“Understanding Dynamic and Static Routing”

In the article “Understanding Dynamic and Static Routing,” Rabo James Bature breaks down routing, a very specific and essential process within the much larger system of networking and information transmission. Routing has great significance outside of a typical information security context, as it has many applications and implementations within the general discipline of computer science. For instance, the process of routing, or a device making a decision regarding the “best” available path, is quite similar to implementing a path-search algorithm in a program. Path-search algorithms, which determine a “best” available path from a source node to a destination node based on specified metrics, have several applications in everyday situations. These include examples such as generating directions from a GPS, finding the best connecting flight prices from a start to an end point, and a special genre of problem known as the knapsack problem, in which the best available path, or set of elements, minimizes one value while maximizing another. Routing, however, is one instance of path searching in which the best path for the information to take from one computer to another is determined by metrics unique to the networking process, such as hop count, delay, bandwidth, and load.

With the use of a routing table, a router is able to forward data packets to a destination IP address associated with the path possessing the best value of distance to the destination network. In a scenario in which two paths are determined to be the “best,” by both a specified metric and administrative distance, the packet can be forwarded by the router through both paths. This technique, known as load balancing, aids in increasing the overall performance and efficiency of the network. Routing can be divided into two main types: dynamic and static routing. In static routing, a network administrator configures the paths/routes into a routing table to be utilized by the router in the routing process. In dynamic routing, the router is able to learn routing information independent of the aid of a network administrator, and with this information it can append the best available route to its routing table. Both routing methods have their strengths and disadvantages; in the case of dynamic routing, the router is able to choose another path in case a primary route becomes unavailable, making it adaptive and suitable to networks that are larger in scale. On the downside however, it is more complex in implementation than static routing, consumes more network resources in comparison, and presents a much larger security risk due to the need for network information to be broadcast in order for routing to be effective. Static routing, on the other hand, is less complex in implementation and easier to maintain, consumes less bandwidth and overall network resources, and it is more secure. However, static routing still has its limitations, including the relative increase in difficulty of configuring routing tables as the network grows in size and complexity, and its proneness to errors in its implementation. Each routing type has its own applications in which it is the best fit for the network configuration, yet many enterprise networks today are utilizing dynamic routing techniques due to its efficiency and variance in routing protocols.