rOutEr

A router (pronounced /'rautE?r/ in the USA and Canada, pronounced /'ru:tE?r/ in the UK and Ireland, or either pronunciation in Australia) is a networking device whose software and hardware are usually tailored to the tasks of routing and forwarding information. For example, on the Internet, information is directed to various paths by routers.

 

 

 

 

 

A router is defined as a device that selects the best path for a data packet to be sent from one computer network to another. A router is located at any gateway (where one network meets another), and is often included as part of a network switch.

How routers work

Electronic messages sent between computer networks are stored in the router, while it determines all of the possible paths to the destination address. The router then chooses the most expedient route, based on its investigations into the traffic load, distance, number of network points that the packet has to pass through, and cost algorythms between computer networks, before forwarding the packet to the final destination.

Router hardware is a physical device which connects the local area network to the wide area network, it is responsible for routing network traffic from source to destination. These routers run on layer routing protocols and operate on network layer information.

Router Software

Router softwares are used to determine the packet point to point switching, software routers contain a header and a footer and are used to determine each path on the LAN which is taken.

 

The Function of an Internet Router

All of these networks rely on NAPs, backbones and routers to talk to each other. What is incredible about this process is that a message can leave one computer and travel halfway across the world through several different networks and arrive at another computer in a fraction of a second!

The routers determine where to send information from one computer to another. Routers are specialized computers that send your messages and those of every other Internet user speeding to their destinations along thousands of pathways. A router has two separate, but related, jobs:

• It ensures that information doesn't go where it's not needed. This is crucial for keeping large volumes of data from clogging the connections of "innocent bystanders."
• It makes sure that information does make it to the intended destination.

In performing these two jobs, a router is extremely useful in dealing with two separate computer networks. It joins the two networks, passing information from one to the other. It also protects the networks from one another, preventing the traffic on one from unnecessarily spilling over to the other. Regardless of how many networks are attached, the basic operation and function of the router remains the same. Since the Internet is one huge network made up of tens of thousands of smaller networks, its use of routers is an absolute necessity. For more information, read How Routers Work.

 

Purpose and motivation

The intention with this project is to study the functions, architectures and implementations of network nodes. The rapid increase in optical link capacity causes routers in today's communication networks to be bottlenecks. Also, networks are integrating different types of services, such as voice, video, VPN, VLAN, and ordinary best-effort data traffic. This puts high demands on the router's ability to classify and modify the traffic. Other problems for router designers are the rapidly increasing size of routing tables and the need to support new and enhanced network protocols. Thus, the sheer scaling of the Internet with respect to service offering, address space and traffic volumes is enough to motive the research on faster and flexible router architectures.