Each illustration is followed by descriptions of the fields illustrated. RIP Packet Format Figure 44-1 illustrates the IP RIP packet format. An IP RIP packet consists of nine fields. The request asks that a router send all or part of its routing table. The response can be an unsolicited regular routing update or a reply to a request.
Responses contain routing table entries.
Multiple RIP packets are used to convey information from large routing tables. This field can signal different potentially incompatible versions. RIP is designed to carry routing information for several different protocols. Each entry has an address-family identifier to indicate the type of address being specified. The AFI for IP is 2.