The Elements of IPX Routing 5-9
■Hops to Network — Provides the number of routers that must be crossed
to reach the network segment.
■Ticks to Network — Provides an estimate of the time necessary to reach
the destination segment.
■Node — The node address of the router that can forward packets to each
segment. When set to all zeroes, the route is directly connected.
■Aging Timer — The time since the network’s last update.
Figure 5-4 shows a typical example of a routing information table.
Figure 5-4 Routing Table Example
Generating Routes
The routing information table is generated and updated as follows:
■Statically — You manually enter routes, which do not change until you
change them (they do not time out).
■Dynamically — The router uses RIP to exchange information. Routes are
recalculated at regular intervals.
Static Routes. A static route is one you manually configure in the routing
table. Static routes are useful in environments where no routing protocol is
used, or where you want to override some of the routes generated with a
routing protocol. Because static routes do not automatically change in
response to network topology changes, you should only manually configure
a small number of reasonably stable routes.
Dynamic Routes Using RIP. Automated methods of learning routes help
you keep up with a changing network environment, allowing routes to be
reconfigured quickly and reliably. Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP), protocols
that operate within intranetworks, provide this automated method. The
Routing Table
Interface Address Hops Ticks Node Age
1 1 1 1 00-00-00-00-00-00 0
2 45469f30 1 1 00-00-00-00-00-00 0
2 45469f33 2 3 08-00-17-04-33-45 40