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ROUTING is the process of forwarding packets from their source machine
towards their destination. Things that do this are called Routers [1]
and can be either dedicated hardware or a general purpose computer
with two (or more) network interfaces.
STATIC ROUTING is done on simple networks that do not change much.
They have a simple list of where to send traffic that comes their way.
This list is called a ROUTING TABLE. If the network changes the list
must be updated manually by the network administrator.
DYNAMIC ROUTING is done on large networks that are constantly
changing. In such an environment new links between networks are being
added constantly and established links can disappear without warning.
Routers in these environments run programs that automatically (ie
dynamically) update their Routing Tables.
Routers [2] know where to forward packets because they share
information on where machines are using a ROUTING PROTOCOL. There are
many routing protocols, although only a few are widely used.
Routing protocols are often divided into two classes based on whether
they are designed for use within a set of networks all run by the same
owner (interior routing protocols), or are better for inter-domain
routing (exterior routing protocols).
The other common classification is distance-vector protocols, which
use a measure of how far it is to the destination to select the best
route, or link-state protocols, which can use a more complex measure
of the state of the connections.
RIP [3] is a distance-vector protocol. It was the first widely used
routing protocol, designed at Xerox PARC, and was first used for the
XNS protocol suite. It was ported to IP, and has undergone several
revisions. It is now seldom used because it has quite poor performance
in larger networks (and most networks now are large.)
OSPF [4] (Open Shortest Path First) is the major non-proprietary
interior routing protocol in use for IP networks today. OSPF is a
link-state protocol.
RSPF [5] (Radio Shortest Path First)
IS-IS [6] is an interior routing protocol developed by the ISO as
part of the OSI networking suite. It supports multi-protocol routing
and is also used for IP networks.
BGP [7] is the major exterior routing protocol of the Internet [8].
There are also some proprietary protocols in wide use: Cisco [9]'s
EIGRP [10] is perhaps the most common.
There are several developing protocols intended for use in wireless
and mobile wireless networks.
Finally, a note on pronounciation:
* the English tend to say 'root' and 'rooter',
* Australian's tend to go for 'root' and 'rowter', although 'rowt'
is also pretty common, and,
* in the US, 'rowt' and 'rowter' seem to be dominant.
Links:
------
[1] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?Router
[2] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?Router
[3] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?RIP
[4] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?OSPF
[5] http://rspf.sourceforge.net/
[6] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?IS-IS
[7] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?BGP
[8] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?Internet
[9] http://www.cisco.com/
[10] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?EIGRP
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