Discover the Basics of RIP Routing

What is RIP routing?

RIP (Routing Information Protocol) is one of the oldest routing protocols used in computer networks. It is a distance-vector routing protocol that uses hop count as a routing metric to find the best path between the source and destination.

How does RIP routing determine the best path?

RIP routing determines the best path based on the number of routers (hops) a packet must traverse to reach the destination. It selects the path with the fewest number of hops.

Explanation:

RIP (Routing Information Protocol) is a simple and widely used distance-vector routing protocol. It works by routers sharing routing information with their neighbors, and each router then uses this information to build its own routing table. RIP routers exchange routing tables with adjacent routers every 30 seconds using User Datagram Protocol (UDP) on port 520.

RIP routing operates by counting the number of routers (hops) that a packet must pass through to reach its destination. When a router advertises its routing table to its neighbors, it includes the number of hops to each reachable network. This hop count is used to calculate the best path to a destination.

RIP has a hop limit of 15, which means that if a route has a hop count of 16 or greater, it is considered unreachable. RIP is suitable for small to medium-sized networks with relatively simple topologies due to its limitations and slow convergence time.