Module 9

Basic Router
Troubleshooting
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The Routing Table and show ip route

Command
Routers build routing tables to:
list available routes for forwarding data
select the best path to a destination
show ip route displays routing table information about
all known networks and subnetworks

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Example Routing Table

When RTA receives a packet destined for 192.168.4.46,

it looks for the prefix 192.168.4.0/24 in its table.
RTA then forwards the packet out an interface
(Ethernet0) based on the routing table entry.
If RTA receives a packet destined for 10.3.21.5, it sends
that packet out Serial 0
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Example Routing Table

4 routes directly connected

The router will drop any packet destined for a network
not listed in the routing table
So what do you do with those packets that this router
doesnt have a route to?

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Adding Routes
Static routing
Manually entered by the administrator:
more secure
low processor overhead
have precise control of path selection
Dynamic routing
router learns route from other routers, dynamically

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Gateway of Last Resort

(Default Static Route)
Two ways to statically configure default
routes:
From global configuration mode
ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 [next-hop
interface|exit-interface]
From router configuration mode
ip default network [network number]
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ip default-network

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ip route

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Routing Processes
Remember that the IP source and destination do not
change in the packet, but the MAC addresses do
change.
The packet is forwarded based on the MAC address of
the next hop.
Layer 3 address is always used in routing, but the
MAC address has to change because the data is
framed as it moves out on the data link layer.
Source to destination --- we are always talking about
network addressing
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Route Metrics
Routing protocols use metrics to determine the best
route to a destination.
The metric is a value that measures the desirability of
a route.
The smaller the metric number, the better the path.

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M
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Route Metrics
The more factors that make up a metric, the greater the
flexibility to tailor network operations to meet specific
needs.
By default, IGRP uses the static factors bandwidth and
delay to calculate a metric value (so bandwidth and delay
can actually be entered by the administrator).
IGRP may also be configured to include the dynamic
factors, load and reliability, in the metric calculation.
Remember, IGRP uses the metric
Metric = bandwidth + delay

Be sure to do the Interactive Media Activity in 9.1.6

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Troubleshooting

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Testing by OSI Layers

Layer 1 check obvious first (lights on a NIC)

Broken cables
Disconnected cables
Cables connected to the wrong ports
Intermittent cable connection
Wrong cables used for the task at hand (must use
rollovers, crossover cables, and straight-through
cables correctly)
Transceiver problems
DCE cable problems
DTE cable problems
Devices turned off

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Testing by OSI Layers

Layer 2 errors:
Improperly configured serial interfaces
Improperly configured Ethernet interfaces
Improper encapsulation set (HDLC is default for
serial interfaces)
Improper clockrate settings on serial interfaces
Network interface card (NIC) problems

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Testing by OSI Layers

Layer 3 errors:
Routing protocol not enabled
Wrong routing protocol enabled
Incorrect IP addresses
Incorrect subnet masks

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ping Utility (Layer 3 testing)

Maybe the host isnt available

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Telnet application (Layer 7 testing)

Actually verifies all seven layers of the OSI
If telnet is not working, then that means that there are
upper-layer application layer problems.

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show interfaces serial

Used to discover Layer 1 & Layer 2 problems with the
router
When the line is down, the protocol is always down,
because there is no useable media for the Layer 2 protocol.
If the interface is up and the line protocol is down, a Layer 2
problem exists (no keepalives, no clock rate, encap different)
You would never see serial 0/0 is down, line protocol is up

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show interfaces serial

Interpreting the Show Interfaces Serial Command
One of the most important elements of the show
interfaces serial command output is the display of the
line and data link protocol status.
The line status is triggered by a Carrier Detect signal, and
refers to the physical layer status. However, the line protocol,
triggered by keepalive frames, refers to the data link framing.

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show interfaces serial

Know all
of these!

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show ip protocols
The show ip protocols command shows the following:
Sources of routing updates
The networks being advertised
Update timer values
Ex. If a network is not being included in the routing
updates and should be, an administrator could issue
this command to see which networks are being
advertised

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debug
Be Careful!!!
Debug will give you live, changing information.
Therefore it will use processor time that may disrupt
normal router operation
Especially should not use debug all, but be more
specific, like
debug ip rip (only live info on rip routing ip)
To turn off debug, use undebug all or u all

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