Routing And Switching Questions Medium
The purpose of routing tables in a router is to store and manage information about the available network paths and determine the best path for forwarding data packets to their destination. Routing tables contain a list of network addresses, associated with their corresponding next-hop routers or interfaces. These tables are used by the router's routing protocols to make decisions on how to efficiently route traffic across interconnected networks. By analyzing the destination IP address of incoming packets, the router consults its routing table to determine the appropriate next-hop router or interface to forward the packet towards its destination. Routing tables are crucial for routers to make intelligent routing decisions, optimize network performance, and ensure efficient data transmission across complex networks.