Segment routing, a form of
computer networking
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ma ...
, is a modern variant of
source routing
In computer networking, source routing, also called path addressing, allows a sender of a packet to partially or completely specify the route the packet takes through the network. In contrast, in conventional routing, routers in the network determ ...
that is being developed within th
SPRINGand IPv6 working groups of the
IETF
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster or requirements and a ...
. In a
segment routed network, an ingress node may prepend a
header to
packets that contain a list of segments, which are instructions that are executed on subsequent nodes in the network. These instructions may be forwarding instructions, such as an instruction to forward a packet to a specific destination or interface.
Segment routing works either on top of a
MPLS
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a routing technique in telecommunications networks that directs data from one node to the next based on labels rather than network addresses. Whereas network addresses identify endpoints the labels identif ...
network or on an
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...
network.
In an MPLS network, segments are encoded as MPLS
labels
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...
. Under IPv6, a new header called a Segment Routing Header (SRH) is used. Segments in a SRH are encoded in a list of IPv6 addresses.
See also
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Bang path
UUCP is an acronym of Unix-to-Unix Copy. The term generally refers to a suite of computer programs and protocols allowing remote execution of commands and transfer of files, email and netnews between computers.
A command named is one of the pro ...
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Dynamic Source Routing
Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) is a routing protocol for wireless mesh networks. It is similar to AODV in that it forms a route on-demand when a transmitting node requests one. However, it uses source routing instead of relying on the routing tab ...
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Policy-based routing
In computer networking, policy-based routing (PBR) is a technique used to make routing decisions based on policies set by the network administrator.
When a router receives a packet it normally decides where to forward it based on the destination ...
can also be used to route packets using their source addresses.
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Scalable Source Routing
References
External links
The Segment Routing homepageThe Linux implementation of IPv6 Segment Routing*
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Routing algorithms
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