What happens during the Loading state in OSPF?

During the Loading state in OSPF (Open Shortest Path First), the router is completing the exchange of Link State Advertisements (LSAs) with its neighbors. This state occurs after the Initial state and the Exchange state, where routers have already sent and received their LSAs.

In the Loading state, the routers specifically confirm that they have received all the necessary LSAs from their neighbors to build a complete view of the network topology. They may send additional LSAs to ensure all routers in the area have the most up-to-date information. This is crucial for OSPF’s operation, as it relies on having an accurate and complete link-state database (LSDB) to perform correct route calculations. Once the LSAs have been completely exchanged and acknowledged, the routers then transition to the Full state, where they have established fully adjacent relationships with their neighbors and have converged on the same topology information.