ROUTERS AND ROUTING

ROUTERS a computer networking device that forwards data packets across an internetwork toward their destinations, through a process known as routing. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISPs network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect. are specialized computers that send your messages and those of every other Internet user speeding to their destinations along thousands of pathways. ROUTING the act of moving information across an internetwork from a source to a destination. a means of discovering paths in computer networks along which information can be sent. the process of selecting paths in a network along which to send data or physical traffic. (wikipedia.org) directs forwarding, the passing of logically addressed packets from their source toward their ultimate destination through intermediary nodes (wikipedia.org) typically these nodes are hardware devices such as routers, bridges, gateways, firewalls, or switches Routing vs. Bridging bridging occurs at Layer 2 (the link layer) of the OSI reference model, whereas routing occurs at Layer 3 (the network layer) routing and bridging uses different information to process moving information from source to destination, so the two functions accomplish their tasks in different ways Routing Components Routing involves two basic activities: determining optimal routing paths and transporting information groups (typically called packets) through an internetwork. Path Determination Routing protocols use metrics to evaluate what path will be the best for a packet to travel. A metric is a standard of measurement, such as path bandwidth, that is used by routing algorithms to determine the optimal path to a destination. To aid the process of path determination, routing algorithms initialize and maintain routing tables, which contain route information. Route information varies depending on the routing algorithm used. Routing Table an electronic table (file) or database type object that is stored in a router or a networked computer stores the routes (and in some cases, metrics associated with those routes) to particular network destinations. This information contains the topology of the network immediately around it. The construction of routing tables is the primary goal of routing protocols contains destination/next hop associations tell a router that a particular destination can be reached optimally by sending the packet to a particular router representing the next hop on the way to the final destination. When a router receives an incoming packet, it checks the destination address and attempts to associate this address with a next hop. contain other information, such as data about the desirability of a path. Contents of Routing Tables The routing table consists of at least three information fields: the network id: i.e. the destination network id cost: i.e. the cost of the path through which the packet is to be sent

next hop: next hop is the address of the next station to which the packet is to be sent on the way to destination

Example

Switching the source host sends a packet addressed specifically to a router's physical address, this time with the protocol address of the destination host the router determines that it either knows or does not know how to forward the packet to the next hop. If the router does not know how to forward the packet, it typically drops the packet. If the router knows how to forward the packet, however, it changes the destination physical address to that of the next hop and transmits the packet. Switching at play

Routing Algorithms Routers use routing algorithms to find the best route to a destination. When we say "best route," we consider parameters like the number of hops (the trip a packet takes from one router or intermediate point to another in the network), time delay and communication cost of packet transmission. Static vs Dynamic Routing Static Routing Dynamic Routing table mappings established by the network adjust to changing network circumstances by administrator before the beginning of routing analyzing incoming routing update messages These mappings do not change unless the network These messages permeate the network, administrator alters them. stimulating routers to rerun their algorithms and change their routing tables accordingly.

Major Routing Algorithms global routing algorithms every router has complete information about all other routers in the network and the traffic status of the network. These algorithms are also known as LS (link state) algorithms. decentralized routing algorithms each router has information about the routers it is directly connected to -- it doesn't know about every router in the network. These algorithms are also known as DV (distance vector) algorithms LS Algorithms 1. Identify the routers that are physically connected to them and get their IP addresses 2. Measure the delay time (or any other important parameters of the network, such as average traffic) for neighbor routers routers send echo packets over the network Every router that receives these packets replies with an echo reply packet. By dividing round trip time by 2, routers can count the delay time. 3. Broadcast its information over the network for other routers and receive the other routers' information 4. Using an appropriate algorithm, identify the best route between two nodes of the network routers choose the best route to every node. Dijkstra shortest path algorithm Dijkstra shortest path algorithm a router, based on information that has been collected from other routers, builds a graph of the network. Every link is labeled with a number called the weight or cost. This number is a function of delay time, average traffic, and sometimes simply the number of hops between nodes. Routing Metrics Routing tables contain information used by switching software to select the best route. Routing algorithms have used many different metrics to determine the best route. All the following metrics have been used: Path length Reliability Delay Bandwidth Load Communication cost

Path Length the most common routing metric the sum of the costs associated with each link traversed a metric that specifies the number of passes through internetworking products, such as routers, that a packet must take en route from a source to a destination. routing protocols allow network administrators to assign arbitrary costs to each network link Reliability