Routing Algorithms

FLOODING
Flooding is simplest method packet forwarding. When a packet is received routers send it to all the interfaces except
the one on which it was received. This creates too much burden on the network and lots of duplicate packet
wandering in the network.
TTL (Time to Live) can be used to avoid infinite looping of packets. There exists another approach for flooding, which
is called Selective Flooding to reduce the overhead on the network. In this method router does not flood out on all
interfaces, but selective ones.
SHORTEST PATH
Routing decision in networks, are mostly taken on the basis of cost between source and destination. Hop count plays
major role here. Shortest path is technique which uses various algorithms to decide a path with minimum number of
hops.
Common shortest path algorithms are:
Dijkstra's algorithm
Bellman Ford algorithm
Floyd Warshall algorithm

QoS (Quality of Service) refers to a broad collection of networking
technologies and techniques. The goal of QoS is to provide guarantees on the
ability of a network to deliver predictable results. Elements of network
performance within the scope of QoS often include availability
(uptime),bandwidth (throughput), latency (delay), and error rate.
QoS involves prioritization of network traffic. QoS can be targeted at a network
interface, toward a given server or router's performance, or in terms of specific
applications. A network monitoring system must typically be deployed as part of
QoS, to insure that networks are performing at the desired level.
QoS is especially important for the new generation of Internet applications such
asVoIP, video-on-demand and other consumer services. Some core networking
technologies like Ethernet were not designed to support prioritized traffic or
guaranteed performance levels, making it much more difficult to implement QoS
solutions across the Internet.
What Is an Internetwork?
An internetwork is a collection of individual networks, connected by intermediate networking devices, that
functions as a single large network. Internetworking refers to the industry, products, and procedures that
meet the challenge of creating and administering internetworks.
History of Internetworking
The first networks were time-sharing networks that used mainframes and attached terminals. Such
environments were implemented by both IBM's Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and Digital's
network architecture.
Local-area networks (LANs) evolved around the PC revolution. LANs enabled multiple users in a
relatively small geographical area to exchange files and messages, as well as access shared resources
such as file servers and printers.
Wide-area networks (WANs) interconnect LANs with geographically dispersed users to create
connectivity. Some of the technologies used for connecting LANs include T1, T3, ATM, ISDN, ADSL,
Frame Relay, radio links, and others. New methods of connecting dispersed LANs are appearing every
day.
Today, high-speed LANs and switched internetworks are becoming widely used, largely because they
operate at very high speeds and support such high-bandwidth applications as multimedia and
videoconferencing.
Internetworking evolved as a solution to three key problems: isolated LANs, duplication of resources, and
a lack of network management. Isolated LANs made electronic communication between different offices
or departments impossible. Duplication of resources meant that the same hardware and software had to
be supplied to each office or department, as did separate support staff. This lack of network management
meant that no centralized method of managing and troubleshooting networks existed.