Router Static; Routing Concepts - Fortinet FortiGate Series Administration Manual

Router Static

Router Static

Routing concepts

FortiGate Version 4.0 MR1 Administration Guide
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This section explains some general routing concepts, and how to define static routes and
route policies.
A route provides the FortiGate unit with the information it needs to forward a packet to a
particular destination on the network. A static route causes packets to be forwarded to a
destination other than the factory configured default gateway.
The factory configured static default route provides you with a starting point to configure
the default gateway. You must either edit the factory configured static default route to
specify a different default gateway for the FortiGate unit, or delete the factory configured
route and specify your own static default route that points to the default gateway for the
FortiGate unit. For more information, see
page 340.
You define static routes manually. Static routes control traffic exiting the FortiGate unit—
you can specify through which interface the packet will leave and to which device the
packet should be routed.
As an option, you can define route policies. Route policies specify additional criteria for
examining the properties of incoming packets. Using route policies, you can configure the
FortiGate unit to route packets based on the IP source and destination addresses in
packet headers and other criteria such as on which interface the packet was received and
which protocol (service) and port are being used to transport the packet.
If you enable virtual domains (VDOMs) on the FortiGate unit, static routing is configured
separately for each virtual domain. For more information, see
page 159.
This section describes:
• Routing concepts
• Static Route
• ECMP route failover and load balancing
• Policy Route
The FortiGate unit works as a security device on a network and packets must pass
through it. You need to understand a number of basic routing concepts in order to
configure the FortiGate unit appropriately.
Whether you administer a small or large network, this module will help you understand
how the FortiGate unit performs routing functions.
The following topics are covered in this section:
• How the routing table is built
• How routing decisions are made
• Multipath routing and determining the best route
• Route priority
• Route priority
"Default route and default gateway" on
"Using virtual domains" on
Routing concepts
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