EIGRP load sharing

- [Instructor] The EIGRP process on Cisco routers by default…will do load sharing on equal cost paths.…So if a router has multiple routes to the same destination…and they all share the same cost,…then the router will install up to four of these…into the route table.…Traffic can then be sent across all of these links.…The number of maximum paths varies…depending on router model and iOS version,…though it generally ranges from six to 16.…This is configurable…with the EIGRP sub command maximum-paths.…

A bonus of load sharing…beyond just gaining additional throughput…is faster route convergence.…If a router has multiple active paths for a prefix…and one fails, the others just continue on…assuming the load of the failed path.…A unique feature of EIGRP and load sharing…is the variance command.…EIGRP metrics seldom seem to be the exact same,…though they are often relatively close.…Variance allows prefixes with differing metrics…to be additionally added to the route table.…

The command is issued as an EIGRP router sub command.…