Planning Routing
In Chapter 2, we learned that hosts only communicate directly with other computers connected to the same network. Gateways are needed to communicate with systems on other networks. If the hosts on your network need to communicate with computers on other networks, a route through a gateway must be defined. There are two ways to do this:
Routing can be handled by a static routing table built by the system administrator. Static routing tables are most useful when the number of gateways is limited. Static tables do not dynamically adjust to changing network conditions, so each change in the table is made manually by the network administrator. Complex environments require a more flexible approach to routing than a static routing table provides.
Routing can be handled by a dynamic routing table that responds to changing network conditions. Dynamic routing tables are built by routing protocols. Routing protocols exchange routing information that is used to update the routing table. Dynamic routing is used when there are multiple gateways on a network, and it is essential when more than one gateway can reach the same destination.
Many networks use a combination of both static and dynamic routing. Some systems on the network use static routing tables, while others run routing protocols and have dynamic tables. While it is often appropriate for hosts to use static routing tables, gateways usually run routing protocols.
The network administrator is responsible for deciding what ...
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