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The TCP/IP Guide  9  TCP/IP Lower-Layer (Interface, Internet and Transport) Protocols (OSI Layers 2, 3 and 4)       9  TCP/IP Internet Layer (OSI Network Layer) Protocols            9  Internet Protocol (IP/IPv4, IPng/IPv6) and IP-Related Protocols (IP NAT, IPSec, Mobile IP)                 9  Internet Protocol Version 4 (IP, IPv4)                      9  IP Datagram Delivery and Routing

IP Routing Concepts and the Process of Next-Hop Routing 1 2 3 IP Routing In A Subnet Or Classless Addressing (CIDR) Environment

Routers are responsible for forwarding traffic on an IP internetwork. Each router accepts datagrams from a variety of sources, examines the IP address of the destination and decides what the next hop is that the datagram needs to take to get it that much closer to its final destination. A question then naturally arises: how does a router know where to send different datagrams?

Each router maintains a set of information that provides a mapping between different network IDs and the other routers to which it is connected. This information is contained in a data structure normally called a routing table. Each entry in the table, unsurprisingly called a routing entry, provides information about one network (or subnetwork, or host). It basically says “if the destination of this datagram is in the following network, the next hop you should take is to the following device”. Each time a datagram is received the router checks its destination IP address against the routing entries in its table to decide where to send the datagram, and then sends it on its next hop.

Obviously, the fewer the entries in this table, the faster the router can decide what to do with datagrams. (This was a big part of the motivation for classless addressing, which aggregates routes into “supernets” to reduce router table size, as we will see in the next topic.) Some routers only have connections to two other devices, so they don't have much of a decision to make. Typically, the router will simply take datagrams coming from one of its interfaces and if necessary, send them out on the other one. For example, consider a small company's router acting as the interface between a network of three hosts and the Internet. Any datagrams sent to the router from a host on this network will need to go over the router's connection to the router at the ISP.

When a router has connections to more than two devices, things become considerably more complex. Some distant networks may be more easily reachable if datagrams are sent using one of the routers than the other. The routing table contains information not only about the networks directly connected to the router, but also information that the router has “learned” about more distant networks.

IP Routing Concepts and the Process of Next-Hop Routing 1 2 3 IP Routing In A Subnet Or Classless Addressing (CIDR) Environment