Chapter 12 Avaya P330 Layer 3 Features
Avaya P334T-ML User’s Guide 129
RIP (Routing Interchange Protocol) Configuration
RIP Overview
RIP is a “distance vector protocol”— that is, the router decides which path to use on
distance (the number of intermediate hops). In order for this protocol to work
correctly, all of the routers (and possibly the nodes) need to gather information on
how to reach each destination in the Internet. The very simplicity of RIP has a
disadvantage, however: it does not take into account the network bandwidth,
physical cost, data priority, and so on.
The P330 supports the widely used RIP routing protocol (both RIPv1 and RIPv2).
The RIPv1 protocol imposes some limitations on the network design with regard to
subnetting. When operating RIPv1, you must not configure variable length subnet
masks (VLMS). Each IP network must have a single mask, implying that all subnets
in a given IP network are of the same size. Also, when operating RIPv1, you must
not configure supernets, which are networks with a mask smaller than the natural
net mask of the address class, such as 192.1.0.0 with mask 255.255.0.0 (smaller than
the natural class C mask which is 255.255.255.0). For detailed descriptions of RIP
refer to the standards and published literature.
RIPv2 is a new version of the RIP routing protocol but with some advantages over
RIPv1. RIPv2 solves some of the problems associated with RIPv1. The most
important change in RIPv2 is the addition of a subnet mask field which allows
RIPv2 to support variable length subnets. RIPv2 also includes an authentication
mechanism similar to the one used in OSPF.
The RIP version, 1 or 2, is configured per IP interface. Configuration must be
homogenous on all routers on each subnet—there can not be both RIPv1 and RIPv2
routers configured on the same subnet. However, different IP interfaces of the P330
can be configured with different RIP versions (as long as all routers on the subnet
are configured to the same version).
RIPv2 and RIPv1 are considered the same protocol with regard to redistribution to/
from OSPF and static route preferences.