RIP: An Intra-Domain Routing Protocol (The Addison-Wesley Networking Basics Series)
There is no shortage of books that go into the gory details of routing. This is because routing is an art rather than a science. The concept is simple enough: Determine the best path between here and there. It sounds easy, doesn't it? Some of the protocols (RIP, for example) are actually pretty easy too. But the topologies on which routing protocols must operate are extremely varied and complex. All efforts to create a single routing protocol that can operate in all environments, on all topologies, on all systems, in an easy-to-manage manner, have proved unsuccessful. That is why there are so many routing protocols. In this book, we concentrate on one of the simplest, and one of the oldest, routing protocols: the Routing Information Protocol.This book is divided into three parts. The first part describes several network topologies and discusses the pros and cons of the various routing protocols in each. This is important because a routing protocol cannot be described in a vacuum; it can be understood only in the context of the networks in which it is most suited to operate.The second part describes how RIP operates in a network. It describes some common configuration parameters (including examples from several products), common problems that occur, and common solutions to those problems. Part II is addressed primarily to network administrators.The third part covers the RIP protocol itself. It begins with RIP-2 Malkin 1998, the newly deployed version, then discusses the enhancements over RIP-1 Hedrick 1988. It also covers some extensions to RIP, which are still in development or early deployment. Part III is targeted to protocol implementers.Most of the material in Part III is taken from RFC 2453 (STD 56), the RIP-2 standards specification. That, in turn, contains RFC 1058, the original RIP de facto standard written by Chuck Hedrick 1988, and ported into RFC 2453 by Scott Bradner.0201433206P04062001