On 07 May 2005, you wrote in lfs.dev: >> -----Message d'origine-----
<snip> >> >> I'm confused, or your using terminology I'm not understanding - by >> definition, a default gateway is where I send packets that I don't > know >> how >> to route - and therefore there can only be one "default gateway". > Perhaps >> you meant multiple routes between networks, which can already be added >> with >> ip. > > Multiple interfaces => multiple gateways. > You misunderstand (or are using terminology I'm not understanding). A default gateway has a very specific meaning in networking terminology: Assume a network like this: eth0: 192.168.1.0\24 eth1: 192.168.2.0\24 If a packet comes from eth0, addressed to 192.168.20.24, where shall I send it, since my routing table has no knowledge of that address? The answer is that I need to define an interface (and only one) to which I should send packets addressed to an "unknown" network. It is assumed that a router on this interface will be better placed to handle the request. Having multiple *default* gateways makes no sense - if I get a packet that I do not know how to route, which of the multiple default gateways should I send it to? If there is some form of filtering logic I can apply to the packet to deduce which interface to route it to, then by definition the packet is no longer unknown, since I have a defined route to send it down (and static routing of this nature is very common) Hope thats clearer - the "default" route is where I send a packet that I don't otherwise know how to handle. Note that I'm not saying multiple routes can't be configured, just that I would prefer we not say multiple "default" routes, since that has special meaning as per above. - -- Steve Crosby -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/lfs-dev FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq/ Unsubscribe: See the above information page
