Lecture#8: Network Layer

Routing & Reporting : Routing Concepts

Switching, Routing, and Wireless Essentials v7.0 (SRWE) Module: 14

8.1.1 Path Determination

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Path Determination
Two Functions of a Router

• When a router receives an IP packet on one interface, it determines which

interface to use to forward the packet to the destination. This is known as routing.

§ The interface that the router uses to forward the packet may be the final destination, or
it may be a network connected to another router that is used to reach the destination
network.
§ Each network that a router connects to typically requires a separate interface, but this
may not always be the case.

• The primary function of a router are to determine the best path to forward
packets based on the information in its routing table, and to forward packets
toward their destination.

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Path Determination
Router Functions Example

The router uses its IP routing

table to determine which path
(route) to use to forward a
packet.

• For example, R1 and R2

will use their respective IP
routing tables to first
determine the best path,
and then forward the
packet.

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Path Determination
Best Path Equals Longest Match
The best path in the routing table is also known as the longest match.

• The routing table contains route entries consisting of a prefix (network address) and
prefix length.
• For there to be a match between the destination IP address of a packet and a route in
the routing table, a minimum number of far-left bits must match between the IP
address of the packet and the route in the routing table.
• The prefix length of the route in the routing table is used to determine the minimum
number of far-left bits that must match.
• The longest match is the route in the routing table that has the greatest number of
far-left matching bits with the destination IP address of the packet. The longest match
is always the preferred route.

Note: The term prefix length will be used to refer to the network portion of both IPv4 and
IPv6 addresses.

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Path Determination
IPv4 Longest Match Example
In the table, an IPv4 packet has the destination IPv4 address 172.16.0.10. The router has
three route entries in its IPv4 routing table that match this packet: 172.16.0.0/12,
172.16.0.0/18, and 172.16.0.0/26. Of the three routes, 172.16.0.0/26 has the longest
match and would be chosen to forward the packet. For any of these routes to be
considered a match there must be at least the number of matching bits indicated by the
subnet mask of the route.
Destination IPv4 Address Address in Binary

172.16.0.10 10101100.00010000.00000000.00001010

Route Entry Prefix/Prefix Length Address in Binary

1 172.16.0.0/12 10101100.00010000.00000000.00001010

2 172.16.0.0/18 10101100.00010000.00000000.00001010

3 172.16.0.0/26 10101100.00010000.00000000.00001010

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Path Determination
IPv6 Longest Match Example
An IPv6 packet has the destination IPv6 address 2001:db8:c000::99. This example shows
three route entries, but only two of them are a valid match, with one of those being the
longest match. The first two route entries have prefix lengths that have the required
number of matching bits as indicated by the prefix length. The third route entry is not a
match because its /64 prefix requires 64 matching bits.

Destination 2001:db8:c000::99/48

Route Entry Prefix/Prefix Length Does it match?

1 2001:db8:c000::/40 Match of 40 bits

2 2001:db8:c000::/48 Match of 48 bits (longest match)

3 2001:db8:c000:5555::/64 Does not match 64 bits

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Path Determination
Build the Routing Table

• Directly Connected Networks: Added to the routing table when a local interface is
configured with an IP address and subnet mask (prefix length) and is active (up and
up).

• Remote Networks: Networks that are not directly connected to the router. Routers
learn about remote networks in two ways:

§ Static Routes - Added to the routing table when a route is manually configured.
§ Dynamic Routes - Added to the routing table when routing protocols dynamically
learn about the remote network.

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Path Determination
Build the Routing Table (cont.)

• Default Route: Specifies a next-hop router to use when the routing table does not
contain a specific route that matches the destination IP address. The default route can
be entered manually as a static route, or learned automatically from a dynamic routing
protocol.

• A default route has a /0 prefix length. This means that no bits need to match the
destination IP address for this route entry to be used. If there are no routes with a
match longer than 0 bits, the default route is used to forward the packet. The default
route is sometimes referred to as a gateway of last resort.

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8.1.2 Packet Forwarding

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Packet Forwarding
Packet Forwarding Decision Process

1) The data link frame with an encapsulated IP packet arrives on the ingress interface.

2) The router examines the destination IP address in the packet header and consults its IP
routing table.
3) The router finds the longest matching prefix in the routing table.

4) The router encapsulates the packet in a

data link frame and forwards it out the
egress interface. The destination could
be a device connected to the network or
a next-hop router.
5) However, if there is no matching route
entry the packet is dropped.

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Packet Forwarding
Packet Forwarding Decision Process (Cont.)
After a router has determined the best path, it could do the following:

1) Forward the Packet to a Device on a Directly Connected Network

• If the route entry indicates that the egress interface is a directly connected
network, the packet can be forwarded directly to the destination device. Typically
this is an Ethernet LAN.
• To encapsulate the packet in the Ethernet frame, the router needs to determine
the destination MAC address associated with the destination IP address of the
packet. The process varies based on whether the packet is an IPv4 or IPv6
packet.

2) Forward the Packet to a Next-Hop Router

• If the route entry indicates that the destination IP address is on a remote network,

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Packet Forwarding
Packet Forwarding Decision Process (Cont.)
meaning a device on network that is not directly connected. The packet must be
forwarded to the next-hop router. The next-hop address is indicated in the route
entry.

• If the forwarding router and the next-hop router are on an Ethernet network, a
similar process (ARP and ICMPv6 Neighbor Discovery) will occur for determining
the destination MAC address of the packet as described previously. The
difference is that the router will search for the IP address of the next-hop router in
its ARP table or neighbor cache, instead of the destination IP address of the
packet.

3) Drop the Packet - No Match in Routing Table

• If there is no match between the destination IP address and a prefix in the routing
table, and if there is no default route, the packet will be dropped

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Packet Forwarding
End-to-End Packet Forwarding Just Definition

• The primary responsibility of the packet forwarding function is to encapsulate

packets in the appropriate data link frame type for the outgoing interface.

§ For example, the data link frame format for a serial link could be Point-to-Point (PPP)
protocol, High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC) protocol, or some other Layer 2 protocol.
§ The more efficiently a router can perform this task, the faster packets can be forwarded
by the router.

• Routers support the following three packet forwarding mechanisms:

§ Process switching
§ Fast switching
§ Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF)

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Packet Forwarding
Packet Forwarding Mechanisms (Cont.)
Process Switching : An older packet forwarding mechanism still available for Cisco
routers.

When a packet arrives on an interface,

• it is forwarded to the control plane where the
CPU matches the destination address with an
entry in its routing table, and
• then determines the exit interface and
forwards the packet.

It is important to understand that the router does this for every packet, even if the
destination is the same for a stream of packets.

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Packet Forwarding
Packet Forwarding Mechanisms (Cont.)
Fast Switching : Another, older packet forwarding mechanism which is the successor
to process switching. Fast switching uses a fast-switching cache to store next-hop
information.

When a packet arrives on an interface,

• It is forwarded to the control plane where the
CPU searches for a match in the fast-
switching cache.
• If it is not there, it is process-switched and
forwarded to the exit interface.

The flow information for the packet is then stored in the fast-switching cache. If
another packet going to the same destination arrives on an interface, the next-hop
information in the cache is re-used without CPU intervention.

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Packet Forwarding
Packet Forwarding Mechanisms (Cont.)
Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF) : The most recent and default Cisco IOS packet-
forwarding mechanism. CEF builds a Forwarding Information Base (FIB), and an
adjacency table.

• The table entries are not packet-triggered like

fast switching but change-triggered, such as
when something changes in the network
topology.

• When a network has converged, the FIB and

adjacency tables contain all the information
that a router would have to consider when
forwarding a packet.

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8.1.3 IP Routing Table

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IP Routing Table
Route Sources
A routing table contains a list of routes to known networks (prefixes and prefix lengths).
The source of this information is derived from the following:
• Directly connected networks
• Static routes
• Dynamic routing protocols

The source for each route in the routing table is identified by a code. Common codes
include the following:
• L - Identifies the address assigned to a router interface.
• C - Identifies a directly connected network.
• S - Identifies a static route created to reach a specific network.
• O - Identifies a dynamically learned network from another router using the OSPF routing protocol.
• * - This route is a candidate for a default route.

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IP Routing Table
Routing Table Principles
There are three routing table principles as described in the table. These are issues that
are addressed by the proper configuration of dynamic routing protocols or static routes
on all the routers between the source and destination devices.

Routing Table Principle Example

Every router makes its decision alone, •R1 can only forward packets using its own routing table.
based on the information it has in its own •R1 does not know what routes are in the routing tables of other routers
routing table. (e.g., R2).
The information in a routing table of one Just because R1 has route in its routing table to a network in the
router does not necessarily match the internet via R2, that does not mean that R2 knows about that same
routing table of another router. network.
R1 receives a packet with the destination IP address of PC1 and the
source IP address of PC3. Just because R1 knows to forward the
Routing information about a path does not
packet out its G0/0/0 interface, doesn’t necessarily mean that it knows
provide return routing information.
how to forward packets originating from PC1 back to the remote
network of PC3

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IP Routing Table
Routing Table Entries
In the figure, the numbers identify the following information:
• Route source - This identifies how the route was learned.
• Destination network (prefix and prefix length) - This
identifies the address of the remote network.
• Administrative distance - This identifies the trustworthiness of
the route source. Lower values indicate preferred route source.
• Metric - This identifies the value assigned to reach the remote
network. Lower values indicate preferred routes.
• Next-hop - This identifies the IP address of the next router to
which the packet would be forwarded.
• Route timestamp - This identifies how much time has passed
since the route was learned.
• Exit interface - This identifies the egress interface to use for
outgoing packets to reach their final destination.

Note: The prefix length of the destination network specifies the minimum number of far-left bits that must
match between the IP address of the packet and the destination network (prefix) for this route to be used.

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IP Routing Table
Directly Connected Networks
To learn about any remote networks, the router must have at least one active interface
configured with an IP address and subnet mask (prefix length). This is known as a
directly connected network or a directly connected route.

Routers add a directly connected route to its routing table when an interface is configured
with an IP address and is activated.
• A directly connected network is denoted by a status code of C in the routing table. The route
contains a network prefix and prefix length.
• The routing table also contains a local route for each of its directly connected networks,
indicated by the status code of L.
• For IPv4 local routes the prefix length is /32 and for IPv6 local routes the prefix length is
/128. This means the destination IP address of the packet must match all the bits in the
local route for this route to be a match. The purpose of the local route is to efficiently
determine when it receives a packet for the interface instead of a packet that needs to be
forwarded.
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IP Routing Table
Static Routes
After directly connected interfaces are configured and added to the routing table, static or
dynamic routing can be implemented for accessing remote networks. Static routes are
manually configured.
• They define an explicit path between two networking devices.
• They are not automatically updated and must be manually reconfigured if the network
topology changes.

Static routing has three primary uses:

• It provides ease of routing table maintenance in smaller networks that are not expected to
grow significantly.
• It uses a single default route to represent a path to any network that does not have a more
specific match with another route in the routing table. Default routes are used to send
traffic to any destination beyond the next upstream router.
• It routes to and from stub networks. A stub network is a network accessed by a single route,
and the router has only one neighbor.

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IP Routing Table
Static Routes in the IP Routing Table

The topology in the figure is simplified to show only one LAN attached to each router.
The figure shows IPv4 and IPv6 static routes configured on R1 to reach the
10.0.4.0/24 and 2001:db8:acad:4::/64 networks on R2.

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IP Routing Table
Dynamic Routing Protocols

Dynamic routing protocols are used by routers to automatically share information

about the reachability and status of remote networks.

Dynamic routing protocols

perform several activities,
including

• network discovery and

• maintaining routing
tables

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IP Routing Table
Dynamic Routes in the Routing Table
OSPF is now being used in our sample topology to dynamically learn all the networks
connected to R1 and R2. The routing table entries use the status code of O to indicate the
route was learned by the OSPF routing protocol. Both entries also include the IP address
of the next-hop router, via ip-address.
Note: IPv6 routing protocols use the link-local address of the next-hop router.
Note: OSPF routing configuration for IPv4 and IPv6 is beyond the scope of this course.
R1# show ip route
Codes: L - local, C - connected, S - static, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP D - EIGRP,
EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
(output omitted for brevity)
O 10.0.4.0/24 [110/50] via 10.0.3.2, 00:24:22, Serial0/1/1
O 10.0.5.0/24 [110/50] via 10.0.3.2, 00:24:15, Serial0/1/1
R1# show ipv6 route
IPv6 Routing Table - default - 10 entries
(Output omitted)
NDr - Redirect, RL - RPL, O - OSPF Intra, OI - OSPF Inter
O 2001:DB8:ACAD:4::/64 [110/50]
via FE80::2:C, Serial0/1/1
O 2001:DB8:ACAD:5::/64 [110/50]
via FE80::2:C, Serial0/1/1
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IP Routing Table
Default Route
The default route specifies a next-hop router to use when the routing table does not
contain a specific route that matches the destination IP address.

• A default route can be either a static

route or learned automatically from a
dynamic routing protocol.

• A default route has an IPv4 route

entry of 0.0.0.0/0 or an IPv6 route
entry of ::/0. This means that zero or
no bits need to match between the
destination IP address and the
default route.

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IP Routing Table
Structure of an IPv4 Routing Table
IPv4 was standardized using the now obsolete classful addressing architecture. The
IPv4 routing table is organized using this same classful structure.

Although the lookup process no longer uses classes, the structure of the IPv4 routing
table still retains in this format.

• An indented entry is known as a child route. A route entry is indented if it is the subnet of a
classful address (class A, B or C network).
• Directly connected networks will always be indented (child routes) because the local
address of the interface is always entered in the routing table as a /32.
• The child route will include the route source and all the forwarding information such as the
next-hop address. The classful network address of this subnet will be shown above the route
entry, less indented, and without a source code. That route is known as a parent route.

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IP Routing Table
Structure of an IPv4 Routing Table

• An indented entry is known as a child route. A Router# show ip route

route entry is indented if it is the subnet of a classful (Output omitted)
address (class A, B or C network). 192.168.1.0/24 is variably..
C 192.168.1.0/24 is direct..
• Directly connected networks will always be indented
L 192.168.1.1/32 is direct..
(child routes) because the local address of the O 192.168.2.0/24 [110/65]..
interface is always entered in the routing table as a O 192.168.3.0/24 [110/65]..
/32. 192.168.12.0/24 is variab..
C 192.168.12.0/30 is direct..
• The child route will include the route source and all
L 192.168.12.1/32 is direct..
the forwarding information such as the next-hop 192.168.13.0/24 is variably..
address. C 192.168.13.0/30 is direct..
• The classful network address of this subnet will be L 192.168.13.1/32 is direct..
shown above the route entry, less indented, and 192.168.23.0/30 is subnette..
O 192.168.23.0/30 [110/128]..
without a source code. That route is known as a
Router#
parent route.

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IP Routing Table
Structure of an IPv6 Routing Table
R1# show ipv6 route
(output omitted for brevity)
The concept of classful OE2 ::/0 [110/1], tag 2
via FE80::2:C, Serial0/0/1
addressing was never C 2001:DB8:ACAD:1::/64 [0/0]
part of IPv6, so the via GigabitEthernet0/0/0, directly connected
L 2001:DB8:ACAD:1::1/128 [0/0]
structure of an IPv6 via GigabitEthernet0/0/0, receive
routing table is very C 2001:DB8:ACAD:2::/64 [0/0]
straight forward. Every via GigabitEthernet0/0/1, directly connected
L 2001:DB8:ACAD:2::1/128 [0/0]
IPv6 route entry is via GigabitEthernet0/0/1, receive
formatted and aligned C 2001:DB8:ACAD:3::/64 [0/0]
via Serial0/1/1, directly connected
the same way. L 2001:DB8:ACAD:3::1/128 [0/0]
via Serial0/1/1, receive
O 2001:DB8:ACAD:4::/64 [110/50]
via FE80::2:C, Serial0/1/1
O 2001:DB8:ACAD:5::/64 [110/50]
via FE80::2:C, Serial0/1/1
L FF00::/8 [0/0]
via Null0, receive
R1#
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IP Routing Table
Administrative Distance
A route entry for a specific network address (prefix and prefix length) can only appear
once in the routing table. However, it is possible that the routing table learns about the
same network address from more than one routing source. Except for very specific
circumstances, only one dynamic routing protocol should be implemented on a router.
Each routing protocol may decide on a different path to reach the destination based on
the metric of that routing protocol.

This raises a few questions, such as the following:

• How does the router know which source to use?
• Which route should it install in the routing table?

Cisco IOS uses what is known as the administrative distance (AD) to determine the route
to install into the IP routing table. The AD represents the "trustworthiness" of the route.
The lower the AD, the more trustworthy the route source.

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IP Routing Table
Administrative Distance (Cont.)

The table lists various routing Route Source Administrative Distance

protocols and their associated ADs. Directly connected 0
Static route 1
EIGRP summary route 5
External BGP 20
Internal EIGRP 90
OSPF 110
IS-IS 115
RIP 120
External EIGRP 170
Internal BGP 200

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8.1.4 Static and Dynamic Routing

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Static and Dynamic Routing
Static or Dynamic?
Static and dynamic routing are not mutually exclusive. Rather, most networks use a
combination of dynamic routing protocols and static routes.

Static routes are commonly used in the following scenarios:

• As a default route forwarding packets to a service provider
• For routes outside the routing domain and not learned by the dynamic routing protocol
• When the network administrator wants to explicitly define the path for a specific
network
• For routing between stub networks

Static routes are useful for smaller networks with only one path to an outside network.
They also provide security in a larger network for certain types of traffic, or links to other
networks that need more control.

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Static and Dynamic Routing
Static or Dynamic? (Cont.)
Dynamic routing protocols are implemented in any type of network consisting of more
than just a few routers.

• Dynamic routing protocols are scalable and automatically determine better routes if
there is a change in the topology.

Dynamic routing protocols are commonly used in the following scenarios:

• In networks consisting of more than just a few routers
• When a change in the network topology requires the network to automatically determine another
path
• For scalability. As the network grows, the dynamic routing protocol automatically learns about any
new networks.

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Static and Dynamic Routing Important
Static or Dynamic? (Cont.)
The table shows a comparison of some the differences between dynamic and static
routing.
Feature Dynamic Routing Static Routing

Configuration complexity Independent of network size Increases with network size

Automatically adapts to topology Administrator intervention
Topology changes
changes required
Suitable for simple to complex
Scalability Suitable for simple topologies
network topologies
Security Security must be configured Security is inherent
Uses CPU, memory, and link
Resource Usage No additional resources needed
bandwidth
Route depends on topology and Explicitly defined by the
Path Predictability
routing protocol used administrator

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Static and Dynamic Routing
Dynamic Routing Evolution
Dynamic routing protocols have been used in networks since the late 1980s. One of the
first routing protocols was RIP. RIPv1 was released in 1988, but some of the basic
algorithms within the protocol were used on the Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network (ARPANET) as early as 1969. As networks evolved and became more complex,
new routing protocols emerged.

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Static and Dynamic Routing
Dynamic Routing Evolution (Cont.)
The table classifies the current routing protocols. Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs) are
routing protocols used to exchange routing information within a routing domain
administered by a single organization. There is only one EGP and it is BGP. BGP is used
to exchange routing information between different organizations, known as autonomous
systems (AS). BGP is used by ISPs to route packets over the internet. Distance vector,
link-state, and path vector routing protocols refer to the type of routing algorithm used to
determine best path.

Interior Gateway Protocols Exterior Gateway

Protocols
Distance Vector Link-State Path Vector

IPv4 RIPv2 EIGRP OSPFv2 IS-IS BGP-4

IPv6 RIPng EIGRP for OSPFv3 IS-IS for BGP-MP

IPv6 IPv6

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Static and Dynamic Routing
Dynamic Routing Protocol Concepts

A routing protocol is a set of processes, algorithms, and messages that are used to
exchange routing information and populate the routing table with the choice of best
paths.

The purpose of dynamic routing protocols includes the following:

• Discovery of remote networks

• Maintaining up-to-date routing information
• Choosing the best path to destination networks
• Find a new best path if the current path is no longer available

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Static and Dynamic Routing
Dynamic Routing Protocol Concepts (Cont.)
The main components of dynamic routing protocols include the following:

• Data structures - Routing protocols typically use tables or databases for their operations.
This information is kept in RAM.
• Routing protocol messages - Routing protocols use various types of messages to
discover neighboring routers, exchange routing information, and other tasks to learn and
maintain accurate information about the network.
• Algorithm - An algorithm is a finite list of steps used to accomplish a task. Routing
protocols use algorithms for facilitating routing information and for the best path
determination.

Routing protocols determine the best path, or route, to each network. That route is then
offered to the routing table. The route will be installed in the routing table if there is not
another routing source with a lower AD.

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Static and Dynamic Routing
Best Path
The best path is selected by a routing protocol based on the value or metric it uses to
determine the distance to reach a network. A metric is the quantitative value used to
measure the distance to a given network. The best path to a network is the path with the
lowest metric.
Dynamic routing protocols typically use their own rules and metrics to build and update
routing tables. The following table lists common dynamic protocols and their metrics.

Routing Protocol Metric

•The metric is “hop count”.
Routing Information Protocol
•Each router along a path adds a hop to the hop count.
(RIP)
•A maximum of 15 hops allowed.
•The metric is “cost” which is the based on the cumulative bandwidth from
Open Shortest Path First
source to destination.
(OSPF)
•Faster links are assigned lower costs compared to slower (higher cost) links.
Enhanced Interior Gateway •It calculates a metric based on the slowest bandwidth and delay values.
Routing Protocol (EIGRP) •It could also include load and reliability into the metric calculation.

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Static and Dynamic Routing
Load Balancing
When a router has two or more paths to a destination with equal cost metrics, then the
router forwards the packets using both paths equally. This is called equal cost load
balancing.
• The routing table contains the single destination network, but has multiple exit
interfaces, one for each equal cost path. The router forwards packets using the
multiple exit interfaces listed in the routing table.
• If configured correctly, load balancing can increase the effectiveness and performance
of the network.
• Equal cost load balancing is implemented automatically by dynamic routing protocols.
It is enabled with static routes when there are multiple static routes to the same
destination network using different next-hop routers.

Note: Only EIGRP supports unequal cost load balancing.

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Lecture#8: Network Layer
Routing & Reporting : Error Reporting (ICMP)

Introduction to Networks v7.0 (ITN) Module: 13

8.2.1 ICMP Messages

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ICMP Messages
ICMPv4 and ICMPv6 Messages

• Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) provides feedback about issues related
to the processing of IP packets under certain conditions.
§ ICMPv4 is the messaging protocol for IPv4.
§ ICMPv6 is the messaging protocol for IPv6 and includes additional functionality.

• The ICMP messages common to both ICMPv4 and ICMPv6 including:

§ Host reachability, Destination or Service Unreachable, Time exceeded

Note: ICMPv4 messages are not required and are often not allowed within a network for
security reasons.

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ICMP Messages
Host Reachability

ICMP Echo Message can be used to test the reachability of a host on an IP network.

In the example:

• The local host sends an ICMP

Echo Request to a host.

• If the host is available, the

destination host responds with
an Echo Reply.

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ICMP Messages
Destination or Service Unreachable
• An ICMP Destination Unreachable message can be used to notify the source that a
destination or service is unreachable.
• The ICMP message will include a code indicating why the packet could not be delivered.

A few Destination Unreachable A few Destination Unreachable codes

codes for ICMPv4 are : for ICMPv6 are :
• 0 - Net unreachable • 0 - No route to destination
• 1 - Host unreachable • 1 - Communication with the destination is
• 2 - Protocol unreachable administratively prohibited (e.g., firewall)

• 3 - Port unreachable • 2 – Beyond scope of the source address

• 3 - Address unreachable
• 4 - Port unreachable

• Note: ICMPv6 has similar but slightly different codes for Destination Unreachable messages.
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ICMP Messages
Time Exceeded

• When the Time to Live (TTL) field in a packet is decremented to 0, an ICMPv4

Time Exceeded message will be sent to the source host.
• ICMPv6 also sends a Time Exceeded message. Instead of the IPv4 TTL field,
ICMPv6 uses the IPv6 Hop Limit field to determine if the packet has expired.

• Note: Time Exceeded messages are used by the traceroute tool.

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ICMP Messages
ICMPv6 Messages

ICMPv6 has new features and improved functionality not found in ICMPv4, including four
new protocols as part of the Neighbor Discovery Protocol (ND or NDP).

Messaging between an IPv6 router and an Messaging between IPv6 devices, including
IPv6 device, including dynamic address duplicate address detection and address
allocation are as follows: resolution are as follows:
• Router Solicitation (RS) message • Neighbor Solicitation (NS) message
• Router Advertisement (RA) message • Neighbor Advertisement (NA) message

Note: ICMPv6 ND also includes the redirect message, which has a similar function to the
redirect message used in ICMPv4.

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ICMP Messages
ICMPv6 Messages (Cont.)

• RA messages are sent by IPv6-enabled routers every 200 seconds to provide

addressing information to IPv6-enabled hosts.

• RA message can include addressing

information for the host such as the
prefix, prefix length, DNS address, and
domain name.
• A host using Stateless Address
Autoconfiguration (SLAAC) will set its
default gateway to the link-local
address of the router that sent the RA.

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ICMP Messages
ICMPv6 Messages (Cont.)

• An IPv6-enabled router will also send out an RA message in response to an RS

message.
• In the figure, PC1 sends a RS message to determine how to receive its IPv6 address
information dynamically.

• R1 replies to the RS with an RA message.

• PC1 sends an RS message, “Hi, I just booted up. Is
there an IPv6 router on the network? I need to know
how to get my IPv6 address information dynamically.”
• R1 replies with an RA message. “Hi all IPv6-enabled
devices. I’m R1 and you can use SLAAC to create
an IPv6 global unicast address. The prefix is
2001:db8:acad:1::/64. By the way, use my link-local
address fe80::1 as your default gateway."

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ICMP Messages
ICMPv6 Messages (Cont.)

• A device assigned a global IPv6 unicast or link-local unicast address, may perform
duplicate address detection (DAD) to ensure that the IPv6 address is unique.

• To check the uniqueness of an address,

the device will send an NS message
with its own IPv6 address as the
targeted IPv6 address .
• If another device on the network has
this address, it will respond with an NA
message notifying to the sending
device that the address is in use.

Note: DAD is not required, but RFC 4861 recommends that DAD is performed on unicast
addresses.

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ICMP Messages
ICMPv6 Messages (Cont.)

• To determine the MAC address for the destination, the device will send an NS
message to the solicited node address.
• The message will include the known (targeted) IPv6 address. The device that has
the targeted IPv6 address will respond with an NA message containing its Ethernet
MAC address.

• In the figure, R1 sends a NS

message to
2001:db8:acad:1::10 asking
for its MAC address.

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8.2.2 Ping and Traceroute Tests

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Ping and Traceroute Tests
Ping – Test Connectivity
• The ping command is an IPv4 and IPv6 testing utility that uses ICMP echo request and
echo reply messages to test connectivity between hosts and provides a summary that
includes the success rate and average round-trip time to the destination.

• If a reply is not received within the

timeout, ping provides a message
indicating that a response was not
received.
• It is common for the first ping to
timeout if address resolution (ARP
or ND) needs to be performed
before sending the ICMP Echo
Request.

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Ping and Traceroute Tests
Ping the Loopback

Ping can be used to test the internal

configuration of IPv4 or IPv6 on the
local host. To do this, ping the local
loopback address of 127.0.0.1 for
IPv4 (::1 for IPv6).

• A response from 127.0.0.1 for IPv4,

or ::1 for IPv6, indicates that IP is
properly installed on the host.
• An error message indicates that
TCP/IP is not operational on the
host.

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Ping and Traceroute Tests
Ping the Default Gateway

The ping command can be used to test the ability of a host to communicate on the local
network.

The default gateway address is most often

used because the router is normally always
operational.
• A successful ping to the default gateway
indicates that the host and the router
interface serving as the default gateway
are both operational on the local network.
• If the default gateway address does not
respond, a ping can be sent to the IP
address of another host on the local
network that is known to be operational.

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Ping and Traceroute Tests
Ping a Remote Host

Ping can also be used to test the ability of a local host to communicate across an
internetwork.

• A local host can ping a host on a remote

network. A successful ping across the
internetwork confirms communication on
the local network.

Note: Many network administrators limit or

prohibit the entry of ICMP messages
therefore, the lack of a ping response could
be due to security restrictions.

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Ping and Traceroute Tests
Traceroute – Test the Path
• Traceroute (tracert) is a utility that is used to test the path between two hosts and
provide a list of hops that were successfully reached along that path.
• Traceroute provides round-trip time for each hop along the path and indicates if a
hop fails to respond. An asterisk (*) is used to indicate a lost or unreplied packet.

• This information can be used to

locate a problematic router in
the path or may indicate that the
router is configured not to reply.

• Note: Traceroute makes use of a function of the TTL field in IPv4 and the Hop Limit
field in IPv6 in the Layer 3 headers, along with the ICMP Time Exceeded message.

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Ping and Traceroute Tests
Traceroute – Test the Path (Cont.)

• The first message sent from traceroute will have a TTL field value of 1. This causes
the TTL to time out at the first router. This router then responds with a ICMPv4
Time Exceeded message.

• Traceroute then progressively increments

the TTL field (2, 3, 4...) for each sequence
of messages. This provides the trace with
the address of each hop as the packets
time out further down the path.
• The TTL field continues to be increased
until the destination is reached, or it is
incremented to a predefined maximum.

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Ping and Traceroute Tests
Packet Tracer – Verify IPv4 and IPv6 Addressing
In this Packet Tracer, you will do the following:
• Complete the Addressing Table Documentation

• Test Connectivity Using Ping

• Discover the Path by Tracing the Route

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Ping and Traceroute Tests
Packet Tracer – Use Ping and Traceroute to Test Network
Connectivity
In this Packet Tracer, you will do the following:
• Test and Restore IPv4 Connectivity

• Test and Restore IPv6 Connectivity

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