Final answer:
OSPF calculates its routing metric cost based on the bandwidth of a connection. Higher bandwidth links have a lower cost because they can transmit more data, making them preferred routes for OSPF.
Step-by-step explanation:
OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) uses cost as its metric value to determine the best path for data packets to travel across a network. This cost is based on the bandwidth of the connection. Higher bandwidth implies a lower cost, and hence, OSPF will prefer routes with higher bandwidth. This is because higher bandwidth connections can handle more data, making them more efficient routes for data to travel.
The cost value in OSPF is inversely proportional to bandwidth, which means that as the bandwidth of a link increases, the cost associated with that link decreases. The formula used by OSPF to calculate this cost is typically Cost = Reference Bandwidth / Interface Bandwidth, where the Reference Bandwidth is a configurable value within OSPF. The default Reference Bandwidth in OSPF is usually 100 Mbps, but it can be adjusted to ensure more accurate cost calculations in a network with higher bandwidth interfaces.