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Internet Protocol Options

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are a number of optional parameters that may be present in an Internet Protocol version 4 datagram. They typically configure a number of behaviors such as for the method to be used during source routing, some control and probing facilities and a number of experimental features.[1]

Available options

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The possible options that can be put in the IPv4 header are as follows:

Field Size (bits) Description
Copied 1 Set to 1 if the options need to be copied into all fragments of a fragmented packet.
Option Class 2 A general options category. 0 is for control options, and 2 is for debugging and measurement. 1 and 3 are reserved.
Option Number 5 Specifies an option.
Option Length 8 Indicates the size of the entire option (including this field). This field may not exist for simple options.
Option Data Variable Option-specific data. This field may not exist for simple options.

The table below shows the defined options for IPv4. The Option Type column is derived from the Copied, Option Class, and Option Number bits as defined above.[2]

Option Type (decimal/hexadecimal) Option Name Description
0/0x00 EOOL End of Option List
1/0x01 NOP No Operation
2/0x02 SEC Security (defunct)
7/0x07 RR Record Route
10/0x0A ZSU Experimental Measurement
11/0x0B MTUP MTU Probe
12/0x0C MTUR MTU Reply
15/0x0F ENCODE ENCODE
25/0x19 QS Quick-Start
30/0x1E EXP RFC3692-style Experiment
68/0x44 TS Time Stamp
82/0x52 TR Traceroute
94/0x5E EXP RFC3692-style Experiment
130/0x82 SEC Security (RIPSO)
131/0x83 LSR Loose Source Route
133/0x85 E-SEC Extended Security (RIPSO)
134/0x86 CIPSO Commercial IP Security Option
136/0x88 SID Stream ID
137/0x89 SSR Strict Source Route
142/0x8E VISA Experimental Access Control
144/0x90 IMITD IMI Traffic Descriptor
145/0x91 EIP Extended Internet Protocol
147/0x93 ADDEXT Address Extension
148/0x94 RTRALT Router Alert
149/0x95 SDB Selective Directed Broadcast
151/0x97 DPS Dynamic Packet State
152/0x98 UMP Upstream Multicast Packet
158/0x9E EXP RFC3692-style Experiment
205/0xCD FINN Experimental Flow Control
222/0xDE EXP RFC3692-style Experiment

Loose source routing

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Loose Source Routing is an IP option which can be used for address translation. LSR is also used to implement mobility in IP networks. [3]

Loose source routing uses a source routing option in IP to record the set of routers a packet must visit. The destination of the packet is replaced with the next router the packet must visit. By setting the forwarding agent (FA) to one of the routers that the packet must visit, LSR is equivalent to tunneling. If the corresponding node stores the LSR options and reverses it, it is equivalent to the functionality in mobile IPv6.

The name loose source routing comes from the fact that only part of the path is set in advance.[4]

Strict source routing

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Strict source routing is in contrast with loose source routing, in which every step of the route is decided in advance where the packet is sent.

Restrictions and considerations

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The following two options are discouraged because they create security concerns: Loose Source and Record Route (LSRR) and Strict Source and Record Route (SSRR). Many routers block packets containing these options.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) Parameters". Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  2. ^ "Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) Parameters".
  3. ^ Bhagwat, Pravin; Perkins, Charles Edward; Tripathi, Satish (July 1996). "Network Layer Mobility:An Architecture and Survey". IEEE Personal Communications. 3 (3): 54–64. doi:10.1109/98.511765. hdl:1903/780. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  4. ^ "Source Routing". Archived from the original on 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  5. ^ "Cisco unofficial FAQ". Retrieved 2012-05-10.