RIP stability features (concept)

A RIP stability feature is a routing mechanism that

  • prevents routing loops by setting a limit on the number of hops in a path from source to destination,

  • provides stability despite potentially rapid changes in network topology, and

  • include split horizon and hold-down mechanisms to prevent incorrect routing information propagation.

Additional stability mechanisms

The maximum hops allowed in a path is 15. If a routing update shows a new or changed entry, increasing the metric value to infinity (16) makes the network destination unreachable. This stability mechanism limits the maximum diameter of a RIP network to fewer than 16 hops.