Routing Tables Explained

This document is designed to help those candidates who are preparing for the Cisco
CCIE® Routing and Switching lab exam. The following topics are discussed:

1. Routing table structure

2. The routing table lookup process

3. Routing behavior in routed networks

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1. Routing Table Structure

„ Routing table entries come from the following sources :

— Directly connected networks
— Static routes
— Dynamic routing protocols

A Cisco IP routing table is a hierarchical structure, which speeds up the lookup process.

Level 1 routes have a subnet mask equal to or less than the classful mask of the network
addresses. It can be a default route, supernet route, or network route.

„ An ultimate route includes either a next-hop address or an exit interface.

„ A parent route is a level 1 route. A parent route does not contain a next-hop IP address or
any exit interface information. A parent route occurs any time a subnet is added to the
routing table.

„ Child routes are level 2 routes.

— They are a subnet of a classful network address.
— They contain the route source and the network address of the route.
— They are also considered ultimate routes.

„ In classful networks, both child routes have the same subnet mask.

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 „ In Classless networks, child routes do not have to share the same subnet mask

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 „ The following table compares classful with classless networks.

The Term Variably

Subnetted Is Seen
in Parent Route in Includes the Subnet Mask Is
Parent Route Routing Table Number of Included with Each
Classful Mask Is Different Masks of Child Route Entry
Network Type Displayed Child Routes
Classful No No No No

Classless Yes Yes Yes Yes

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2. The Routing Table Lookup Process

„ The router examines level 1 routes.

— If the best match is a level 1 ultimate route and is not a parent route, this route is
used to forward the packet.

„ The router examines level 2 (child) routes.

— If there is a match with a level 2 child route, that subnet is used to forward the
packet.
— If there is no match, determine the routing behavior type.

„ The router determines classful or classless routing behavior.

— If classful, the packet is dropped.
— If classless, the router searches for a level 1 supernet and default routes.
— If there is a level 1 supernet or default route match, the packet is forwarded. If not,
the packet is dropped.

„ The router examines the longest match: level 1 network routes.

— The best match is also known as the longest match.
— The best match is the match that has the greatest number of leftmost bits matching
between the destination IP address and the route in the routing table.

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3. Routing Behavior in a Routed Network

„ Classful routing behavior: The command no IP classless had been configured in the router.

What happens if there is no match with any level 2 child routes of the parent?

„ The router must determine if the routing behavior is classless or classful.

— If the router is utilizing classful routing behavior, the lookup process is terminated
and the packet is dropped.

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The following diagram is an example of when classful routing behavior is in effect.
The subnet mask of the destination is a /24, and none of the leftmost bits of the child routes
matches the first 24 bits. This means that the packet is dropped.

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 „ Classless routing behavior works for discontiguous networks and classless interdomain
routing (CIDR) supernets.

„ Here is the route lookup process when the IP classless command is configured in the
router.

1) Search level 1 routes for any matches.

2) If there are no matches, search supernet routes for any matches.
3) If there are no matches, search default routes for any matches.
4) If there is no match or no default route, the packet is dropped.

„ The router begins the search process by finding a match between the destination IP and the
parent route.

— After finding the match, the router searches the child route.

It is recommended that you use classless routing behavior, because supernet and default routes
can be used whenever they are needed.

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