Posted by stretch in Networking on Thursday, 2 Oct 2008 at 3:36 a.m. GMT There are two major classes of routing protocol: distance vector and link-state. It's easy to remember which protocols belong to either class, but comprehending their differences between the two classes takes a bit more effort. Distance vector routing is so named because it involves two factors: the distance , or metric, of a destination, and the vector , or direction to take to get there. Routing information is only exchanged between directly connected neighbors. This means a router knows from which neighbor a route was learned, but it does not know where that neighbor learned the route; a router can't see beyond its own neighbors. This aspect of distance vector routing is sometimes referred to as "routing by rumor." Measures like split horizon and poison reverse are employed to avoid routing loops. Link-state routing, in contrast, requires that all routers know about the paths reachable by