ABSTRACT
This chapter and the next describe, respectively, RIP and EIGRP, which are two examples of the most common routing protocols used in today’s networks. We discuss the main features of each routing protocol, protocol packet formats, authentication mechanisms, and their high-level router architectures, processes, and databases. The discussion covers some relevant topics related to RIP and EIGRP operations, and the way these protocols generate routing information for use in IP packet forwarding. Each routing protocol maintains a number of databases which hold information about neighbor routers, routing information learned from other routers in the network, and information used for protocol-specific operations. We discuss these databases as well.
