Basic Routing Concepts

Routing involves the delivery of datagrams between end systems located on different networks. Without
routers and routing protocols, end host communication would be limited to only those systems on the
same physical segment (see Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1 All hosts are attached to the same segment. There is no need for routers and routing
protocols for these hosts to communicate with each other.

Routers provide the physical connection between networks. Routers must be configured with some type
of routing mechanism to enable communication between hosts beyond their local segments (see figure
3.2).

Figure 3.2 Routers connect multiple subnets together allowing remote hosts to communicate. The
router forwards traffic between hosts on subnets 1 and 2.

These routing mechanisms are either static or dynamic in nature. Static means manual configuration is
necessary. Dynamic mechanisms involve routing protocols that facilitate the exchange of information,
allowing routers to learn and adapt to changes in a network's topology. Static and dynamic routing
protocols will be discussed later in this chapter.

Whether a router is configured statically or dynamically or a combination of both the objective is the
same, to facilitate communication between remote hosts. For hosts to communicate with other hosts
located on different networks, end systems must be configured with the IP address of at least one local
router (also referred to as the default router). Hosts may be statically configured or dynamically discover
their local router's or router's IP address(see Figure 3.3).

Note

The terms gateway and router are used interchangeably within the industry to describe a router. For
clarity's sake, the term router will be used from now on. When a hosts wants to communicate with hosts
outside its local subnet it sends the datagram to the local router for forwarding.

Figure 3.3 Host A is configured with the IP address (131.107.1.1) of the Default router located on
its subnet.

The local router (131.107.1.1) in figure 3.3 is the exit and/or entry point connecting the network and its
local hosts to the outside world. Whenever Host A wants to communicate with a host or hosts not
connected to its local segment, it must send the datagram to the local router for forwarding. Specific
configuration of end hosts is not discussed in this book.

The reference to the "outside world" does not necessarily mean the Internet. Remember that hosts are
limited to communicating with hosts connected to the same network unless a router is present. The
outside world could simply be a single network on the other side of this router or it could be a series of
networks connected through multiple routers leading out to the Internet (see Figure 3.4). The point is
that whenever a host wants to go outside of its local segment, it must send datagrams to a local router for
delivery.

Figure 3.4 A typical network with multiple internal subnets may contain a router providing a
connection to the Internet. The router providing access to the Internet has one interface connected
to the inside network and one connected to the outside world.
Let's relate routing to the postal service analogy used in Chapter 2, "IP and IP Addressing," which
discussed a network as a "city" and subnetworks as "streets" within a city. The city represents the major
classful address (class A, B, or C). The street represents the subnetworks within the major network used
to organize and divide the houses within the city. Now let's consider the U.S. postal service as the
routing entity that makes delivery of mail within and between cities possible.