What are the areas in OSPF?

• The backbone area, which is also referred to as Area 0. All other areas must connect to the backbone area. Hence, this area is obligatory.

• An ordinary or standard area, which is an area that connects to the backbone (Area 0) and is treated as a separate entity. All routers in a standard area have the same topological database, but their routing tables will be based on the routers position in the standard area and will thus be unique to the router.

• A stub area, which is an area that does not accept external summary routes. A router within a stub area can only see outside the autonomous system if a default route has been configuration for it.

• A totally stubby area, which is similar to a stub area. In this area, the default route must be configured as 0.0.0.0. This type of area is useful for remote sites that have few networks and limited connectivity with the rest of the network and is a Cisco proprietary solution.

• A not so stubby area (NSSA), which is a stub area that can receive external routes but will not propagate those external routes into the backbone area.