Introduction to Routing

and Packet Forwarding

Routing Protocols and

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 Objectives
 Identify a router as a computer with an OS and
hardware designed for the routing process.
 Demonstrate the ability to configure devices and apply
addresses.
 Describe the structure of a routing table.
 Describe how a router determines a path and
switches packets

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 Router as a Computer
 Describe the basic purpose of a router
-Computers that specialize in sending packets over the data
network. They are responsible for interconnecting networks by
selecting the best path for a packet to travel and forwarding
packets to their destination
 Routers are the network center
-Routers generally have 2 connections:
-WAN connection (Connection to ISP)
-LAN connection

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 Router as a Computer
 Data is sent in form of packets between 2 end devices
 Routers are used to direct packet to its destination

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 Router as a Computer
 Routers examine a packet’s destination IP address and
determine the best path by enlisting the aid of a routing
table

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 Router as a Computer
 Router components and their functions”
 CPU - Executes operating system instructions
 Random access memory (RAM) - Contains the running copy of
configuration file. Stores routing table. RAM contents lost when power
is off
 Read-only memory (ROM) - Holds diagnostic software used when
router is powered up. Stores the router’s bootstrap program.
 Non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) - Stores startup configuration. This may
include IP addresses (Routing protocol, Hostname of router)
 Flash memory - Contains the operating system (Cisco IOS)
 Interfaces - There exist multiple physical interfaces that are used to
connect network. Examples of interface types:
-Ethernet / fast Ethernet interfaces
-Serial interfaces
-Management interfaces

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 Router as a Computer
 Router components

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 Router as a Computer
 Major phases to the
router boot-up process
 Test router hardware
Power-On Self Test
(POST)
Execute bootstrap loader
 Locate & load Cisco IOS
software
-Locate IOS
-Load IOS
 Locate & load startup
configuration file or enter
setup mode
-Bootstrap program looks
for configuration file

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 Router as a Computer
 Verify the router boot-up process:
-The show version command is used to view information about
the router during the bootup process. Information includes:
 Platform model number
 Image name & IOS version
 Bootstrap version stored in ROM
 Image file name & where it was loaded from
 Number & type of interfaces
 Amount of NVRAM
 Amount of flash
 Configuration register

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 Router as a Computer

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 Router as a Computer
 Routers and the Network Layer
Routers use destination IP address to forward packets
 The path a packet takes is determined after a router consults
information in the routing table.
 After router determines the best path
 Packet is encapsulated into a frame
 Frame is then placed on network medium in form of Bits

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 Router as a Computer
 Routers Operate at Layers 1, 2 & 3
 Router receives a stream of encoded bits
 Bits are decoded and passed to layer 2
 Router de-encapsulates the frame
 Remaining packet passed up to layer 3
-Routing decision made at this layer by examining
destination IP address
 Packet is then re-encapsulated & sent out outbound interface

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 Routing Table Structure
 Routing Table is stored in ram and contains information
about:
 Directly connected networks - this occurs when a device is
connected to another router interface
 Remotely connected networks - this is a network that is not
directly connected to a particular router
 Detailed information about the networks include source of
information, network address & subnet mask, and Ip address of
next-hop router
 Show ip route command is used to view a routing table

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 Routing Table Structure
 Adding a connected network to the routing table
-Router interfaces
 Each router interface is a member of a different network
 Activated using the no shutdown command
 In order for static and dynamic routes to exist in routing table
you must have directly connected networks

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 Routing Table Structure
 Static routes in the routing table
-Includes: network address and subnet mask and IP address of
next hop router or exit interface
-Denoted with the code S in the routing table
-Routing tables must contain directly connected networks used
to connect remote networks before static or dynamic routing
can be used
 When to use static routes
-When network only consists of a few routers
-Network is connected to internet only through one ISP
-Hub & spoke topology is used on a large network

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 Routing Table Structure
 Connected and Static routes

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 Routing Table Structure
 Dynamic routing protocols
-Used to add remote networks to a routing table
-Are used to discover networks
-Are used to update and maintain routing tables
 Automatic network discovery
-Routers are able discover new networks by sharing routing
table information

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 Routing Table Structure
 Maintaining routing tables
-Dynamic routing protocols are used to share routing information with
other router & to maintain and up date their own routing table.
 IP routing protocols. Example of routing protocols include:
-RIP
-IGRP
-EIGRP
-OSPF

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 Routing Table Structure
 Routing Table Principles
-3 principles regarding routing tables:
 Every router makes its decisions alone, based on the
information it has in its routing table.
 Different routing table may contain different information
 A routing table can tell how to get to a destination but not
how to get back

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 Routing Table Structure
 Effects of the 3 Routing Table Principles
-Packets are forwarded through the network from one router
to another, on a hop by hop basis.
-Packets can take path “X” to a destination but return via
path “Y” (Asymmetric routing).

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 A Metric is a numerical value used by routing protocols help
determine the best path to a destination
– The smaller the metric value the better the path
 2 types of metrics used by routing protocols are:
-Hop count - this is the number of routers a packet must travel
through to get to its destination
-Bandwidth - this is the “speed” of a link also known as the data
capacity of a link

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 Equal cost metric is a condition where a router has multiple paths
to the same destination that all have the same metric
 To solve this dilemma, a router will use Equal Cost Load
Balancing. This means the router sends packets over the multiple
exit interfaces listed in the routing table.

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 Path determination is a process used by a router to pick the best
path to a destination
 One of 3 path determinations results from searching for the best
path
Directly connected network
Remote network
No route determined

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 Switching Function of Router is the process used by a
router to switch a packet from an incoming interface to
an outgoing interface on the same router.
-A packet received by a router will do the following:
 Strips off layer 2 headers.
 Examines destination IP address located in Layer 3
header to find best route to destination.
 Re-encapsulates layer 3 packet into layer 2 frame.
 Forwards frame out exit interface.

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 As a packet travels from one networking device to another
-The Source and Destination IP addresses NEVER change
-The Source & Destination MAC addresses CHANGE as
packet is forwarded from one router to the next.
-TTL field decrement by one until a value of zero is reached at
which point router discards packet (prevents packets from
endlessly traversing the network)

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 Path determination and switching function details. PC1
Wants to send something to PC 2 here is part of what
happens
Step 1 - PC1 encapsulates packet into a frame. Frame
contains R1’s destination MAC address

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
Step 2 - R1 receives Ethernet frame.
 R1 sees that destination MAC address matches its own
MAC.
 R1 then strips off Ethernet frame.
 R1 Examines destination IP.
 R1 consults routing table looking for destination IP.
 After finding destination IP in routing table, R1 now looks up
next hop IP address.
 R1 re-encapsulates IP packet with a new Ethernet frame.
 R1 forwards Ethernet packet out Fa0/1 interface.

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 Path determination and switching function details. PC1 Wants to
send something to PC 2 here is part of what happens
Step 3 - Packet arrives at R2
 R2 receives Ethernet frame
 R2 sees that destination MAC address matches its own
MAC
 R2 then strips off Ethernet frame
 R2 Examines destination IP
 R2 consults routing table looking for destination IP
 After finding destination IP in routing table, R2 now looks up
next hop IP address
 R2 re-encapsulates IP packet with a new data link frame
 R2 forwards Ethernet packet out S0/0 interface

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 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 Path determination and switching function details. PC1 Wants to
send something to PC 2 here is part of what happens
Step 4 - Packet arrives at R3
 R3 receives PPP frame
 R3 then strips off PPP frame
 R3 Examines destination IP
 R3 consults routing table looking for destination IP
 After finding destination IP in routing table, R3 is directly
connected to destination via its fast Ethernet interface
 R3 re-encapsulates IP packet with a new Ethernet frame
 R3 forwards Ethernet packet out Fa0/0 interface
Step 5 - IP packet arrives at PC2. Frame is decapsulated &
processed by upper layer protocols.

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