Routing and Filtering Network Traffic

A router is a device that manages the flow of data between network segments, or subnets. As multiple LANs or segments are connected together, multiple routes are created to get data from one LAN or segment to another. A router directs incoming and outgoing packets based on the information it holds about the state of its own network interfaces and a list of possible destinations for network traffic.

By projecting network traffic and routing needs, you can decide whether you want to use a dedicated hardware router, such as a Cisco router, or a softwarebased router, such as those included with Windows Server 2008. If you have heavy routing demands, you would almost always use dedicated hardware routers. For smaller networks, a software-based routing solution could be used. For routing, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 includes the Routing and Remote Access service.