[Misc][Rant] Internet router (straying slightly OT)

Fri Sep 30 14:18:23 UTC 2005

On Fri, Sep 30, 2005 at 10:01:34AM -0400, Joe Abley wrote:

Hi,

> RIP also has the advantage that a worked, non-trivial example of the  
> protocol can fit on a whiteboard, which makes it a reasonable way to  
> teach the concept of a routing protocol to a classroom full of people  
> who have never heard of such at thing.

Which is exactly the reason why I mentioned RIP as a routing protocol to
start with. Using RIP instead of OSPF or IS-IS has 2 advantages: one is
the simplyness of the concept and the second one you already mentioned:

> Absolutely agreed, however, that such teaching also necessarily  
> involves emphatic shouting of "YOU WILL NOT TURN THIS ON IN YOUR  
> PRODUCTION NETWORK".

You learn why not to use RIP in an early stage of your career.

Mentioning the terms "router-lsa", "network-summary-lsa" or "nssa-lsa"
to a person who potentially does not even know the difference between a
distance-vector and a link-state protocol has no positive effect on the
learning curve.

-- 
Sabri

please do not throw salami pizza away