| 6.1 |  | Introduction to Static Routing |
| 6.1.1 |  | Introducing routing |

| Routing is the process that a router uses to forward packets toward the destination network. A router makes decisions based upon the destination IP address of a packet. All devices along the way use the destination IP address to point the packet in the correct direction so that the packet eventually arrives at its destination. In order to make the correct decisions, routers must learn the direction to remote networks. When routers use dynamic routing, this information is learned from other routers. When static routing is used, a network administrator configures information about remote networks manually. Because static routes must be configured manually, any network topology changes require the network administrator to add and delete static routes to account for the changes. In a large network this manual maintenance of routing tables could require a tremendous amount of administrative time. On small networks with few possible changes, static routes require very little maintenance. Because of the extra administrative requirements, static routing does not have the scalability of dynamic routing. Even in large networks, static routes that are intended to accomplish a specific purpose are often configured in conjunction with a dynamic routing protocol.
| Web Links Introduction to Routing http://www.cisco.com/networkers/ nw99_pres/301.pdf