Topology Distribution
In a practice known as static routing (or non-adaptive routing), small networks may use manually configured routing tables. Larger networks have complex topologies that can change rapidly, making the manual construction of routing tables unfeasible. Nevertheless, most of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) uses pre-computed routing tables, with fallback routes if the most direct route becomes blocked (see routing in the PSTN). Adaptive routing, or dynamic routing, attempts to solve this problem by constructing routing tables automatically, based on information carried by routing protocols, and allowing the network to act nearly autonomously in avoiding network failures and blockages.
Examples of adaptive-routing algorithms are the Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and the Open-Shortest-Path-First protocol (OSPF). Adaptive routing dominates the Internet. However, the configuration of the routing protocols often requires a skilled touch; networking technology has not developed to the point of the complete automation of routing.
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