3Com 2500 Route goes to a directly connected network, Route was learned using indicated protocol

9-10 CHAPTER 9: ADMINISTERING IP ROUTING

more than one routing table entry matching an address, it uses the most specific route, which is the route with the most bits set in its subnet mask. For example, the route to a subnet within a destination network is more specific than the route to the destination network.

■Routing Metric — This metric specifies the number of networks or subnets through which a packet must pass to reach its destination. This metric is included in RIP updates to allow routers to compare routing information received from different sources.

■Gateway IP Address — This address tells the router how to forward packets whose destination addresses match the route’s IP address and subnet mask. The system forwards such packets to the indicated gateway.

■Status — For each interface, the route provides the status information in Table 9-1.

Table 9-1 Interface Status Information

Status	Description
Direct	Route goes to a directly connected network
Static	Route was statically configured
Learned	Route was learned using indicated protocol
Timing out	Route was learned but is partially timed out
Timed out	Route has timed out and is no longer valid

In addition to the routes to specific destinations, the routing table can contain an additional entry called the default route. The system uses the default route to forward packets that do not match any other routing table entry. You might want to use a default route in place of routes to numerous destinations that all have the same gateway IP address.