Routing Fundamentals
Introduction to Routing
and Packet Forwarding
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Objectives
➢ Describe the structure of a routing table.
➢ Describe how a router determines a path and
switches packets
➢ Describe Dynamic Routing Protocols
Routing
Routing Protocol
▪ Routing Protocols: A software in the network layer that
implements routing algorithms and responsible for:
–Filling and updating routing tables (by finding the
shortest paths from each source to each destination)
This part is called Routing
–Deciding which output interface an incoming packet
should be transmitted on (by referring to the routing
table). This part is called Forwarding
Routing Table
➢ A routing table is a set of rules, often viewed in table
format, that is used to determine where data packets
travelling over an Internet Protocol (IP) network will be
directed. It’s a type of data file that acts as a map and is
often installed on a router or networked computer.
➢ All IP-enabled devices, including routers, computers
and switches, use routing tables.
❑ A routing table contains the information necessary to forward a
packet along the best path toward its destination. It contains
information about various routes between devices in order to
present the most efficient paths for data packets
❑ Each packet contains information about its origin (source) and
destination.
❑ When a packet is received, a network device examines the packet
and matches it to the routing table entry providing the best match
for its destination.
❑ The table then provides the device with instructions for sending
the packet to the next hop on its route across the network.
Contents of the Routing Table
➢ Destination: The IP address of the packet's final
destination
➢ Next hop: The IP address to which the packet is
forwarded
➢ Interface: The outgoing network interface the device
should use when forwarding the packet to the next hop
or final destination
➢ Metric: Assigns a cost to each available route so that
the most cost-effective path can be chosen
➢ Routes: Includes directly-attached subnets, indirect
subnets that are not attached to the device but can be
accessed through one or more hops, and default routes
to use for certain types of traffic or when information is
lacking.
Format of the Routing Table
How to Populate a Routing Table
➢ Routing tables can be maintained manually (Static) or
dynamically.
➢ Static Routes: Static routes are maintained manually by
a network administrator and do not change.
▪ With static route, routes change slowly over time
▪ Can not update automatically if there is a change in
the network or failure
▪ Static route are suitable for small networks
Static Route operation
▪ Static route operations can be divided into these
three parts:
–Network administrator configures the route
–Router installs the route in the routing table
–Packets are routed using the static route
▪ Since a static route is manually configured, the
administrator must configure the static route on
the router using the ip route command.
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Administrative Distance (AD)
▪ The administrative distance is an optional parameter that
gives a measure of the reliability of the route. A lower
value for the administrative distance indicates the more
reliable route.
▪ The default administrative distance when using next-hop
address is 1, while the default administrative distance
when using the outgoing interface is 0.
▪ BIT32020(config)#ip route [Link] [Link] [Link] 130
▪ If the router cannot reach the outgoing interface
that is being used in the route, the route will not
be installed in the routing table.
▪ This means if that interface is down, the route
will not be placed in the routing table.
Advantages of static Routes
▪ Static routes are used for backup purposes. A static
route might be configured on a router to be used when the
dynamically learned route to the desired destination fail.
➢Note: To use a static route as the backup, simply set the
administrative distance higher than that of the dynamic
routing protocol being used.
Configuring static routes
Static Configuration Steps:
➢Determine all desired destination networks, their subnet
masks, and their gateways. A gateway can be either a local
interface or a next hop address that leads to the desired
destination.
➢Enter global configuration mode.
➢Type the ip route command with a destination address
and subnet mask followed by their corresponding gateway
from Step one. Including an administrative distance is
optional.
➢ Repeat Step three for as many destination networks
as were defined in Step one.
➢ Exit global configuration mode.
➢ Save the active configuration to NVRAM by using
the copy running-config startup-config command.
Configuring default route forwarding
▪ Default routes are used to route packets with
destinations that do not match any of the other routes
in the routing table.
▪ A default route is actually a special static route that
uses this format:
ip route [Link] [Link] [next-hop-address |
outgoing interface]
▪ Use the following steps to configure default routes:
1. Enter global configuration mode.
2. Type the ip route command with [Link] for the
destination network address and [Link] for the
subnet mask. The gateway for the default route can
be either the local router interface that connects to
the outside networks or the IP address of the next-
hop router.
3. Exit global configuration mode.
4. Save the active configuration to NVRAM by using
the copy running-config startup-config command.
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Verifying static route configuration
▪ Use the following steps to verify static route
configuration:
–In privileged mode enter the command show
running-config to view the active configuration.
–Verify that the static route has been correctly
entered.
–Enter the command show ip route.
–Verify that the route that was configured is in the
routing table.
Displaying the Routing table
Dynamic Routing Protocols
➢ In dynamic routing, devices build and maintain their
routing tables automatically by using routing protocols
to exchange information about the surrounding network
topology.
➢ Dynamic routing tables allow devices to "listen" to the
network and respond to occurrences like device failures
and network congestion.
➢ Each router learns the state of the network by
communicating with its neighbours.
➢ Based on the collected information, each router can fill
its routing table.
Dynamic Routing Protocols
▪ Examples of routing protocols are:
–Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
–Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol
(EIGRP)
–Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
Example of Routed Protocols
▪ A routed protocol is used to direct user traffic.
▪ Examples of routed protocols are:
–Internet Protocol (IP)
–Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX)
Autonomous systems
▪ An autonomous system (AS) is a collection of networks
under a common administration sharing a common
routing strategy.
▪ Autonomous systems (AS) provide the division of the
global internetwork into smaller and more manageable
networks.
▪ Each AS has its own set of rules and policies and an
AS number that will uniquely distinguish it from other
autonomous systems throughout the world.
▪ To the outside world, an AS is viewed as a single entity.
Routing protocol and autonomous systems
▪ When all routers in an internetwork are operating
with the same knowledge, the internetwork is said
to have converged.
▪ Fast convergence is desirable because it reduces
the period of time in which routers would
continue to make incorrect routing decisions.
Classes of Dynamic routing protocols
▪ Dynamic Routing Protocols can be classified into one of
two categories:
–distance vector
–link-state
▪ The distance vector routing approach determines the
direction (vector) and distance to any link in the
internetwork.
▪ The link-state approach, also called shortest path first,
recreates the exact topology of the entire internetwork.
Distance Vector Routing Protocols
▪ Distance Vector Routing Protocols
–Each node sends its routing table to all neighbors
every 30 seconds
–Lower distances are updated with the neighbor as
next hop
–Cannot scale
–Cannot resolve routing loops quickly
–RIP is the main distance vector protocol
Link State Routing Protocols
▪ Link State Routing Protocols
–Each link, the connected nodes and the metric is flooded
to all routers
–Each link up/down status change is incrementally
flooded
–Each router re-computes the routing table in parallel
using the common link state database
–OSPF is the main link state protocol.
Interior and Exterior Routing
Protocols
Interior and Exterior Routing Protocols
➢ Interior routing protocols are designed for use in
a network whose parts are under the control of a
single organization.
➢ An exterior routing protocol is designed for use
between two different networks that are under
the control of two different organizations.
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Interior, Exterior dynamic Routing protocols and
Autonomous Systems
Interior Routing Protocols
▪ Describe the current network topology
▪ Routing protocols distribute how to reach
address prefix groups
▪ Example of Interior Routing protocols are:
–RIP
–EIGRP
–OSPF
Path determination
▪ A router determines the path of a packet from
one data link to another, using two basic
functions:
–A path determination function
–A switching function
Path Determination Functions
▪ Path determination occurs at the network layer.
▪ The path determination function enables a router
to evaluate the paths to a destination and to
establish the preferred handling of a packet.
▪ The router uses the routing table to determine the
best path and proceeds to forward the packet
using the switching function.
Switching function
▪ The switching function is the internal process used
by a router to accept a packet on one interface
and forward it to a second interface on the same
router.
▪ A key responsibility of the switching function of
the router is to encapsulate packets in the
appropriate frame type for the next data link.
Dynamic Routing Configuration
▪ Enabling an IP dynamic routing protocol on a router
involves the setting of both global and routing
parameters.
▪ Global tasks include selecting a routing protocol, such as
RIP, EIGRP or OSPF.
▪ The major task in the routing configuration mode is to
indicate IP network numbers.
Dynamic Routing Configuration
▪ The router command starts a routing process.
▪ The network command is required because it
enables the routing process to determine which
interfaces participate in the sending and receiving
of routing updates.
▪ An example of a routing configuration is:
GAD(config)#router rip
GAD(config-router)#network [Link]
Dynamic Routing Protocol Commands
Dynamic Routing Protocol Commands