Benefits of routing over a broadcast style of communication
A network that uses a broadcast style of communication, or multicast, is capable of sending a stream of data to all devices on the network. This type of networking can save you money and improve performance on your network.
Broadcast networks can be a great way to deliver streaming media, live video or other high-bandwidth content over the internet. It is also an excellent choice for network management systems that need to send information over a large number of devices at once.
The downside to broadcast is that it is a group communication, meaning it can use up a lot of network resources and cause delays when several devices are attempting to transmit at the same time. In some cases, such as a VoIP call over an Ethernet network, broadcast can actually cause latency problems for some users.
In contrast, a network that is unicast can deliver a single message to one device at a time. This is a much more efficient form of networking for sending data to single computers.
Routing algorithms are designed to help routers calculate the cheapest route from any point to another. There are two main types of routing algorithms: Distance Vector Routing and Link State Routing.
Distance Vector Algorithm
In distance vector routing, each node keeps track of its immediate neighbors and the cost of reaching them. The nodes then periodically transmit this information to each other, and the neighboring nodes add it to their own tables. This process generates a distance table that contains all of the routes for all possible destinations in the network.