MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN, ART

AND

TECHNOLOGY

COMPUTER NETWORK COURSEWORK

Lecturer: MADAM AGATHA TURYAGENDA
Group 14 Members

Name Reg. No Program Signature

IJOOT ANTHONY 23/U/0436 BELE

ANKUNDA PEARL 23/U/0227 BELE

KOBUSINGYE NABLE 23/U/0638 BELE

ANYAKUN YUSUF BELE

 QUESTION ONE
Understanding Routing and WANs
Part 1: Routing
Task 1: Static and dynamic Routing
Compare and contrast static and dynamic routing.
• Definitions of static and dynamic routing.

STATIC ROUTING: Is a method of routing network traffic where network administrators

manually configure the routing table of routers to specify the paths the packets should
take to reach their destinations. It is also called non adaptive routing.

DYNAMIC ROUTING: Is a networking technique where routers exchange routing

information with neighbouring routers to automatically update and adjust their routing
tables.
It was also known as adaptive routing.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STATIC AND DYNAMIC ROUTING

Static routing Dynamic routing

One pre-configured route to destination. Multiple available routes to destination.
Engineers must reconfigure to make route Algorithms automatically update with
changes. preferred route changes.
Smaller routing table with only one entry Routers send out entire routing tables to
for each destination. identify route availability.
It does not use protocols or algorithms for Distance vector algorithms (RIP, IGRIP) and
pre-configured route. link states algorithms (OSPF) adjust routes.
Requires less computation time and Requires more computation and bandwidth.
bandwidth.
It has better security. Theres less security.

It is used in smaller networks with fewer It is used in larger networks and in

routers and unchanging network networks that change frequently.
architecture.

ADVANTAGES OF STATIC ROUTING

1. It causes very little load on the CPU of the router and produces no traffic to other
routers.
2. It leaves the network administrator with full control over the routing behaviour of
the network.
3. It is very easy to configure on small networks.
 DISADVANTAGES OF STATIC ROUTING
1. Human error: In many cases, static routers are manually configured. This increases
the potential for input mistakes. Administrators can make mistakes and mistype in
network information or configure incorrect routing paths by mistake.
2. Fault tolerance: Static routing is not fault tolerant. This means that when there is
a change in the network or failure occurs between two statically defined devices,
traffic will not be re-routed. As a result, the network is unusable until the failure is
repaired.
3. Administrative distance: Static routes typically take precedence over routes
configured with a dynamic routing protocol. This means that static routes may
prevent routing protocols from working as intended.

ADVANTAGES OF DYNAMIC ROUTING

1. They can adapt to network changes automically which is a significant advantage
over static routing that required manual intervention.
2. They offer redundancy meaning they can provide alternative paths incase of link
failure. This feature ensures network reliability and uptime.

DISADVANTAGES OF DYNAMIC ROUTING

1. They consume more resources than static routing making them less suitable for smaller
networks.
2. Network changes such as adding a new device may require reconfiguring the protocols
which can be time consuming.
3. Troubleshooting dynamic routing protocols can be challenging due to their complex
nature.

• Situations where one might be preferred over the other.

• Static routing may be preferred over dynamic routing in the following
situations;

o Simple Networks: Static routing is suitable for small networks with a simple
topology and a limited number of devices. In such environments, the overhead of
configuring and maintaining dynamic routing protocols may not be necessary.
o Security Requirements: In environments where security is a top priority, such as
military networks or highly sensitive corporate networks, static routing can offer
greater control and reduce the risk of unauthorized route changes that dynamic
routing protocols might introduce.
o Predictable Traffic Patterns: If network traffic patterns are relatively stable and
predictable, static routing can provide consistent performance without the need
for dynamic route adjustments. This is often the case in networks where the traffic
flow remains constant over time.
 o Resource Constraints: In situations where network resources, such as bandwidth or
processing power, are limited, static routing can be more efficient because it
requires
o fewer resources than dynamic routing protocols, which involve periodic updates
and computations.
o Isolated Networks: In some scenarios, networks may be intentionally isolated from
external influences, such as the internet or other networks. In such cases, static
routing within the isolated network may be sufficient for communication among
internal devices.
o Cost Considerations: Dynamic routing protocols may require additional hardware
or software licenses to implement and maintain. In environments where
minimizing costs is a priority, static routing can be a more economical choice.

• Dynamic routing may be preferred over static routing in the following

situations;

o Large and Complex Networks: In networks with a large number of devices and
complex topologies, dynamic routing protocols can automatically adapt to changes
in the network, reducing the administrative overhead of manually configuring
routes.
o Dynamic Network Environments: In environments where network conditions
frequently change, such as in mobile networks or cloud environments, dynamic
routing protocols can quickly adjust to changes in topology, link failures, or new
network connections.
o Redundancy and Failover: Dynamic routing protocols can provide built-in
redundancy and failover mechanisms by automatically rerouting traffic in case of
link failures or network outages, ensuring continuous connectivity.
o Load Balancing: Dynamic routing protocols can distribute network traffic across
multiple paths based on factors like link bandwidth and latency, optimizing the use
of available network resources and improving overall network performance.
o Scalability: Dynamic routing protocols are designed to scale well in large networks,
as they can efficiently exchange routing information without requiring manual
intervention, making them suitable for growing networks with evolving
requirements.
o Fault Tolerance: Dynamic routing protocols can detect and avoid routing loops and
other routing anomalies, improving the overall reliability and stability of the
network.
 QUESTION TWO
ROUTING PROTOCOLS
Discuss the PAT and RIP routing protocols.
• An overview of each protocol.

1. Port Address Translation

o This is the type of Network Address Translation that maps multiple private
IP addresses to a single public IP address by using different ports.
o It allows multiple devices within a private network to share a single public
IP address for outgoing traffic by dynamically assigning different port
numbers to each connection.
o It is commonly used in small office networks so as to allow many devices to
connect to the internet using a single public IP address.
o It also assigns unique port numbers to each connection made by the
devices within a local network. This allows multiple devices to share the
same public IP address simultaneously.
o PAT also dynamically assigns unique port numbers to each connection
made by devices within a local area network. This allows multiple devices
to share the same public IP address simultaneously.
o PAT also performs reverse translation, mapping incoming traffic from the
internet to the appropriate private IP address and port number within the
local area network.

2. Routing Information Protocol (RIP)

o It is a distance vector routing protocol. It is usually used in small or
medium sized networks because it is very simple to configure and
maintain but lacks some advanced features of other routing protocols like
OSPF.
o RIP exchanges routing information among routers to determine the best
path the destination networks based on hop count. Hop count is the
number of routers between the source and the destination in a network.
o RIP has a relatively slow convergence compare to modern routing
protocols like OSPF.Convergence is the speed at which routers update
their routing tables in response to the network changes.
o RIP periodically broadcasts routing information to neighbouring routers
sharing details about the networks they can reach and the number of
hops required to reach them.
o Rip routers maintain a routing table that contains information about
reachable networks and their hop counts. Routers change their routing
tables baaed on the information received from neighbouring routers.
 There are two versions of the RIP.
i. RIPv1(RIP version 1): this the original version of the RIP that
supports classful routing and doesn’t include support for variable
length subnet masking and authentication.
ii. RIPv2(RIP version 2): This is an enhanced version of RIP which
supports classless routing, VLSM, and authentication. It provides
greater flexibility and security compared to RIPv1 and can be
found in legacy systems or environments where newer routing
protocols are not supported.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PAT PROTOCOL

1. It maximises the utilization of public IP addresses.
2. It enhances security by hiding internal IP addresses which makes it difficult for
external entities to directly access devices within the local network.
3. It simplifies network management and configuration by reducing the umber of
public IP addresses required and facilitating communication between devices
within the local network and external resources on the internet.

DISADVANTAGES OF THE PAT PROTOCOL

1. PAT has limited scalability .IT is not suitable for large scale networks with a high
number of devices that require simultaneous access to external resources.
2. PAT has a high potential for port exhaustion. When a large number of internal
devices are accessing external resources simultaneously, it may exhaust all the
available port umbers.
3. In PAT some applications that rely on specific port number for communication may
encounter compatibility issues.
4. In networks where PAT is implemented on a single device for example a router,
firewall etc that device becomes a single point of failure. If the device fails, all
internal devices relying on it for internet access lose connectivity.

ADVANTAGES OF RIP ROUTING PROTOCOL

1. RIP is simple. It is easy to configure and implement which makes it suitable for
small or medium sized networks with limited expertise.
2. RIP generates minimal network traffic due to its periodic update mechanism.
3. RIP is supported by a wide range of network devices and operating systems.

DISADVANTAGES OF RIP ROUTING PROTOCOL

1. RIP routers have slow convergence compared to the modern routing protocols
which results in longer network downtime during topology changes.
 2. RIP has limited scalability and size due to its reliance on hop count and its slow
convergence.

• A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TWO PROTOCOLS

Similarities between the protocols.

1. Both protocols have limited scalability and operate with small networks.
2. Both protocols are used in network addressing and routing; PAT addresses by
translating IP addresses and assigning port unique port numbers to each
connection to enable connectivity between public and private networks and RIP
exchanges routing information between neighbouring routers.
3. Both protocols facilitate communication across networks; PAT facilitates
communication between devices within a private network and a public network
and the RIP exchanges routing information and maintains routing tables to
facilitate packet forwarding between routers.

Differences between the protocols.

Port Address Translation Routing Information Protocol
It operates at the Network Address Translation It operates at the routing layer.
in the network layer or transport layer.
It is a NAT technique used to translate private IP It is a routing protocol which exchanges routing
addresses to a single public IP address which information between routers in a network to
enables many devices to share resources within determine the best path to reach the
a private network. destination.
PAT addresses IP address conservation and RIP facilitates routing and forwarding of data
security for internet connectivity within a packets between routers within a network
private network.