BLADE OS™ Application Guide HP GbE2c Ethernet Blade Switch for c-Class BladeSystem Version 5.1 Advanced Functionality Software

Table Of Contents
BLADE OS 5.1 Application Guide
178 Chapter 10: Routing Information Protocol BMD00113, September 2009
Routing Updates
RIP sends routing-update messages at regular intervals and when the network topology changes.
Each router “advertises” routing information by sending a routing information update every 30
seconds. If a router doesn’t receive an update from another router for 180 seconds, those routes
provided by that router are declared invalid. The routes are removed from the routing table, but they
remain in the RIP routes table (/info/l3/rip/routes). After another 120 seconds without
receiving an update for those routes, the routes are removed from regular updates.
When a router receives a routing update that includes changes to an entry, it updates its routing table
to reflect the new route. The metric value for the path is increased by 1, and the sender is indicated
as the next hop. RIP routers maintain only the best route (the route with the lowest metric value) to
a destination.
For more information see The Configuration Menu, Routing Information Protocol Configuration
(/cfg/l3/rip) in the BLADE OS 5.1 Command Reference.
RIPv1
RIP version 1 use broadcast User Datagram Protocol (UDP) data packets for the regular routing
updates. The main disadvantage is that the routing updates do not carry subnet mask information.
Hence, the router cannot determine whether the route is a subnet route or a host route. It is of limited
usage after the introduction of RIPv2. For more information about RIPv1 and RIPv2, refer to RFC
1058 and RFC 2453.
RIPv2
RIPv2 is the most popular and preferred configuration for most networks. RIPv2 expands the
amount of useful information carried in RIP messages and provides a measure of security. For a
detailed explanation of RIPv2, refer to RFC 1723 and RFC 2453.
RIPv2 improves efficiency by using multicast UDP (address 224.0.0.9) data packets for regular
routing updates. Subnet mask information is provided in the routing updates. A security option is
added for authenticating routing updates, by using a shared password. BLADE OS supports using
clear password for RIPv2.