Biology Forums - Study Force

Describe the process of routing packets in a network.

As an individual packet travels from one network to another, the computers through which the packet travels determine the most efficient route for getting the packet to its destination. The most efficient route changes from second to second, depending on how much traffic each computer on the Internet is handling at each moment. The computers that decide how to best forward each packet are called routing computers, router computers, routers, gateway computers (because they act as the gateway from a LAN or WAN to the Internet), border routers, or edge routers (because they are located at the border between the organization and the Internet or at the edge of the organization.) The programs on the routers that determine the best path on which to send each packet contain rules called routing algorithms. The programs apply these algorithms to information they have stored in routing tables or configuration tables. This information includes lists of connections that lead to particular groups of other routers, rules that specify which connection to use first, and rules for handling instances of heavy packet traffic and network congestion.