Routing Information Protocol


RIP (Routing Information Protocol) is derived from the Xerox Network Systems (XNS) routing protocol. RIP was in widespread use for several years before being standardized in RFC 1058. A second version was proposed in 1993 and improved in 1994.  RIP computes routes using a simple distance vector routing algorithm. Every hop in the network is assigned a cost (usually 1). The total metric for a path is the sum of the hop costs. RIP chooses the next hop so that datagrams will follow a least-cost path.

RIP’s strong points are its simplicity. Often there is no reason to use more functional-and complicated-methods for a small network or a network with a simple topology. However, for large, complex networks, RIP has some serious shortcomings.                                                 For example:

  • The maximum metric for any path is 15. Sixteen means “I can’t get there!” Because it is easy to run out of hops on a big network, RIP usually is configured with a cost of 1 for each hop, whether that hop is a slow dialup or a high-speed fiber link.
  • After a disruption in the network, RIP often is slow to reestablish optimal routes. In fact, after disruption, datagram traffic may run around in circles for a while.
  • RIP cannot respond to changes in delay or load across links. It cannot split traffic to balance the load.

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