ility, delay, bandwidth, load, communication cost) to determine the best path to the destination. routing protocol A protocol that enables routers to communicate with each other. Routing protocols include RIP, IGP, OSPF, EGP, and BGP. routing table A database that tells a router how to send packets to various destinations. RPC (remote procedure call) A system that enables an application programmer to distrib- ute programs between computer systems interconnected by a network. RPC development tools eliminate the need for in-depth knowledge of diverse network protocols and computing plat- forms, enabling a programmer to concentrate on developing the application itself. RS-232-C A technical specification published by the EIA that establishes mechanical and elec- trical interface requirements between DTE and DCE, employing serial binary data interchange and operating at speeds up to 19.2Kbps. RS-366-A An EIA standard for interfaces between DTE and automatic calling equipment for data communication. RS-422-A An EIA specification for electrical characteristics of balanced-voltage digital inter- face circuits. RS-423-A An EIA specification for electrical characteristics of unbalanced-voltage digital interface circuits. RS-449 An EIA specification for general-purpose, 37-position and 9-position interfaces for DTE and DCE, employing serial binary data interchange and operating at speeds up to 2Mbps. RSA (Rivest, Shamir, and Adelman) A public key algorithm whose security derives from the difficulty of factoring large prime integers. RSVP (Resource Reservation Protocol) A protocol that enables an internet to support specified levels of QoS. By using RSVP, an application can reserve resources along a route from source to destination. RSVP-enabled routers then schedule and prioritize packets to fulfill the QoS. RSVP-TE (Resource Reservation Protocol-Traffic Engineering) A router-based RSVP modification for MPLS traffic engineering that supports the instantiation of explicitly routed label-switched paths with or without resourc