How to Differentiate between Static and Dynamic Routing

What is Routing?

Before getting into the differences between static and dynamic routing, let's first look at the explanation of what routing is below.

Routing is very important in the networking world. As mentioned above, routing is the process of transferring data packets from one network to another.

This process can also be understood as the merging of multiple networks to transfer data packets from one network to another.

This is the routing illustration shown by Cloudflare:

Computer A's data packets are sent to computer B through multiple networks. The router will look for the fastest routing path to reach the final destination.

The device that runs the routing process is named router. In addition to sending data packets between networks, routers determine the best path to reach the destination network.

To perform this function, routers use routing tables. The routing table contains information about the existence of several networks, as well as an indication of the paths that data packets can take to reach their destination.

Here is an example of a routing table:

What is the difference between static and dynamic routing?

In a network, there are several types of routing. The most commonly used types of routing are static routing and dynamic routing. To find out more, read the following explanation!

What is Static Routing?

Static routing is the process of configuring network routers using routing tables that are manually configured by the network administrator.

Network administrators will populate each forwarding table entry on each router connected to the network. They must include or remove static routes when the topology changes.

Static routing is the simplest routing arrangement in a computer network. Therefore, the use of static routing is suitable for small-scale internet networks.

Advantages of Static Routing

  • Reduces router CPU performance as processing is distributed to each router.
  • Bandwidth savings as no bandwidth is wasted when exchanging packets.
  • Obtain information from the contents of the routing table during packet exchange.
  • Static routing is more secure.
  • The administrator is free to determine the network path.

Disadvantages of Static Routing

  • The network administrator must know all the information about the connected routers.
  • Small network only.
  • Configuration is more complicated especially if multiple computers are connected.
  • Requires longer setup time.
  • If the path is disconnected, the network stops.

What is Dynamic Routing?

Dynamic routing is a type of router that can automatically generate routing tables based on network traffic and connected routers.

Unlike static routing, dynamic routing has routing protocols that automatically organize routers to communicate with each other by providing information about the network and connections between routers.

This information is used to build and improve routing tables. There are different types of dynamic routing protocols, such as:

  1. Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
  2. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
  3. Internal Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP)
  4. Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)

Advantages of Dynamic Routing

  • Suitable for networks with wider coverage.
  • Faster network configuration.
  • The path is determined automatically by the system.
  • Protects you in case of network failure.
  • When a new network is added, there is no need to configure all routers. Only the routers are connected.

Disadvantages of Dynamic Routing

  • The workload of the router is heavier because it is always updating the IP table.
  • Requires more bandwidth.
  • More RAM is required to determine the best path in case of failure.

Conclusion

Thus the discussion about the difference between static and dynamic routing in a network.

There are many differences between the two types of routers, especially in terms of features, capabilities, and ease of use or access to the router.

Static routing configuration is quite complicated because it is done manually. While dynamic routing is simpler because it can be set automatically.

Currently, the most widely used network hardware is the CISCO router because of its more familiar configuration and the availability of the CISCO Packet Tracer feature, which makes it easier to simulate network usage and you can also use it for learning,

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