35

Policy Routing

This chapter shows you how to configure policy routing rules.

35.1 Policy Route Overview

Traditionally, routing is based on the destination address only and the Switch takes the shortest path to forward a packet. Policy routing provides a mechanism to override the default routing behavior and alter the packet forwarding based on the policy defined by the network administrator. Policy-based routing is applied to incoming packets prior to the normal routing.

Individual routing policies are used as part of the overall policy routing process. A routing policy defines the action to take when a packet meets the criteria in a specified classifier. The action is taken only when all the criteria are met.

35.1.1Benefits

•Source-Based Routing – Network administrators can use policy-based routing to direct traffic from different users through different connections.

•Cost Savings – Policy routing allows organizations to distribute interactive traffic on high-bandwidth, high-cost paths while using low-cost paths for batch traffic.

•Load Sharing – Network administrators can use policy routing to distribute traffic among multiple paths.

 

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XGS-4526/4528F/4728F User’s Guide