ROUTING

Routing: How Data Packets Are

Handled
Communication within a network, or subnet,
happens without a network layer device.
When a host communicates outside the local
network, a router acts as a gateway and
performs the network layer function of
choosing a path for the packet.
 Supporting Communication Outside the
Network

• A host has a default gateway address

defined.
• As shown in Figure , this gateway
address is the address of a router
interface that is connected to the same
network as the host.
• The router interface is actually a host
on the local network, so the host IP
address and the default gateway
address must be on the same network.
Supporting Communication Outside the
Network
 Default Gateway

The default gateway is configured on a

host. On a Windows computer, the
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties tools
are used to enter the default gateway IPv4
address. Both the host IPv4 address and
the gateway address must have the same
network (and subnet, if used) portion of
their respective addresses. Figure 5-13
depicts the Windows TCP/IP Properties
configuration.
Default Gateway
 ROUTING PROCESS
• No packet can be forwarded without a route.
Whether the packet is originating in a host or
being forwarded by an intermediary device, the
device must have a route to identify where to
forward the packet.
• A host must either forward a packet to the host
on the local network or to the gateway, as
appropriate.
• To forward the packets, the host must have
routes that represent these destinations. A
router makes a forwarding decision for each
packet that arrives at the gateway interface.
This forwarding process is referred to as routing
 ROUTING PROCESS
• When a router interface is configured with an
IP address and subnet mask, the interface
becomes part of that network.
• The routing table now includes that network
as a directly connected network.
• All other routes, however, must be configured
or acquired through a routing protocol.
• To forward a packet, the router must know
where to send it.
• This information is available as routes in a
routing table.
 ROUTING Table

• The routing table stores information about

connected and remote networks.
• Connected networks are directly attached
to one of the router interfaces. These
interfaces are the gateways for the hosts
on different local networks.
• Remote networks are networks that are
not directly connected to the router.
• Routes to these networks can be manually
configured on the router by the network
administrator or learned automatically
using dynamic routing protocols.
 ROUTING Table
Routes in a routing table have three main features:
• Destination network
• Next-hop
• Metric
• The router matches the destination address in
the packet header with the destination network
of a route in the routing table and forwards the
packet to the next-hop router specified by that
route.
• If there are two or more possible routes to the
same destination, the metric is used to decide
which route appears on the routing table.
ROUTING Table
Host Routing Table
 Routing
Routing is the process a router performs when
making forwarding decisions for each packet
arriving at the gateway interface. To forward a
packet to a destination network, the router
requires a route to that network. If a route to a
destination network does not exist on the
router, the packet will be forwarded to a default
gateway. If no default gateway is configured, the
packet cannot be forwarded.
Routing
 Default Route
• Remember that a default route is the route used
if no specific route is available to be selected for
delivery.
• In IPv4 networks, the address 0.0.0.0 is used for
this purpose.
• Packets with a destination network address that
does not match a more specific route in the
routing table are forwarded to the next-hop
router associated with the default route.
Default Route
Packet Forwarding: Moving the Packet
Toward Its Destination
• Routing is performed packet by packet and hop by
hop.
• Each packet is treated independently by each router
along the path.
• At each hop, the router examines the destination IP
address for each packet and then checks the routing
table for forwarding information.
The router will then do one of the following with the
packet:
• Forward it to the next-hop router
• Forward it to the destination host
• Drop it
 How Routes Are Learned
• Routers need information about other networks
to build a reliable routing table. Networks and
routes are constantly changing, with new
networks coming on and routes going down.
• If a router has bad information about routes, it is
likely it will forward packets incorrectly, causing
packets to be delayed or dropped.
• The two ways in which a router can learn
information about routes is through static
routing and dynamic routing.
 Static Routing
• The route information can be manually configured
on the router, creating what is known as a static
route.
• An example of a static route is a default route. Static
routing requires a network administrator for initial
setup and for any changes to routes.
• Static routes are considered very reliable, and the
router does not use much overhead to process
packets.
• On the other hand, static routes do not update
automatically and have higher continuing
administrative costs.
 Dynamic Routing
• Routers can also learn about routes automatically
from other routers in the same internetwork, which
is known as dynamic routing.
• Dynamic routing updates arrive from other routers
and are used by the receiving router without
administrative configuration.
• Dynamic routing has higher router processing
overhead but little administrative cost after initial
setup.
• If dynamic routing is not enabled and configured on
a router, static routes to the next hops must be in
place for the router to know where to forward
packets.
 Routing Protocols
• It is imperative that all routers in an internetwork
have up-to-date and extensive route knowledge.
• Maintaining the routing table by manual static
configuration is not always feasible.
• Configuring one of several available dynamic
routing protocols on network routers is a much
more efficient way to keep the routers updated.
• Routing protocols are the set of rules by which
routers dynamically share their routing
information
 Routing Protocols
• The most common routing protocols used are:
• Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
• Enhanced Interior Gateway Protocol (EIGRP)
• Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)

• The advantage of routing protocols providing

routers with up-to-date routing tables is
tempered by added overhead costs.
• The exchange of route information adds overhead
by consuming network bandwidth.
• This overhead can be an issue with low-bandwidth
links between routers.
Routing Protocols