RFC 2081 (rfc2081) - Page 1 of 4
RIPng Protocol Applicability Statement
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group G. Malkin
Request for Comments: 2081 Xylogics
Category: Informational January 1997
RIPng Protocol Applicability Statement
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
As required by Routing Protocol Criteria (RFC 1264), this report
defines the applicability of the RIPng protocol within the Internet.
This report is a prerequisite to advancing RIPng on the standards
track.
1. Protocol Documents
The RIPng protocol description is defined in RFC 2080.
2. Introduction
This report describes how RIPng may be useful within the new IPv6
Internet. In essence, the environments in which RIPng is the IGP of
choice is comparable to the environments in which RIP-2 (RFC 1723) is
used in the IPv4 Internet. It is important to remember that RIPng is
a simple extrapolation of RIP-2; RIPng has nothing conceptually new.
Thus, the operational aspects of distance-vector routing protocols,
and RIP-2 in particular, within an autonomous system are well
understood.
It should be noted that RIPng is not intended to be a substitute for
OSPFng in large autonomous systems; the restrictions on AS diameter
and complexity which applied to RIP-2 also apply to RIPng. Rather,
RIPng allows the smaller, simpler, distance-vector protocol to be
used in environments which require authentication or the use of
variable length subnet masks, but are not of a size or complexity
which require the use of the larger, more complex, link-state
protocol.
The remainder of this report describes how each of the features of
RIPng is useful within IPv6.
Malkin Informational