failure Detection (BFD) as well as other tasks to optimize how a router that runs IS-IS detects link failures and topology changes, sends important topology change updates to its neighbors, and reacts to the topology change updates that it receives from its neighbors, in order to increase network performance.
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 for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks" section.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco IOS and Catalyst OS software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Contents
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Prerequisites for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
•
Information About Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
•
How to Reduce Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
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Configuration Examples for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
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Feature Information for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Prerequisites for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Before performing the tasks in this module, you should be familiar with the concepts described in the "Overview of IS-IS Fast Convergence" module.
Information About Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
You should understand the following concept before you configure any features in this module:
Importance of Fast Network Failure Detection
Importance of Fast Network Failure Detection
You can customize your IS-IS network to reduce the amount of time it takes for network failures to be discovered. When failures are detected more quickly, networks can react to them sooner and alternate paths can be selected more quickly, speeding up network convergence.
How to Reduce Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
The tasks in this section explain how to customize IS-IS to decrease failure detection times. The first task is required, but the other tasks are optional.
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Using Bidirectional Forwarding Failure Detection to Decrease Failure Detection Times
•
Using IP Event Dampening to Decrease Failure Detection Times
•
Tuning IS-IS Hello Parameters to Decrease Link Failure Detection Times
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Monitoring IS-IS Network Convergence Time
Using Bidirectional Forwarding Failure Detection to Decrease Failure Detection Times
BFD is a detection protocol designed to provide fast forwarding path failure detection times for all media types, encapsulations, topologies, and routing protocols. In addition to fast forwarding path failure detection, BFD provides a consistent failure detection method for network administrators. Because the network administrator can use BFD to detect forwarding path failures at a uniform rate, rather than the variable rates for different routing protocol hello mechanisms, network profiling and planning will be easier, and reconvergence time will be consistent and predictable.
For complete information about the BFD feature, see the following documentation:
Bidirectional Forwarding Detection
You must perform the following two tasks to configure BFD session parameters on the interface and configure BFD support for IS-IS:
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Configuring BFD Session Parameters on the Interface
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Configuring BFD Support for IS-IS
Configuring BFD Session Parameters on the Interface
The steps in this procedure show how to configure BFD on the interface by setting the baseline BFD session parameters on an interface. Repeat the steps in this procedure for each interface over which you want to run BFD sessions to BFD neighbors.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
3.
interface type number
4.
bfd interval milliseconds min_rx milliseconds multiplier interval-multiplier
5.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring BFD Support for IS-IS
You can enable BFD support for routing protocols at the router level to enable BFD support globally for all interfaces or you can configure BFD on a per-interface basis at the interface level.
For Cisco IOS Release 12.4(4)T, and later releases, you must configure BFD support for one or more of the following routing protocols: BGP, IS-IS, and OSPF.
This section describes the procedures for configuring BFD support for IS-IS, so that IS-IS is a registered protocol with BFD and will receive forwarding path detection failure messages from BFD. There are two methods for enabling BFD support for IS-IS:
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You can enable BFD for all of the interfaces for which IS-IS is routing by using the bfd all-interfaces command in router configuration mode. You can then disable BFD for one or more of those interfaces using the isis bfd disable command in interface configuration mode.
•
You can enable BFD for a subset of the interfaces for which IS-IS is routing by using the isis bfd command in interface configuration mode.
To configure BFD support for IS-IS, perform the steps in one of the following sections:
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Configuring BFD Support for IS-IS for All Interfaces
•
Configuring BFD Support for IS-IS for One or More Interfaces
Prerequisites
IS-IS must be running on all participating routers.
The baseline parameters for BFD sessions on the interfaces that you want to run BFD sessions to BFD neighbors over must be configured. See the "Configuring BFD Session Parameters on the Interface" section for more information.
Configuring BFD Support for IS-IS for All Interfaces
To configure BFD on all IS-IS interfaces, perform the steps in this section.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
3.
router isis area-tag
4.
bfd all-interfaces
5.
exit
6.
interface type number
7.
isis bfd [disable]
8.
end
9.
show bfd neighbors [details]
10.
show clns interface
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring BFD Support for IS-IS for One or More Interfaces
To configure BFD for only one or more IS-IS interfaces, perform the steps in this section.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
3.
interface type number
4.
isis bfd [disable]
5.
end
6.
show bfd neighbors [details]
7.
show clns interface
DETAILED STEPS
Using IP Event Dampening to Decrease Failure Detection Times
The task described in this section is recommended to make link failure detection faster and more reliable for IS-IS networks. IP event dampening introduces a configurable exponential delay mechanism to suppress the effects of excessive interface flapping events on routing protocols and routing tables in the network. This feature allows the network operator to configure a router to automatically identify and selectively dampen a local interface that is flapping, removing it from the network until it becomes stable again. Thus, the network becomes more stable, with a faster convergence time.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
3.
interface type number
4.
dampening [half-life-period reuse-threshold] [suppress-threshold max-suppress-time [restart-penalty]]
5.
exit
6.
show dampening interface
7.
show interface dampening
DETAILED STEPS
Tuning IS-IS Hello Parameters to Decrease Link Failure Detection Times
Tuning hello parameters should be considered only when the link type does not offer fast enough link failure detection. The standard default values for the hello interval and hello multiplier are 10 seconds and 3 seconds. Therefore, the multiplier times the interval will give a default hold-time of 30 seconds.
Although a slower hello interval saves bandwidth and CPU usage, there are some situations when a faster hello interval is preferred. In the case of a large configuration that uses Traffic Engineering (TE) tunnels, if the TE tunnel uses ISIS as the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP), and the IP routing process is restarted at the router at the ingress point of the network (headend), then all the TE tunnels get resignaled with the default hello interval. A faster hello interval prevents this resignaling. To configure a faster hello interval, you need to increase the ISIS hello interval manually using the isis hello-interval command.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
3.
interface interface-type interface-number
4.
isis hello-interval {seconds | minimal} [level-1 | level-2]
5.
isis hello-multiplier multiplier [level-1 | level-2]
6.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring an IS-IS Point-to-Point Adjacency over Broadcast Media to Reduce Link Failure Detection Times
Benefits of Configuring a Point-to-Point Adjacency
Configuring a point-to-point adjacency over a broadcast media can improve convergence times of a customer's network because it prevents the system from electing a designated router (DR), prevents flooding from using CSNPs for database synchronization, and simplifies shortest path first (SPF) computations.
Restrictions
We recommend that you perform this task only for IS-IS networks that consist of only two networking devices connected to broadcast media. Such networks are usually configured as a point-to-point link rather than a broadcast link. In this case, it is recommended to follow this task to decrease the link failure detection time.
Having a multipoint interface instead of the point-to-point interfaces will cause the creation of a pseudonode on the network. The addition of the pseudonode means that the router must retain information about it. To decrease the size of the topology database of the router, thereby reducing the memory requirement of the router and increasing the efficiency of the SPF calculation since there is one less node involved, configure point-to-point interfaces when possible.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
3.
interface type number
4.
isis network point-to-point
5.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Monitoring IS-IS Network Convergence Time
You can use one or more of the following commands to monitor convergence times for your IS-IS network. You do not need to enter the show commands in any specific order.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
3.
isis display delimiter [return count | character count]
4.
exit
5.
show isis database [level-1] [level-2] [l1] [l2] [detail] [lspid]
6.
show isis [area-tag] routes
7.
show isis spf-log
8.
show isis [process-tag] topology
DETAILED STEPS
Configuration Examples for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
This section provides the following configuration examples:
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Configuring BFD in an IS-IS Network: Example
•
Configuring IS-IS to Achieve Fast Convergence by Reducing Failure Detection Times: Example
Configuring BFD in an IS-IS Network: Example
In the following example, the simple IS-IS network consists of Router A and Router B. Fast Ethernet interface 0/1 on Router A is connected to the same network as Fast Ethernet interface 6/0 for Router B. The example, starting in global configuration mode, shows the configuration of BFD.
Configuration for Router A
!interface FastEthernet 0/1ip address 172.16.10.1 255.255.255.0ip router isisbfd interval 50 min_rx 50 multiplier 3!interface FastEthernet 3/0.1ip address 172.17.0.1 255.255.255.0ip router isis!router isisnet 49.0001.1720.1600.1001.00bfd all-interfaces!Configuration for Router B
!interface FastEthernet 6/0ip address 172.16.10.2 255.255.255.0ip router isisbfd interval 50 min_rx 50 multiplier 3!interface FastEthernet 6/1ip address 172.18.0.1 255.255.255.0ip router isis!router isisnet 49.0000.0000.0002.00bfd all-interfaces!The output from the show bfd neighbors details command from Router A verifies that a BFD session has been created and that IS-IS is registered for BFD support:
Router ARouterA# show bfd neighbors detailsOurAddr NeighAddr LD/RD RH Holdown(mult) State Int172.16.10.1 172.16.10.2 1/8 1 536 (3 ) Up Fa0/1Local Diag: 0, Demand mode: 0, Poll bit: 0MinTxInt: 200000, MinRxInt: 200000, Multiplier: 5Received MinRxInt: 1000, Received Multiplier: 3Holdown (hits): 600(0), Hello (hits): 200(23543)Rx Count: 13877, Rx Interval (ms) min/max/avg: 200/448/335 last: 64 ms agoTx Count: 23546, Tx Interval (ms) min/max/avg: 152/248/196 last: 32 ms agoRegistered protocols: ISISUptime: 01:17:09Last packet: Version: 0 - Diagnostic: 0I Hear You bit: 1 - Demand bit: 0Poll bit: 0 - Final bit: 0Multiplier: 3 - Length: 24My Discr.: 8 - Your Discr.: 1Min tx interval: 50000 - Min rx interval: 1000Min Echo interval: 0The output from the show bfd neighbors details command from the line card on Router B verifies that a BFD session has been created:
Note
Router B is a Cisco 12000 series router. The show bfd neighbors details command must be run on the line cards. The show bfd neighbors details command will not display the registered protocols when it is entered on a line card.
Router BRouterB# attach 6Entering Console for 8 Port Fast Ethernet in Slot: 6Type "exit" to end this sessionPress RETURN to get started!LC-Slot6> show bfd neighbors detailsCleanup timer hits: 0OurAddr NeighAddr LD/RD RH Holdown(mult) State Int172.16.10.2 172.16.10.1 8/1 1 1000 (5 ) Up Fa6/0Local Diag: 0, Demand mode: 0, Poll bit: 0MinTxInt: 50000, MinRxInt: 1000, Multiplier: 3Received MinRxInt: 200000, Received Multiplier: 5Holdown (hits): 1000(0), Hello (hits): 200(5995)Rx Count: 10126, Rx Interval (ms) min/max/avg: 152/248/196 last: 0 ms agoTx Count: 5998, Tx Interval (ms) min/max/avg: 204/440/332 last: 12 ms agoLast packet: Version: 0 - Diagnostic: 0I Hear You bit: 1 - Demand bit: 0Poll bit: 0 - Final bit: 0Multiplier: 5 - Length: 24My Discr.: 1 - Your Discr.: 8Min tx interval: 200000 - Min rx interval: 200000Min Echo interval: 0Uptime: 00:33:13SSO Cleanup Timer called: 0SSO Cleanup Action Taken: 0Pseudo pre-emptive process count: 239103 min/max/avg: 8/16/8 last: 0 ms agoIPC Tx Failure Count: 0IPC Rx Failure Count: 0Total Adjs Found: 1Configuring IS-IS to Achieve Fast Convergence by Reducing Failure Detection Times: Example
The following example configures Ethernet interface 0/0 to use IP event dampening, setting the half life to 30 seconds, the reuse threshold to 1500, the suppress threshold to 10,000, and the maximum suppress time to 120 seconds. The IS-IS hello parameters have also been tuned for more rapid failure detection
enableconfigure terminalinterface Ethernet 0/0dampening 30 1500 10000 120isis hello-interval minimalisis hello-multiplier 2Where to Go Next
To configure additional features to improve IS-IS network convergence times, complete the optional tasks in one or more of the following modules:
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"Setting Best Practice Parameters for IS-IS Fast Convergence"
•
"Reducing Link Failure and Topology Change Notification Times in IS-IS Networks"
•
"Reducing Alternate-Path Calculation Times in IS-IS Networks"
Additional References
The following sections provide references related to reducing failure detection times in IS-IS networks.
Related Documents
Standards
Standard TitleNo new or modified standards are supported, and support for existing standards has not been modified.
—
MIBs
RFCs
RFC TitleNo new or modified RFCs are supported, and support for existing RFCs has not been modified.
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Technical Assistance
Feature Information for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Table 1 lists the features in this module and provides links to specific configuration information. Only features that were introduced or modified in Cisco IOS Release 12.2(1), 12.0(3)S, or a later release appear in the table.
For information on a feature in this technology that is not documented here, see the "Integrated IS-IS Features Roadmap" module.
Not all commands may be available in your Cisco IOS software release. For release information about a specific command, see the command reference documentation.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and software image support. Cisco Feature Navigator enables you to determine which Cisco IOS and Catalyst OS software images support a specific software release, feature set, or platform. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Note
Table 1 lists only the Cisco IOS software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given Cisco IOS software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that Cisco IOS software release train also support that feature.
Table 1 Feature Information for Reducing Failure Detection Times in IS-IS Networks
Feature Name Software Releases Feature InformationIS-IS Support for BFD over IPv4
12.4(4)T
Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) is a detection protocol designed to provide fast forwarding path failure detection times for all media types, encapsulations, topologies, and routing protocols. In addition to fast forwarding path failure detection, BFD provides a consistent failure detection method for network administrators. Because the network administrator can use BFD to detect forwarding path failures at a uniform rate, rather than the variable rates for different routing protocol hello mechanisms, network profiling and planning will be easier, and reconvergence time will be consistent and predictable.
The following section provides information about this feature:
•
Using Bidirectional Forwarding Failure Detection to Decrease Failure Detection Times
Integrated IS-IS Point-to-Point Adjacency over Broadcast Media
12.2(8)T
When a network consists of only two networking devices connected to broadcast media and uses the integrated IS-IS protocol, it is better for the system to handle the link as a point-to-point link instead of as a broadcast link. This feature introduces a new command to make IS-IS behave as a point-to-point link between the networking devices.
The following section provides information about this feature:
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