Chapter 4: Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
Exam Objectives
Defining distance vector and interior gateway protocols
Examining routing updates and convergence
Understanding hop-count metrics, routing loops, and split horizon
Comparing RIPv1 and RIPv2
Detailing RIP packet structures
Defining autonomous systems
Configuring RIP
Verifying RIP installations
The Routing Information Protocol, or RIP for short, is a dynamic local- and wide-area network distance vector, interior gateway protocol. The distance vector routing algorithm on which RIP is based has been in use since the mid-1950s. Known originally as the Bellman-Ford algorithm, it was first used for the ARPANET computer networks in 1968. This distance vector algorithm is used in packet-switched networks to calculate paths and distances to target networks by mathematically comparing multiple routes to the same destination. RIP uses these calculations to determine the best path to the target network.
Distance vector protocols such as RIP are required to periodically announce any known network topology changes to other neighboring routing devices. Because distance vector protocols do not have knowledge of the entire network topology, these updates are repeated at regular intervals on User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port 520. Also, during network topology configuration changes, these updates are recorded in the routing table of each connected network router. Routing updates continue between network routers with the goal of having ...
