What does EIGRP stand for?

EIGRP stands for Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol. This protocol is a dynamic routing protocol that is used within an autonomous system to facilitate routing decisions and maintain efficient routing tables.

The term “Enhanced” refers to its ability to provide faster convergence and support for more advanced features compared to its predecessors, such as IGRP (Interior Gateway Routing Protocol). The “Interior” portion indicates that it is used for routing within a single organization, differentiating it from exterior gateway protocols that operate between different networks.

Understanding the specific terminology of EIGRP is essential for networking professionals as it highlights key features such as its use of the Diffusing Update Algorithm (DUAL) for rapid convergence and the use of metrics like bandwidth, delay, load, and reliability to determine the best path for data packets.