What is an important difference between OSPF and IS-IS?

OSPF runs directly on IP, while IS-IS runs directly on Ethernet. This means that OSPF uses IP addresses to identify routers and links, while IS-IS uses MAC addresses or other link-layer identifiers. OSPF also requires an IP header for each packet, while IS-IS does not. Both OSPF and IS-IS are link state protocols, which means that they flood information about the network topology to all routers in the same area or domain. References: Ericsson IP Networking - Routing Protocols, Ericsson Router 6000 Series - Ericsson