Network Design of Asia Pacific College Using

Routing Information Protocol v2

DATA COMMUNICATIONS

Baylon, Charles Nickson M.

Ditano, Hannia O.
Labuson, Napoleon C.
Mustary, Mohammad Darwin T.
Yucoco, Jemima Faith R.

cmbaylon@student.apc.edu.ph​, ​hoditano@student.apc.edu.ph, nclabuson@student.apc.edu.ph,

mtmustary@student.apc.edu.ph​,​ ​jryucoco@student.apc.edu.ph
School of Engineering
Asia Pacific College
3 Humabon Place, Magallanes, Makati City, Philippines

Abstract – ​Routing Information Protocol version 2 adjacent routers at the address 224.0.0.9, as opposed to
(RIPv2) is one of the most common and easiest routing RIPv1 which uses broadcast.
protocols to configure. ​This paper discusses the steps
taken to implement this protocol to create a network In addition, RIPv2 automatically summarizes networks
design for Asia Pacific College. The group utilized a at major network boundaries by default. When automatic
hybrid topology and used a class B network with a summarization has been disabled, RIPv2 no longer
main network address of 172.16.0.0/16. summarizes networks to their classful address ate
boundary routers. RIP v2 also allows more information
Key words: RIPv2, VLSM, Subnet Mask carried in RIP update packets, such as support for Route
summarization, Classless interdomain routing (CIDR),
I. INTRODUCTION Variable-length subnet masks (VLSMs), Autonomous
systems and the use of redistribution, and Multicast
Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a classic address 224.0.0.9 for RIP advertisements.
distance vector Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) designed
to interchange network topology information within an II. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
autonomous system (AS) of a small network. According
to Netgear, this works with a router running RIP sends the A. Star-Ring Topology
contents of its routing table to each of its adjacent routers
every 30 seconds. When a route is removed from the
routing table, it is flagged as unusable by the receiving
routers after 180 seconds, and removed from their tables
after an additional 120 seconds [1]. The maximum
number of hops allowed for RIP is 15. This hop limit,
however, also limits the size of networks that RIP can
support. In 1993, Routing Information Protocol version 2
(RIPv2) was developed due to the deficiencies of the
original RIP and standardized in 1998. RIPv2 is actually
an enhancement of RIPv1's features and extensions rather
than an entirely new protocol [2]. Fig. 1 Star-Ring Topology

Moreover, RIPv2 has the ability to carry subnet A star-ring topology is a hybrid topology that combines
information. It multicasts the entire routing table to all the star and ring configurations. ​This topology was
designed as a reliable and practical topology. In star-ring
topology, the computers are connected to a central
component as in a star network. These components,
however, are wired to form a ring network. Moreover,
only one cable connects each node to central ring hub
called MAU (Multistation Access Unit). The hub
provides two basic functions. First, it checks if the node is
answering. The hub creates a bypass so that the loop is
not interrupted and the network does not collapse in case
of a node failure. Lastly, it provides a bridge to other
rings and supports interconnection of several ring
topologies.
The star-ring topology is physically a star but data are
logically transmitted from one node to the other in a
circle. When it comes to actual implementation, Star-ring
topology is often built using twisted pairs, both shielded
and unshielded. [6]
B. Variable Length Subnet Mask
Variable Length Subnet Mask is also known as a
classless Internet Protocol (IP) address.This is defined as
a numerical masking sequence, or IP address subset,
based on overall network requirements. A VLSM allows a
network administrator to use long masks for networks
with few hosts and short masks for networks with
multiple hosts. A VLSM is used with a VLSM router and
must have routing protocol support. Also, VLSMs are
used by a variety of network systems and services,
including IS-IS, BGP, EIGRP, and OSPF [3].
VLSM provides many benefits for real networks,
mainly related to how you allocate and use your IP
address space. Because a mask defines the size of the
subnet, VLSM allows engineers to better match the need
for addresses with the size of the subnet. This flexibility
reduces the number of wasted IP addresses in each subnet.
By wasting fewer addresses, more space remains to
allocate more subnets.
VLSM can be helpful for both public and private IP
addresses, but the benefits are more dramatic with public
networks. With public networks, the address savings help
engineers avoid having to obtain another registered IP
network number from regional IP address assignment
authorities. With private networks, as defined in RFC
1918, running out of addresses is not as big a negative,
because you can always grab another private network
from RFC 1918 if you run out [4].
The following are the key features of the VLSM:
● Simple network configuration
● Network IP addressing through empty subnet
filling
● Greater efficiency than fixed-length subnet
masks (FLSM)
● Streamlined routing, where a router functions
only with a VLSM sequence, versus a full IP
address
C. Subnetting
This is the process wherein it divides a single network
into multiple networks. It is done by converting host's
bits into network's bits. It can also be done by three (3)
ways: Requirement of network, Requirement of hosts,
and Cisco/ Notation [5].
Advantages of Subnetting:
● Reduced network traffic
● Optimized network management
● Simplified network management
The following are the steps in subnetting:
Step 1:​ Determine the number of subnets needed
Step 2:​ Determine the number of bits you can borrow
For Class B addresses, you have 16 host ID bits, but you
must have a minimum of two host bits; therefore, you can
borrow 14 bits.
Step 3: Determine the number of bits you must borrow to
get needed number of subnets
Step 4: Turning On Borrowed Bits and Determining
Decimal Value
Step 5:​ Determining New Subnet Mask
Step 6:​ Finding Host/Subnet Variable
Step 7:​ Determining Range of Addresses
D. Classless Inter-Domain Routing
Classless Inter-Domain Routing is developed to slow
the exhaustion of IP addresses. It is based on assigning IP
addresses on criteria other than octet boundaries. CIDR
addressing method allows the use of a prefix to
designated the number of network bits in the mask. The
prefix can be longer than the default subnet mask or it can
be shorter than the default mask [5].
E. Route Summarization
Route Summarization is also known as route
aggregation or supernetting. It allows many IP subnets to
be advertised as one whereas it reduces the number of
entries in the router's routing table. Also, this
summarizes a group of subnets. With that, count the
number of bits that are common to all of the networks you
want to advertise. Then, use the prefix that identifies the variety of electrical interfaces when used with the
number of common bits [5]. appropriate transition cable. Two cables are required to
support the two ports on the WIC. Each port on a WIC is
a different physical interface and can support different
III. METHODOLOGY protocols such as Point-to-Point protocol (PPP) or Frame
Relay and Data Terminal Equipment/Data
The first thing to do in creating the design is to Communications Equipment (DTE/DCE).
determine the required number of routers and hosts for Server​: Generic Server-PT
the network. The next step is to organize the routers. The
group chose to categorize them by department for easier Computer IP Addresses (All Departments)
determination of network priority. One of the most
important parts of the process is subnetting the network,
where the IP Address must be identified based on the total
number of required hosts, and for this project, a class B
network with a main network address of 172.16.0.0/16
was used. Once this is done, setting up the network
topology can now take place. The star-ring topology was
utilized for redundancy purposes, where there is a central
router (for the star portion) in which all the department
routers are directly connected to it, including the servers.
The ring portion connects the department routers to their
immediate neighboring routers, resulting in numerous
alternative paths for the information to travel in case a
router fails.

A. Group Assignment

The table Computer IP Addresses (All

The table above is the group’s assignment.
Providing us the router names, as well as its
corresponding number of hosts, and hostname of the
routers.
B. Network Setup Process
Departments) is the table in which all the departments’
computer IP Addresses and Subnets are listed for the
network simulation. They are assigned through each
computer’s interface inside their OS within the Cisco
Packet Tracer Logical Simulation. All the computer’s
IPV4 Addresses were manually assigned.
ISP IP Addresses

Network Devices Specifications:

Switch​: 2960 24TT

Router​: 2811 The table above shows the IP Address, Default
Module used​: WIC-2T; The dual-serial port WAN Gateway and Subnet Mask of the ISP Servers.
interface cards (WICs) feature Cisco`s new, compact,
high-density Smart Serial connector to support a wide
C. Subnetted Networks

Subnetting per department

The table above is the requirements of our

Group’s assignment for subnetting and routing using the
RIPv2 routing method.

Assigned IP Address Routers

The table above shows the list of IP addresses

and Subnet Masks (Custom). It was used for subnetting
the network of each department​.
D. Final Configuration

The figure above displays a sample code used in

configuring each router to connect with neighboring
routers. Basically, the code of the RIPv2 routing is
entered in the router’s CLI or Command Line Interface
tab.

General Code:

hostname(config)# router rip

hostname(config-router)# version 2
hostname(config-router)# network <network ip>
hostname(config-router)#
end

The following routing configuration was used in

the routers: SoE, SoM, SoMA, SoCIT, SHS, Graduate
Program, Admin, and Management, along with their
extended routers.

Running Configuration:
 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Network Setup Diagram

The figure above is the final network topology or

network setup diagram. It shows the 8 main departments
of the school which consists of: SoE, SoM, SoMA,
SoCIT, Senior High School, Graduate Program, Admin,
and Management Department. All are interconnected
through the router of the IT Resource Office (ITRO), and
each router, except for ISP1 and ISP2, are connected to its
immediate neighboring routers. ​Each department consists
of a main router which distributes to other routers in the
sub-department using switches.

As mentioned earlier, the network topology used

in this project is the star-ring topology, where the ITRO
serves as the central router, but also offers alternative
pathways for information to travel. Notice that the ISP1
and ISP2 servers are not part of the ring topology, but are
only directly connected to the ITRO. This allows the
ITRO to manage and control the internet access of the
whole network. Having this hybrid topology is
advantageous as redundancy is one of the most important
considerations in creating a network.
B. Central Router IP Routes
The figure above shows all the routes, through
the show ip route command, that are connected to the
ITRO, which serves as the central router. We can see that
aside from the 11 directly connected devices, the ITRO
router has learned of all the other devices in the network
via RIPv2 protocol represented by the letter R.
V. CONCLUSION
Upon thoroughly checking each router’s and
PC’s connection via ping, the network design proved to
be a success as every device can communicate with each
other. The hybrid topology also proved to be useful as the
maximum number of metric hops any router will take is 4.
Moreover, RIPv2 is a classless routing protocol
whereas it always advertises the subnet mask in their
routing updates.
RIPv2 supports simple text authentication and
multicast router announcements. It also supports classless
networks and variable length subnet masks, as the subnet
mask is included in the routing updates. Aside from that,
RIPv2 provides fast convergence which only indicates
that it exhibits efficient coexistence of telephone, video
and data communication within a single network. It can
also support snapshot routing which makes it ideal for
dial networks. Snapshot routing permits a single router
interface to connect and contact other router during active
periods or when the line protocol is in up state. In this
way, the router contacts all configured locations during
active periods to get the different remote routes from
other locations. Furthermore, it uses hold-downs, split
horizons, and poison reverse updates in order to attempt
to reduce the possibility of a loop in the network. [7][8]
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