15. Routing

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Keeping track of where network traffic should flow next is no easy task. Chapter 14 briefly introduced IP packet forwarding. In this chapter, we examine the forwarding process in more detail and investigate several network protocols that allow routers to automatically discover efficient routes. Routing protocols not only lessen the day-to-day administrative burden of maintaining routing information, but they also allow network traffic to be redirected quickly if a router, link, or network should fail.

It’s important to distinguish between the process of actually forwarding IP packets and the management of the routing table that drives ...

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