128
NOTE:
On an IS-IS broadcast network, all routers establish adjacency relationships, but they synchronize their
LSDBs through the DIS.
IS-IS PDUs
PDU
IS-IS PDUs are encapsulated into link layer frames. An IS-IS PDU has two parts, the headers and the
variable length fields. The headers comprise the PDU common header and the PDU specific header. All
PDUs have the same PDU common header. The specific headers vary by PDU type.
Figure 36
PDU format
Table 8
PDU types
Type PDU
Type Acronym
15
Level-1 LAN IS-IS hello PDU
L1 LAN IIH
16
Level-2 LAN IS-IS hello PDU
L2 LAN IIH
17
Point-to-Point IS-IS hello PDU
P2P IIH
18
Level-1 Link State PDU
L1 LSP
20
Level-2 Link State PDU
L2 LSP
24
Level-1 Complete Sequence Numbers PDU
L1 CSNP
25
Level-2 Complete Sequence Numbers PDU
L2 CSNP
26
Level-1 Partial Sequence Numbers PDU
L1 PSNP
27
Level-2 Partial Sequence Numbers PDU
L2 PSNP
Hello PDU
IS-to-IS hello (IIH) PDUs are used by routers to establish and maintain neighbor relationships. On
broadcast networks, Level-1 routers use Level-1 LAN IIHs, and Level-2 routers use Level-2 LAN IIHs. The
P2P IIHs are used on point-to-point networks.
LSP
The LSPs carry link state information. LSPs include Level-1 LSPs and Level-2 LSPs. The Level-2 LSPs are sent
by the Level-2 routers, and the Level-1 LSPs are sent by the Level-1 routers. The Level-1-2 router can send
both types of LSPs.
SNP
A sequence number PDU (SNP) describes the complete or partial LSPs for LSDB synchronization.
SNPs include CSNP and PSNP, which are further divided into Level-1 CSNP, Level-2 CSNP, Level-1 PSNP,
and Level-2 PSNP.