Netgear FVX538 FVX538 Reference Manual - Page 182
What is a Router?, Routing Information Protocol, IP Addresses and the Internet
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Reference Manual for the ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 FVX538 What is a Router? A router is a device that forwards traffic between networks based on network layer information in the data and on routing tables maintained by the router. In these routing tables, a router builds up a logical picture of the overall network by gathering and exchanging information with other routers in the network. Using this information, the router chooses the best path for forwarding network traffic. Routers vary in performance and scale, number of routing protocols supported, and types of physical WAN connection they support. The FVX538 ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 is a small office router that routes the IP protocol over a single-user broadband connection. Routing Information Protocol One of the protocols used by a router to build and maintain a picture of the network is the Routing Information Protocol (RIP). Using RIP, routers periodically update one another and check for changes to add to the routing table. The FVX538 VPN firewall supports both the older RIP-1 and the newer RIP-2 protocols. Among other improvements, RIP-2 supports subnet and multicast protocols. RIP is not required for most home applications. IP Addresses and the Internet Because TCP/IP networks are interconnected across the world, every machine on the Internet must have a unique address to make sure that transmitted data reaches the correct destination. Blocks of addresses are assigned to organizations by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Individual users and small organizations may obtain their addresses either from the IANA or from an Internet service provider (ISP). You can contact IANA at www.iana.org. The Internet Protocol (IP) uses a 32-bit address structure. The address is usually written in dot notation (also called dotted-decimal notation), in which each group of eight bits is written in decimal form, separated by decimal points. For example, the following binary address: 11000011 00100010 00001100 00000111 is normally written as: 195.34.12.7 B-2 Network, Routing, Firewall, and Basics January 2005