Chapter 11. Understanding Routers and Routing

This chapter covers the following topics:

  • Routing Components

  • Routing Algorithms

  • Network Protocols

Routing is the process of moving information across an internetwork from source to destination. Routers are network devices using routing protocols to make decisions regarding where to send network traffic. Routing differs from bridging in the way in which the path determination is made. Although routing and bridging both move traffic across a network, bridging occurs at the data-link layer (OSI Layer 2), whereas routing occurs at the network layer (OSI Layer 3).

Routing Components

Routing involves two functions: determining the best routing path, and transporting data traffic in the form of packets across the ...

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