Routing and Routing Protocols

Source: Feleke Merin (Dr. – Engr.)

Senior Asst. Professor
 Objectives
After reading this chapter and completing the exercises, you
will be able to:
 Identify a router as a computer with an OS and hardware

designed for the routing process.

 List down the Information contained in Routing tables

 Describe the role of static and dynamic routing protocols

 Describe the functions, characteristics, and operation of the

RIPv1 protocol.

2 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 What is a Router?
 Multiport connectivity device
 Forwards packets destined for local
and remote networks
 Integrates LANs and WANs
 Running at different transmission speeds, using variety of protocols

3 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 What is a Router?(contd.)
 Operate at Network layer (Layer 3)

 Directs data from one segment or network to another

 Logical addressing

 Protocol dependent

 Slower than switches and bridges

 Need to interpret Layers 3 and higher information

4 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 What is a Router?(contd.)
 Intelligence
 Tracks node location (using its routing table)
 Determine shortest, fastest path between

two nodes
 Connects dissimilar network types

5 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 What is a Router?(contd.)
 Routing table include:
 Network addresses for directly connected networks,

 as well as network addresses for remote networks

 A remote network is a network that can only be reached by forwarding the

packet to another router

6 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

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

7 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 How Routers forward network data
Routers can forward network data by using:
Static routing or
Dynamic routing

 Static routing
 Administrator programs specific paths between nodes

 Dynamic routing
 Router automatically calculates best path between two nodes
 Routing table

8 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Routers common hardware Components
 Router components are
CPU (Central Processing Unit)

 RAM (Random access memory)

 ROM (Read-only memory)

 Flash memory

 NVRAM (Non-volatile RAM)

9 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Router components and their functions
 CPU
- Executes operating system instructions, such as system initialization,
routing functions, and network interface control.
 ROM (uses firmware, which is software embedded inside integrated circuit)
 ROM is a form of permanent storage.
 Cisco devices use ROM to store
• Bootstrap instructions
• Basic diagnostic software
• Scaled-down version of IOS (Ineternetwork Operating System)
 Flash memory: Used for permanent storage for the operating system
 NVRAM
• Is used by Cisco IOS Software as permanent storage for the startup
configuration file (startup-config).
Note: All configuration changes are stored in the running-config file
in RAM.

10 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Router components and their functions
 RAM (Random access memory)
– stores the instructions and data needed to be executed by the CPU.
 RAM is also used to store:
 Operating system (copied into RAM during bootup)
 Running configuration files: this is the configuration file that stores the
configuration commands that the router’s
IOS is currently using
 IP routing table: This is the file that stores information about directly
connected and remote networks.
 ARP cache: This cache stores IP addresstoMAC address mapping ,
similar to the ARP cache on a PC.
ARP cache would be used on routers that have Ethernet
interfaces.
 Packet buffering: Packets are temporarily stored in a buffer when
received on an Interface or before they exit an
interface.

11 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Router Interfaces
Two major groups of Router Interfaces
 LAN Interfaces:
 WAN Interfaces

12 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Router Interfaces (contd.)
 Two major groups of Router Interfaces
 LAN Interfaces:
 Are used to connect router to LAN
 Has a layer 2 MAC address
 Can be assigned a Layer 3 IP address
 Usually consist of an RJ-45 jack

 WAN Interfaces
 Are used to connect routers to external networks that interconnect
LANs.
 Depending on the WAN technology, a layer 2 address may be used.
 Uses a layer 3 IP address

13 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Basic Router Configuration
 A basic router configuration should contain the following:
 Router name - Host name should be unique

 Banner - At a minimum, banner should warn against unauthorized use

 Passwords - Use strong passwords

 Interface configurations - Specify interface type, IP address and subnet

mask. Describe purpose of interface. Issue no shutdown command. If
DCE serial interface issue clock rate command.
 After entering in the basic configuration the f/g tasks should be completed:

 Verify basic configuration and router operations.

 Save the changes on a router

14 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Basic Router Configuration (contd.)
 Verify Basic Router Configuration
 Issue the show running-config command
 Save the basic router configuration by Issuing the copy
running-config startup-config command
 Additional commands that will enable you to further verify
router configuration are:
 Show running-config - Displays configuration currently in RAM

 Show startup-config - Displays configuration file NVRAM

 Show IP route - Displays routing table

 Show interfaces - Displays all interface configurations

 Show IP int brief - Displays abbreviated interface configuration information

15 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 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

16 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 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

17 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Static or Dynamic Routing
 Routers may employ one of two methods for directing data on
the network: static or dynamic routing.
 Static routing is a technique in which a network administrator
configures a routing table to direct messages along specific
paths between networks.
 Static routes are appropriate in certain situations, such as the
static route between a small business and its ISP.
 Static routes used to traverse several networks don’t account
for occasional network congestion, failed connections, or device
moves, and they require human intervention.

18 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Dynamic Routing
 Dynamic routing, automatically calculates the best path
between two networks and accumulates this information
in the routing table.
 If congestion or failures affect the network, a router using
dynamic routing can detect the problems and reroute
messages through a different path.
 By default, when a router is added to a network, dynamic
routing ensures that the new router’s routing tables are
updated.

19 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Pro and cons of static routing
 Advantages of static routing
 It can backup multiple interfaces/networks on a router

 Easy to configure

 No extra resources are needed

 More secure

 Disadvantages of static routing

 Network changes require manual reconfiguration

 Does not scale well in large topologies

20 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 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

21 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Routing Table Structure

22 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 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

23 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Routing Table Structure
 Dynamic routing protocols are used to share routing information
with other router & to maintain and up date their own routing table.

24 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 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

25 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Routing Table Structure
 A routing table can tell how to get to a destination but not how

to get back (This Routing principle is in action, refer fig. below)

 R1 has a route to PC2’s network

26 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Router Paths and Packet Switching
 Internet Protocol (IP) packet format contains fields

that provide information about the packet and the

sending and receiving hosts
 Fields that are importance for network students:
 Destination IP address
 Source IP address
 Version & TTL
 IP header length
 Precedence & type of service
 Packet length

27 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 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

28 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 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.

29 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 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

30 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Dynamic Routing Protocols
 Function(s) of Dynamic Routing Protocols:
 Dynamically share information between routers.
 Automatically update routing table when topology changes.
 Determine best path to a destination.

31 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Dynamic routing protocols

 Dynamic routing protocols for Routing IP packets

are grouped as
 Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP)

 Distance Vector Routing Protocols

 Link State Routing Protocols

 Exterior Gateway Protocols (EGP)

32 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Dynamic routing protocols
Autonomous System is a group of routers under the control of a single authority.

33 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Dynamic routing protocols
 Interior Gateway Routing Protocols (IGP)

 Used for routing inside an autonomous system & used to

route within the individual networks themselves.

 Examples: RIP, RIPv2, IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF, ISIS

 Exterior Routing Protocols (EGP)

 Used for routing between autonomous systems

 Example: BGPv4

34 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Distance Vector vs Link State Routing Protocols

Distance Vector Routing Protocols

 Routes are advertised as vectors of distance &
direction.
 Incomplete view of network topology.
 Generally, periodic updates.

35 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Distance Vector vs Link State Routing Protocols (contd.)

 Distance Vector Routing Protocols - Purpose

 Periodic updates

 Neighbors

 Broadcast updates

 Entire routing table

is included with
routing update

36 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Distance Vector vs Link State Routing Protocols (contd.)

Link State Routing Protocols

 Each router builds its own local topological map , or SPF
tree (SPF means shortest path first),
 Using The SPF tree, each router can independently determine
the shortest path to every network.

 Tend to have a faster convergence time

 Router convergence time
 Time router takes to recognize best path
 Immediate flooding of LSPs achieves faster convergence.
 LSPs means Link state packets

 Do not send periodic updates

 LSPs are sent only when there is a change in the topology and contain
only the information regarding that change
37 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)
 Routing Protocols Metrics
 Metric
 A value used by a routing protocol to determine
which routes are better than others.

38 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Routing Protocols Metrics (contd.)
 Metrics used in IP routing protocols include:
 Hop count: a simple metric
that counts the number of
routers a packet must
traverse.

 Bandwidth: Influences path

selection by preferring the
path with the highest
bandwidth.

39 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Routing Protocols Metrics (contd.)
 Metrics used in IP routing protocols include:
 Load: Considers the traffic utilization of a certain link.

 Delay: Considers the time a packet takes to traverse a path.

 Reliability : Assesses the probability of a link failure,

calculated from the interface error count or previous link

failures

40 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Routing Protocols Metrics (contd.)
 The Metric Field in the Routing Table

 Metric used for each routing protocol are the following:

 RIP - hop count; best path is chosen by the route with the

lowest hop count.

 IGRP & EIGRP - Bandwidth (used by default), Delay (used

by default), Load, Reliability

 IS-IS & OSPF – Cost, Bandwidth (Cisco’s implementation)

41 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Open Shortest Path First protocol
 OSPF (Open Shortest Path First)

Interior or border router use

No hop limit

Complex algorithm for determining best paths

Each OSPF router

 Maintains database containing other routers’ links

42 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Hybrid: EIGRP
Hybrid
 Link-state and distance-vector characteristics
 EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol)
 Cisco network routers only
 EIGRP benefits
 Fast convergence time, low network overhead

 Easier to configure and less CPU-intensive than OSPF

 Supports multiple protocols

 Accommodates very large, heterogeneous networks

43 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Routing Protocols Metrics (contd.)

Metric in Routing
Table can be viewed
using the command:
show ip route

44 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Network discovery
 Router initial start up (Cold Starts)
Initial network discovery
 Directly connected networks are initially placed in routing table

45 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Network discovery (contd.)
- Router checks update for new information
 If there is new information:
- Metric is updated - New information is stored in routing table

46 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 RIPv1
 RIP Characteristics

 A classful, Distance Vector (DV) routing protocol

 Metric = hop count

 Routes with a hop count > 15 are unreachable

 Updates are broadcast every 30 seconds

 Interior routing protocol

 Slow and less secure

47 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 RIPv2
 RIPv2 (Routing Information Protocol Version 2)

Generates less broadcast traffic, more secure

Cannot exceed 15 hops

Less commonly used

48 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Basic RIPv1 Configuration
 A typical topology

suitable for use by

RIPv1 includes:

 Three router set up

 No PCs attached

to LANs

 Use of 5 different

IP subnets

49 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Basic RIPv1 Configuration
To enable RIP enter:
 Router rip at the global configuration prompt

50 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Basic RIPv1 Configuration
 Specifying Networks
– Use the network command to:
 Enable RIP on all interfaces
that belong to this network

51 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Basic RIPv1 Configuration

Use the following

command:
show ip route

52 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

Basic RIPv1 Configuration

 Use Debug ip rip

Command to display RIP

routing updates as

they are happening

53 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

 Review questions
Part I: Descriptive
1. What database does a router consult before determining the most efficient path for delivering a message?

2. Give three examples of routing metrics used by routers to determine the best of various available routing
paths.

3. List three interior gateway protocols (IGPs).

4. What command was used to generate the following output?

Codes: L - local, C - connected, S - static,
[output cut]
10.0.0.0/8 is variably subnetted, 6 subnets, 4 masks
C 10.0.0.0/8 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/3
L 10.0.0.1/32 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/3
C 10.10.0.0/16 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/2
L 10.10.0.1/32 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/2
C 10.10.10.0/24 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/1
L 10.10.10.1/32 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/1
S* 0.0.0.0/0 is directly connected, FastEthernet0/0

54 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.)

Part II: Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is called an advanced distance-vector routing protocol?
a) OSPF b) EIGRP c) BGP d) RIP
2. When a packet is routed across a network, the ____ in the packet changes at every hop while the ____ does not.
a) MAC address, IP address
b) IP address, MAC address
Answer: A. Since the destination MAC address is different at each hop, it
must keep changing. The IP address, which is used for the routing process,
c) Port number, IP address
does not.
d) IP address, port number

3. Which two of the following are true regarding the distance-vector and link-state routing protocols? (Choose two.)
a) Link state sends its complete routing table out of all active interfaces at periodic time intervals.
b) Distance vector sends its complete routing table out of all active interfaces at periodic time intervals.
c) Link state sends updates containing the state of its own links to all routers in the internetwork.
d) Distance vector sends updates containing the state of its own links to all routers in the internetwork.

4. Which of the following is not an advantage of static routing?

a) Less overhead on the router CPU
b) No bandwidth usage between routers
c) Adds security d) Recovers automatically from lost routes

5. Which routing protocol does an exterior router use to collect data to build its routing tables?
a) RIPv2 b) BGP c) OSPF d) IS-IS

55 Source: Feleke Merin (Dr.- Engr.) ========= The End ! =========