How can you design a routing system that is both efficient and secure?

1 Define your objectives

Before you start designing your routing system, you need to define your objectives and requirements. What are the main functions and features of your routing system? What are the performance and security metrics that you want to optimize? How will you measure and evaluate them? How will your routing system interact with other network components and protocols? How will you handle scalability, redundancy, and fault tolerance? These questions will help you establish a clear vision and scope for your routing system, as well as identify the trade-offs and constraints that you need to consider.

2 Choose your routing protocols

Routing protocols are the rules and algorithms that determine how routers exchange and process routing information. There are many types of routing protocols, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Some of the common factors that affect your choice of routing protocols are the network size, topology, bandwidth, latency, reliability, security, and compatibility. For example, if you have a large and dynamic network, you might prefer a link-state routing protocol, such as OSPF or IS-IS, over a distance-vector routing protocol, such as RIP or EIGRP, because it can provide faster and more accurate updates. However, link-state routing protocols also consume more resources and require more configuration. Therefore, you need to weigh the pros and cons of each routing protocol and select the ones that best suit your objectives and requirements.

3 Implement your routing policies

Routing policies are the rules and actions that you apply to your routing system to control the flow and distribution of traffic. Routing policies can help you improve the efficiency and security of your routing system by optimizing the use of network resources, enhancing the quality of service, enforcing the access control, and mitigating the risks of attacks. For example, you can use routing policies to filter or modify the routing information that you send or receive, to prioritize or limit the traffic based on the source, destination, or type, to redirect or block the traffic based on the condition or event, or to encrypt or authenticate the traffic based on the security level. Therefore, you need to implement your routing policies according to your objectives and requirements, and monitor and adjust them as needed.

4 Secure your routing infrastructure

Your routing infrastructure is the physical and logical components that support your routing system, such as routers, switches, cables, interfaces, software, and firmware. Your routing infrastructure is vulnerable to various threats, such as unauthorized access, configuration errors, hardware failures, software bugs, or malicious attacks. Therefore, you need to secure your routing infrastructure by applying the best practices and standards of network security. For example, you can secure your routing infrastructure by using strong passwords, encryption, and authentication for your routers and switches, by updating and patching your software and firmware regularly, by backing up and restoring your configuration files and data, by isolating and segmenting your network zones and devices, by implementing firewalls, IDS, IPS, and VPN for your network perimeter and traffic, or by auditing and logging your network activities and events.

5 Test and troubleshoot your routing system

Testing and troubleshooting your routing system is an ongoing process that helps you verify and improve the functionality, performance, and security of your routing system. Testing and troubleshooting your routing system involves using various tools and methods to simulate, monitor, analyze, and resolve the issues and problems that affect your routing system. For example, you can test and troubleshoot your routing system by using ping, traceroute, telnet, or SSH to check the connectivity and reachability of your network devices and destinations, by using show, debug, or snmp commands to inspect the status and configuration of your routers and switches, by using packet capture, netflow, or wireshark to examine the content and behavior of your network traffic, or by using network simulator, emulator, or analyzer to model and evaluate your network scenarios and conditions.

6 Learn and update your routing skills

Learning and updating your routing skills is a continuous process that helps you keep up with the changes and trends of the network technology and industry. Learning and updating your routing skills involves acquiring and enhancing the knowledge, experience, and certification of the routing concepts, protocols, policies, infrastructure, tools, and methods. For example, you can learn and update your routing skills by reading the books, articles, blogs, or forums about the routing topics and issues, by watching the videos, webinars, podcasts, or courses about the routing techniques and practices, by attending the workshops, seminars, conferences, or events about the routing developments and innovations, or by taking the exams, tests, quizzes, or challenges about the routing standards and certifications.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?