Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
Last Updated :
12 Nov, 2024
Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a routing protocol that uses hop count as a routing metric to find the best path between the source and the destination network. In this article, we will discuss Routing Information Protocol in detail.
What is Routing Information Protocol?
The Routing Information Protocol is a distance vector routing protocol that helps routers determine the best path to transfer data packets across the network. RIP works on the Network layer of the OSI model. It uses hop count as its metric for determining the best path, but the maximum hop count allowed in the RIP is 15. Routing Information Protocol is mostly used in small to medium-sized networks.
What is Hop Count?
Hop count is the number of routers occurring between the source and destination network. The path with the lowest hop count is considered the best route to reach a network and therefore placed in the routing table. RIP prevents routing loops by limiting the hops allowed in a path from source to destination. The maximum hop count allowed for RIP is 15 and a hop count of 16 is considered as network unreachable.
Features of RIP
- Updates of the network are exchanged periodically.
- Updates (routing information) are always broadcast.
- Full routing tables are sent in updates.
- Routers always trust routing information received from neighbor routers. This is also known as Routing on rumors.
How Routing Information Protocol Works?
Routing Information Protocol uses Distance Vector Routing to put the packets to its destination. In RIP, Each router maintains a routing table where the distance to each destination is mentioned. RIP sharesits routing tables to neighbouring routers at an interval of 30 seconds through broadcasting. Upon receiving the data, each router updates the table according to that. If an router receives a route and it is shorter than the previous one, then router simply updates the data in the table.
RIP has a limit of 15 hops, that is, if some route requires more than 15 hops, then that path in unreachable. It helps in limiting the size of network that a router can handle. In case, if a route is not updated in six successful cycles ( 180 seconds) in the routing table, the RIP will drop that route and inform rest of the network about the same.
Routing Information Protocol is simple to implement, but it is more efficient for smaller networks, for larger networks, protocols like OSPF or EIGRP are preferred.
Difference Between RIP Versions
There are three versions of routing information protocol. These are mentioned below:
- RIP Version1 (RIP v1)
- RIP Version2 (RIP v2)
- RIPng
Let's look into the differences between them through the table:
| RIP v1 | RIP v2 | RIPng |
|---|
| Sends update as broadcast | Sends update as multicast | Sends update as multicast |
| Broadcast at 255.255.255.255 | Multicast at 224.0.0.9 | Multicast at FF02::9 (RIPng can only run on IPv6 networks)
|
| Doesn't support the authentication of updated messages | Supports authentication of RIPv2 update messages | - |
| Classful routing protocol | Classless protocol updated supports classful | Classless updates are sent |
RIP v1 is known as Classful Routing Protocol because it doesn't send information of subnet mask in its routing update.
RIP v2 is known as Classless Routing Protocol because it sends information of subnet mask in its routing update.
>> Use debug command to get the details :
# debug ip rip
>> Use this command to show all routes configured in router, say for router R1 :
R1# show ip route
>> Use this command to show all protocols configured in router, say for router R1 :
R1# show ip protocols
RIP Configuration
Consider the given topology which has 3-routers R1, R2, R3. R1 has IP address 172.16.10.6/30 on s0/0/1, 192.168.20.1/24 on fa0/0. R2 has IP address 172.16.10.2/30 on s0/0/0, 192.168.10.1/24 on fa0/0. R3 has IP address 172.16.10.5/30 on s0/1, 172.16.10.1/30 on s0/0, 10.10.10.1/24 on fa0/0
Configure RIP for R1
R1(config)# router rip
R1(config-router)# network 192.168.20.0
R1(config-router)# network 172.16.10.4
R1(config-router)# version 2
R1(config-router)# no auto-summary
Note: no auto-summary command disables the auto-summarisation. If we don't select any auto-summary, then the subnet mask will be considered as classful in Version 1.
Configuring RIP for R2
R2(config)# router rip
R2(config-router)# network 192.168.10.0
R2(config-router)# network 172.16.10.0
R2(config-router)# version 2
R2(config-router)# no auto-summary
Similarly, Configure RIP for R3
R3(config)# router rip
R3(config-router)# network 10.10.10.0
R3(config-router)# network 172.16.10.4
R3(config-router)# network 172.16.10.0
R3(config-router)# version 2
R3(config-router)# no auto-summary
What are Different Types of RIP Timers?
- Update timer: The default timing for routing information being exchanged by the routers operating RIP is 30 seconds. Using an Update timer, the routers exchange their routing table periodically.
- Invalid timer: If no update comes until 180 seconds, then the destination router considers it invalid. In this scenario, the destination router mark hop counts as 16 for that router.
- Hold down timer: This is the time for which the router waits for a neighbor router to respond. If the router isn't able to respond within a given time then it is declared dead. It is 180 seconds by default.
- Flush time: It is the time after which the entry of the route will be flushed if it doesn't respond within the flush time. It is 60 seconds by default. This timer starts after the route has been declared invalid and after 60 seconds i.e time will be 180 + 60 = 240 seconds.
Note that all these times are adjustable. Use this command to change the timers :
R1(config-router)# timers basic
R1(config-router)# timers basic 20 80 80 90
Where Routing Information Protocols are Used?
- Small to medium-sized networks: RIP is normally utilized in little to medium-sized networks that have moderately basic directing prerequisites. It is not difficult to design and requires little support, which goes with it a famous decision for little organizations.
- Legacy Organizations: RIP is as yet utilized in some heritage networks that were set up before further developed steering conventions were created. These organizations may not merit the expense and exertion of overhauling, so they keep on involving RIP as their directing convention.
- Lab Conditions: RIP is much of the time utilized in lab conditions for testing and learning purposes. A basic convention is not difficult to set up, which pursues it a decent decision for instructive purposes.
- Backup or Repetitive Steering: In certain organizations, RIP might be utilized as a reinforcement or excess directing convention, on the off chance that the essential steering convention falls flat or encounters issues. RIP isn't generally so productive as other directing conventions, however, it very well may be helpful as a reinforcement if there should be an occurrence of crisis.
Advantages of RIP
- Simplicity: RIP is a relatively simple protocol to configure and manage, making it an ideal choice for small to medium-sized networks with limited resources.
- Easy implementation: RIP is easy to implement, as it does not require much technical expertise to set up and maintain.
- Convergence: RIP is known for its fast convergence time, meaning that it can quickly adapt to changes in network topology and route packets efficiently.
- Automatic updates: RIP automatically updates routing tables at regular intervals, ensuring that the most up-to-date information is being used to route packets.
- Low bandwidth overhead: RIP uses a relatively low amount of bandwidth to exchange routing information, making it an ideal choice for networks with limited bandwidth.
- Compatibility: RIP is compatible with many different types of routers and network devices, making it easy to integrate into existing networks.
Disadvantages of RIP
- Limited scalability: RIP has limited scalability, and it may not be the best choice for larger networks with complex topologies. RIP can only support up to 15 hops, which may not be sufficient for larger networks.
- Slow convergence: While RIP is known for its fast convergence time, it can be slower to converge than other routing protocols. This can lead to delays and inefficiencies in network performance.
- Routing loops: RIP can sometimes create routing loops, which can cause network congestion and reduce overall network performance.
- Limited support for load balancing: RIP does not support sophisticated load balancing, which can result in suboptimal routing paths and uneven network traffic distribution.
- Security vulnerabilities: RIP does not provide any native security features, making it vulnerable to attacks such as spoofing and tampering.
- Inefficient use of bandwidth: RIP uses a lot of bandwidth for periodic updates, which can be inefficient in networks with limited bandwidth.
Limitations of RIP
On using RIP, there can be certain limitations. Some of them are mentioned below:
- Increase in Network Traffic: RIP increases traffic to the neighbouring routers as it regularly performs updates on them.
- Limitation of Hop Count: Since, RIP has a maximum hop count of 15, therefore it is not suitable for large networks.
- Difference in Closest Path and Shortest Path: Since, RIP does not consider all factors while calculating shortest path, therefore, it creates a difference between closest path and shortest path.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a distance-vector routing protocol that uses hop count to determine the best paths within a network. It is a simple and easy to implement protocol and that makes it suitable for small to medium-sized networks.
Routing Information protocol has certain limitations, like it has a maximum hop count of 15 that makes it less preferable for larger and more complex networks. For a large-scale networks, more advanced routing protocols like OSPF or EIGRP are preferred.
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