Qbik RIPv2 Client

RIP stands for Routing Information Protocol. It is specified by Internet RFC 2453. RIP is a relatively simple protocol which allows routers to advertise available routes to other interested parties. In this way, hosts on the internet, or more commonly now on a corporate network, can automatically reconfigure themselves to reflect changes in the network.

This is increasingly useful in scenarios where VPNs may include transient parts to the network, such as remote networks or individual users joining the main network from time to time via say dialup or other switched (non-permanent) connections.

The Qbik RIPv2 client was designed to be used with WinGate VPN, however it may be used in conjunction with any other RIP server software that supports v2 of the protocol.

There are currently available RIP solutions that come with some operating systems, however unless you are running Windows NT server, Win2k Server, or XP Advanced Server, you are limited to a version 1 RIP client. Version 1 of the specification was limited (did not support network masks), and is not often very useful.

The Qbik RIPv2 client will run on all versions of Windows that have the IPHelper DLL installed. The Qbik RIPv2 client listens for broadcast announcements made by RIPv2 servers (such as is built into WinGate VPN) on UDP port 520. It uses these announcements to maintain a list of routes that are available as advertised by RIP, and where they are available from. Typically route announcements are made every 30sec or so, and so if no announcement for a particular route is received within 90 seconds, the route is deemed to be expired and will be removed.

Qbik RIPv2 Client will help you monitor the addition and removal of routes with the command “route print” from the command line.

There are no configurable parameters to the RIPv2 client. It either runs or not. Future versions (depending on demand) may allow the user to control which network interfaces the RIP client will honour advertisements on, timeouts, or possibly offer a v1 compatibility mode.