What is Routing?
Routing refers to the process of directing a data packet from one node to another. It is an autonomous process handled by the network devices to direct a data packet to its intended destination. Note that, the node here refers to a network device called – ‘Router‘. Routing is a crucial mechanism that transmits data from one location to another across a network (Network type could be any like LAN, WAN, or MAN). The process of routing involves making various routing decisions to ensure reliable & efficient delivery of the data packet by finding the shortest path using various routing metrics which we will be discussing in this article.
Routing of a data packet is done by analyzing the destination IP Address of the packet. Look at the below image:
- Source Node (Sender) sends the data packet on the network, embedding the IP in the header of data packet.
- The nearest router receives the data packet, and based on some metrics, further routes the data packet to other routers.
- Step-2 occurs recursively till the data packet reaches its intended destination.
Note: There are limits to how many hop counts a packet can do if its exceeded, the packet is considered to be lost.
What is Routing?
The process of choosing a path across one or more networks is known as network routing. Any kind of network, including public transit and phone networks, can use the routing principles. Routing chooses the routes along which Internet Protocol (IP) packets get from their source to their destination in packet-switching networks, such as the Internet. Routers are specialized pieces of network hardware that make these judgments about Internet routing.