(RIP) A protocol that provides a way for routers to exchange routing information on a NetWare internetwork.

RIP allows NetWare routers to create and maintain a database (or router table) of current internetwork routing information.

Workstations can query the nearest router to find the fastest route to a distant network by broadcasting a RIP request packet.

Routers send periodic RIP broadcast packets containing current routing information to keep all routers on the internetwork synchronized. Routers also send RIP update broadcasts whenever they detect a change in the internetwork configuration.

By default, a NetWare router sends RIP packets to each of its connected network segments every 60 seconds.

Routes that don't appear in these periodic broadcasts (because a router has failed) are aged. After a certain period of time (default: 3 minutes), routers delete the aged routes from their router tables.

To reduce traffic on lower bandwidth (X.25 and asynchronous) segments, network supervisors can configure routers to send only RIP updates rather than periodic RIP broadcasts over those segments.

However, turning off the periodic RIP broadcasts can cause inconsistencies on the internetwork. For example, if an unreliable segment loses a RIP update packet, routers on that segment broadcast old information.

INETCFG and FILTCFG allow network supervisors to configure RIP broadcasts for each network segment. To avoid inconsistencies in broadcast and aging intervals, all routers on the same network segment must have the same RIP configuration.