RFC 1191

Path MTU discovery, November 1990

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Status:
DRAFT STANDARD
Obsoletes:
RFC 1063
Authors:
J. Mogul
S. Deering
Stream:
[Legacy]

Cite this RFC: TXT  |  XML  |   BibTeX

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.17487/RFC1191

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Abstract

This memo describes a technique for dynamically discovering the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of an arbitrary internet path. It specifies a small change to the way routers generate one type of ICMP message. For a path that passes through a router that has not been so changed, this technique might not discover the correct Path MTU, but it will always choose a Path MTU as accurate as, and in many cases more accurate than, the Path MTU that would be chosen by current practice. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


For the definition of Status, see RFC 2026.

For the definition of Stream, see RFC 8729.




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