Routing Table

The routing table in a router using RIP (Routing Information Protocol) contains an entry for every known destination network.

Each routing table entry contains the following information:
  • IP address of the destination network

  • Metric (hop count) to the destination network

  • IP address of the next router

  • Timer that tracks the amount of time since the entry was last updated

The router exchanges an update message with each neighbor every 30 seconds (default value), or when there is a change to the overall routed topology (also called triggered updates). If a router does not receive an update message from its neighbor within the route timeout period (180 seconds by default), the router assumes the connection between it and its neighbor is no longer available.