Chapter Two

Router and switch

 Router

• A router is a computer, just like any other computer,

including a PC.
• The router is a layer 3 device that operates on the
network layer.
• It’s primary responsibility is to forward packets
destined for local and remote networks by:
 Determining the best path to send packets
 Forwarding packets toward their destination
 Cont..

• Routers have many of the same hardware and software

components that are found in other computers, including:
 CPU
 ROM
 RAM
 Operating System

• CPU: The CPU executes operating system instructions,

such as system initialization, routing functions, and
network interface control.
 Cont..

 RAM: Similar to other computers, RAM stores the

instructions and data needed to be executed by the CPU.
RAM is used to store:
o Operating system: The IOS is copied into RAM during
bootup.
o Running configuration file: This is the configuration file
that stores the configuration commands that the router’s
IOS is currently using.
o IP routing table: This is the file that stores information
about directly connected and remote networks.
• RAM is volatile memory and loses its contents when the router
is powered down or restarted. For this reason, the router also
contains permanent storage areas such as ROM, flash, and
 Cont..

 ROM: ROM is a form of permanent storage. Router use ROM to

store,
o Bootstrap instructions
o Basic diagnostic software
o Scaled-down version of IOS

 Flash Memory: Flash memory is nonvolatile router memory

that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed.
• Flash is used as permanent storage for the operating
system, IOS.
• In most models of routers, the IOS is permanently stored in
flash memory and copied into RAM during the bootup
process.
 Cont..

 NVRAM: used as a permanent storage for the startup

configuration file (startup-config).
• All configuration changes are stored in the running-config
file in RAM.
• To save those changes in case the router is restarted or
loses power, the running-config file must be copied to
NVRAM, where it is stored as the startup-config file.
• NVRAM retains its contents even when the router is
powered off.
 Router Bootup Process
 There are six major phases in the router bootup
processes;
1. POST: Testing the router hardware
2. Loading the bootstrap program
3. Locating IOS
4. Loading IOS
5. Locating the configuration file
6. Loading the startup configuration file or entering
setup mode
 Cont..
Step 1: Performing the POST
• The POST process is used to test the router hardware. When the
router is powered on, software on the ROM chip conducts the
POST.
• During this self test, the router executes diagnostics from ROM
on several hardware components, including the CPU, RAM, and
NVRAM.

Step 2: Loading the Bootstrap Program

• After the POST, the bootstrap program is copied from ROM into
RAM.
• When the bootstrap program is in RAM, the CPU executes the
instructions in the bootstrap program.
• The main task of the bootstrap program is to locate the IOS and
load it into RAM
 Cont..

Step 3: Locating the IOS

• The bootstrap program is responsible for locating the IOS
and copying it into RAM.
• The IOS is typically stored in flash memory, but it can be
stored in other places such as a TFTP (Trivial File Transfer
Protocol) server.

Step 4: Loading the IOS

• Some of the older routers ran the IOS directly from flash,
but current models copy the IOS into RAM for execution by
the CPU.
• When the IOS begins to load, you might see a string of
pounds signs (#) while the image decompresses.
 Cont..

Step 5: Locating the Configuration File

• After the IOS is loaded, the bootstrap program searches for
the startup configuration file, known as the startup-config
file, in NVRAM.
• This file has the previously saved configuration commands
and parameters, including the following:
o Interface addresses
o Routing information
o Passwords
o Any other configurations saved by the network
administrator
 Cont..

Step 6: Loading the Startup Configuration File or Entering

Setup Mode
• If a startup configuration file is found in NVRAM, the IOS
loads it into RAM as the running-config file and executes
the commands in the file one line at a time.
 Verifying Router Bootup Process

o The show version command can be used to help verify and

troubleshoot some of the basic hardware and software
components of the router.

o The output from the show version command includes

information about the following:
 IOS version
 ROM bootstrap program
 Location of IOS
 CPU and amount of RAM
 Interfaces
 Amount of NVRAM
 Amount of flash
 Configuration register information
 Router Interfaces

1. LAN Interfaces: are interfaces that are used to connect the

router to the LAN, similar to how a PC’s Ethernet network
interface card (NIC) is used to connect the PC to the Ethernet
LAN.
Example: Ethernet and Fast Ethernet interfaces.

2. WAN Interfaces: are interfaces used to connect routers to

external networks, usually over a larger geographical distance.
Example: Serial, ISDN, and Frame Relay interfaces.
 Basic Router Configuration

• When configuring a router, certain basic tasks are

performed, including the following:
o Naming the router
o Setting passwords
o Configuring interfaces
o Configuring a banner
o Saving changes on a router
o Verifying basic configuration and router operations
 Verifying Basic Router Configuration

Verification Action
Command
show running- displays the current running configuration
config that is stored in RAM

show startup- displays the startup configuration file

config stored in NVRAM

Show ip route displays the routing table that IOS is

currently using to choose the best path to
its destination networks

show interfaces displays all the interface configuration

parameters and statistics

show ip interface displays abbreviated interface configuration

brief information, including IP address and
interface status
 Switch Boot Sequence

o A network switch is a multiport network bridge that uses

hardware addresses to process and forward data at the data link
layer (layer 2) of the OSI model.

o Switches forward Ethernet frames based on the destination MAC

address of the frames.

o A LAN switch keeps a table that it uses to determine how to

forward traffic through the switch

o When a switch receives an incoming frame with a MAC address

that is not found in the CAM(Content Address Memory) table, it
floods it to all ports but the one that received the frame.
 Switch Boot Sequence

o Switch Boot Sequence

1. POST
2. Run boot loader software
3. Boot loader does low-level CPU initialization
4. Boot loader initializes the flash file system
5. Boot loader locates and loads a default IOS operating system
software image into memory and hands control of the switch
over to the IOS.
 Basic Switch Management

o To prepare Switch for remote management access the switch

must be configured with an IP address and subnet mask, as
well as the default gateway.
o We can assign IP addresses for SVI which is directly related to
VLAN which are numbered logical groups to which physical
ports can be assigned.
o By default the switch is configured to have the management
of switch controlled through VLAN 1, all ports are assigned to
it.

o For security purpose, it is considered a best practice to use a

VLAN other than VLAN 1.
Switch Basic Configuration
 Remote Access

o Remote access is the ability to get access to a computer or

a network from a remote distance. i.e. using Telnet or SSH
Telnet:
o is a network protocol that allows a user to communicate with a
remote device.
o It is a virtual terminal protocol used mostly by network
administrators to remotely access and manage devices.
o Administrator can access the device by “telnetting” to the IP
address or hostname of a remote device through a Telnet
client software.
o Disadvantages of this protocol is that all data, including
usernames and passwords, is sent in clear text, which is a
potential security risk.
 SSH

o Secure Shell (SSH) is a protocol that provides a secure (encrypted)

command-line based connection to a remote device.
o The key difference between Telnet and SSH is that SSH uses
encryption, which means that all data transmitted over a network is
secure from eavesdropping.
o Like Telnet, a user accessing a remote device must have an SSH
client installed.
o SSH uses TCP port 22 by default.
o NOTE :SSH is the most common way to remotely access a network
devices.
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