What is͏͏ SLIP Full For͏͏m ͏͏͏ in Computer?
͏͏The SLIP full form on the computer is Serial Line Internet Protocol. According to RFC 1055, SLIP is a TCP/IP protocol employed in point-to-point serial connections. It can be used at dial-up connections and serial ports of computers and routers. SLIP encapsulates the IP packets across a serial line at a speed from 12,000 bps up to 192 Kbps. The protocol initially appeared in 1984 when Rick Adams implemented it to connect workstations between Berkeley Unix and Sun Microsystems. Soon, SLIP became a very popular implementation of TCP/IP. Nowadays, it is considered an obsolete technology, already replaced by Point-to-Point Protocol.
͏͏ SLIP Protocol Features
SLIP frames encapsulate IP packets using two special characters, END (decimal 192) and ESC (decimal 129). Based on the code data, SLIP sends two-byte sequences in data packets. It has a standard maximum packet size, but 1006 bytes of datagram is commonly accepted. IP addressing in SLIP is static, and both sender and receiver must be aware of each other’s IP addresses. SLIP uses an end delimiter and a frame with encapsulated payload sent synchronously. Besides its simplicity, its minimum overhead makes implementation on microcontrollers and simple network configurations easy.
Advantages and Disadvantages of SLIP
SLIP allows for flexibility in the form of supporting various network configurations: host-host, host-router, and router-router. Because of its simplicity, it is easy to implement, and its compatibility with the widely used TCP/IP standard further extends its feasibility. SLIP has several disadvantages: it contains no authentication, dynamic IP assignment, or error detection/correction capabilities. For example, the protocol cannot determine data type; therefore, only one protocol is allowed per connection. In addition, SLIP does not offer any compression features, limiting efficiency. Although CSLIP was designed to improve the packet throughput, it did not gain wide acceptance.