Hello Bhawandeep
When a successor route fails, EIGRP will look for an FS. If an FS exists, it will be promoted to the successor route immediately, without going through a DUAL process. This will happen regardless of whether or not there is another path with a lower distance that failed the FC check. By definition, the DUAL process will not be run if an FS exists. This is the fundamental mechanism that makes EIGRP have such a fast reconvergence.
Now I understand your statement, and how you came to this conclusion. However, let’s take a closer look at how EIGRP works when it involves successors, FSes, FC checks and the topology table. Let’s take a look at the following scenario:
- Route 1 - This is the original successor.
- Route 2 - This is the feasible successor that has been calculated by EIGRP
- Route 3 - This is another route that has an overall lower distance to the destination but has failed the FC check.
- Let’s say that Route 1 fails. EIGRP will look for an FS and immediately place that in the routing table. DUAL will not run.
- EIGRP will not replace any current successor unless DUAL is triggered. For this reason, Route 3 will not be considered as a “better” route than Route 2. Only when DUAL is triggered will this happen.
- In the meantime, a new FS may be determined as part of EIGRP’s normal operations. Determining an FS is not done during a DUAL computation (reconvergence) but is done in the background since it does not affect current stable routing conditions.
- Route 3 will only become a successor if a DUAL computation is triggered. DUAL is triggered under the following circumstances:
a. Loss of the Successor route without an available Feasible Successor (FS).
b. Significant topology change with no immediate Feasible Successor.
c. Receiving a DUAL query from a neighbor.
d. Route metric change that invalidates the current Feasible Successor.
e. No Feasible Successor found during a route update.
So, Route 3 will not become the successor even after the failure of Route 1. It will only be evaluated as a candidate successor if and when the DUAL process is triggered. Does that make sense?
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz