Overview

Metropolitan area networks (MANs) and enterprise networks typically use the ring topology to improve reliability. However, services will be interrupted if any node in the ring network fails. A ring network typically uses RPR or Ethernet rings. RPR is high in cost because it needs dedicated hardware. In contrast, the Ethernet ring technology is more mature and economical, so it is more and more popular in MANs and enterprise networks.

The Rapid Ring Protection Protocol (RRPP) is a link layer protocol designed for Ethernet rings. RRPP can prevent broadcast storms caused by data loops when an Ethernet ring is healthy. RRPP can also rapidly restore the communication paths between the nodes when a link is disconnected on the ring. The convergence time of RRPP is independent of the number of nodes in the Ethernet ring. RRPP is applicable to large-diameter networks.