Check out this description of RIPs from the website www.whatis.com, this website offers helpful information on most IT terminology. Hope it helps.

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Also see raster image processor (RIP).

RIP (Routing Information Protocol) is a widely-used protocol for managing router information within a self-contained network such as a corporate local area network () or an interconnected group of such LANs. RIP is classified by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as one of several internal gateway protocols (Interior Gateway Protocol).

Using RIP, a gateway host (with a router) sends its entire routing table (which lists all the other hosts it knows about) to its closest neighbor host every 30 seconds. The neighbor host in turn will pass the information on to its next neighbor and so on until all hosts within the network have the same knowledge of routing paths, a state known as network convergence. RIP uses a hop count as a way to determine network distance. (Other protocols use more sophisticated algorithms that include timing as well.) Each host with a router in the network uses the routing table information to determine the next host to route a packet to for a specified destination.

RIP is considered an effective solution for small homogeneous networks. For larger, more complicated networks, RIP's transmission of the entire routing table every 30 seconds may put a heavy amount of extra traffic in the network.

The major alternative to RIP is the Open Shortest Path First Protocol (OSPF).
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>> SearchNetworking.com provides links to more information about standards and protocols.
>> # The IETF's RIP Working Group lists the existing Request for Comments (Request for Comments) related to RIP.


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Note added at 2002-07-20 20:41:02 (GMT)
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More information on postscript:

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Postscript is a programming language that describes the appearance of a printed page. It was developed by Adobe in 1985 and has become an industry standard for printing and imaging. All major printer manufacturers make printers that contain or can be loaded with Postscript software, which also runs on all major operating system platforms. A Postscript file can be identified by its \".ps\" suffix.

Postscript describes the text and graphic elements on a page to a black-and-white or color printer or other output device, such as a slide recorder, imagesetter, or screen display. Postscript handles industry-standard, scalable typeface in the Type 1 and TrueType formats. Users can convert Postscript files to the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) using the Adobe Acrobat product. PDF files present the document\'s printed appearance on a display screen. (You\'ll find many PDF documents for downloading and viewing from Web sites; you\'ll need to download the Acrobat viewer as a plug-in.) Adobe sells a more sophisticated product called Supra for print-on-demand and production printing.

Note that the average home laser printer is not a Postscript printer; which is somewhat more expensive and more frequently purchased for business use. (However, they aren\'t that expensive and Postscript printers for home or small business use are worth considering.)
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> More information is available from the Adobe Web site .