Author Topic: dumb question skuzzy... (Read 251 times)

JB73 · « **on:** January 13, 2005, 08:39:48 PM »

can the router tables for a router get too big?

is that a possibility that the internet is getting just too big for current routers to handle?

Skuzzy · « **Reply #1 on:** January 13, 2005, 09:04:56 PM »

I take it you are talking about carrier class routers and not personal routers.

Only if they are mismanaged. Carrier class routers can be expanded to accomodate the tables, but the default amount of ram they come with is usually sufficient, as they do not need to carry all the routes for every IP address.

JB73 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 13, 2005, 09:08:15 PM »

yeah carrier routers.

i know the table is only a text file type thing, but i was thinking, with all the routers and new ISP's, and new subscribers what if looking up through a huge table takes too long, and slows down a conection.

i guess my thought is just a therotical one (pardon the oclub pun LOL).

someday there may not be enough routers, and they can not sort through the traffic fast enough is all.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #3 on:** January 14, 2005, 07:03:17 AM »

It actually depends on the router. Some have hardware driven tables which take the same lookup time for any route, while others are software based, but are still very fast due to extensive use of hash tables.
IPv4 has a fixed size, which all carrier class routers can deal with.