Installation guide

Wave data routing 30-8
Chapter 30: Understanding Wave Data Networking
Wave Global Administrator Guide
Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
Routing Information Protocol, or RIP, is used to discover all the subnets on a network
dynamically, communicate when a subnet goes down, and rediscover the subnet when it comes
back up. Routers configured for RIP send announcements frequently to update routing tables.
The RIP protocol can run on top of either IP or IPX. If you configure IPX, RIP is automatically
configured for you.
Note: RIP version 1 is not aware of network masks (subnets), and instead uses class A, B, and
C addresses to determine routing. If you are using RIP version 1, be sure to make all IP
addresses parallel in size.
RIP uses the shortest number of hops to send a packet from point A to B, but does not take the
speed of connection lines—digital versus modem versus ISDN, for example—into account
when it is routing. Use RIP if you want Wave router interfaces to share routing information with
other routers in your network, but not if you have enabled redundant paths on a very large
network. In the latter case, OSPF is a better choice.
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol
The Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) dynamic routing protocol takes bandwidth into account
when forwarding packets. OSPF will automatically choose a digital line over an ISDN line, for
example. OSPF will route overloaded packets on the shortest path, and will use a second digital
line when one is available, although you still have to calculate the metrics OSPF should use.
Use OSPF if the Wave Server is part of a large, hierarchical network with redundant paths or
backbone routers.
Internet Packet Exchange (IPX)
When you are running Novell NetWare services on your Wave network, you will need to
configure Internet Packet Exchange (IPX) on Wave. IPX is Novell NetWare’s native LAN
communication protocol. All Microsoft Windows and NetWare interoperability services rely on
IPX to communicate with NetWare servers.
Release 2.0
September 2010