- The TCP/IP Reference Networking Model
- IP Addresses
- Routing: Getting a Packet from Here to There
- Service Ports: The Door to the Programs on Your System
- Packets: IP Network Messages
- Summary
Routing: Getting a Packet from Here to There
Neither a residential site nor a small business is likely to run routing service daemons. In these cases, routing tables are set up statically, by hand. Typically, both kinds of site have a default gateway device, which is the network that interface packets are sent out on when the destination address's route is unknown. The service provider usually provides a single router address, which is the default Internet gateway for the site's local network.
A larger business or educational setting with multiple routers and local networks may or may not run local routing daemons, depending on the size and complexity of their network, and whether or not multiple, alternate routes exist through their local network. Routing daemons are more the province of large, corporate networks, ISPs, metropolitan networks, Access Service Providers, and so forth.