Configuring Rip And Sap - Novell NetWare 6 Manual

Configuring RIP and SAP

RIP and SAP are the routing and service advertising protocols traditionally
used by NetWare systems to exchange route and service information on an
IPX network. RIP is currently the most common routing protocol used on IPX
networks.
RIP and SAP perform well in small networks that have simple architectures
and few routers. These protocols, however, begin to reveal their limitations in
the large, complex internetworks that are becoming increasingly common
throughout the installed base of NetWare systems.
By default, RIP and SAP packets are broadcast every 60 seconds, even if no
change has occurred anywhere in a route or service. Depending on the size and
speed of the network, these periodic broadcasts can consume a significant
amount of bandwidth and burden NetWare nodes, especially over WAN links.
Novell Internet Access Server 4.1 provides a configurable parameter, Periodic
Update Interval , that enables you to control how often a router broadcasts its
route and service updates. This, along with other configurable parameters,
such as Aging Interval Multiplier, Pace Override, and Packet Size Override,
enables you to fine-tune the operation of RIP and SAP on your router.
However, the default values for these parameters are sufficient for most IPX
networks and should be changed only on the advice of your technical support
representative. A misconfiguration can cause the router to lose routes and
services or even generate more traffic than usual.
When configuring RIP on an interface, you can set the RIP State parameter to
one of three states: Auto, On, or Off. Auto, the default state, enables the router
to accept incoming RIP packets and rebroadcast their routes only if RIP-
broadcasting devices, such as NetWare 2 servers, are operating on the attached
network. If those devices are removed from the attached network, the Auto -
state interface responds by automatically disabling RIP and enabling NLSP.
On enables the router to exchange RIP packets freely with other RIP routers
on the network. Off disables RIP routing on the interface but does not prevent
the router from responding to incoming requests for RIP routes from local
NetWare workstations.
Similarly, you configure SAP on an interface with the SAP State parameter,
which can also assume one of three states: Auto , On , and Off . Auto , the
default state, enables the router to accept incoming SAP packets and
rebroadcast their services only if SAP-broadcasting devices, such as NetWare
2 servers, are operating on the attached network. If those devices are removed
from the attached network, the Auto -state interface responds by automatically
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