7 Advantages and Disadvantages of Dynamic Routing | Drawbacks & Benefits of Dynamic Routing

What is Dynamic Routing ?

Dynamic Routing (also known as Adaptive Routing) is a networking standard where optimal data routing techniques are used. Routing techniques in essence means that routers will be able to select routes from source to destination. Unlike in Static routing where you manually enter entries in the routing table, in here the routes are automatically decided so that they can choose the best route. 

What are the protocols supported by Dynamic Routing ?

 

Dynamic routing supports many protocols including all the Exterior Gateway Protocols (EGP) and Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP). From them Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is the most used protocol. Al though Dynamic Routing is the most recommended when building large networks, there are certain drawbacks that cannot be ignored. For the computers to select the best routing technique, it is important to bear in mind both its pros and cons. 

 

In this article, I will be listing out 7 Advantages and Disadvantages of Dynamic Routing | Drawbacks & Benefits of Dynamic Routing. Through this post, you will know the pros and cons of using Dynamic Routing.

 

Let's get started,

 

Advantages of Dynamic Routing

 

1. Availability

 

Routers on default has the capability to communicate with other routers. Therefore, a new router can mention its presence to the other routers so that all other routers can make changes to their routing tables accordingly.

 

 

2. Adaptability

 

A network that uses dynamic routing not only enlarges, it can also adapt to the changes in the topology so that all the traffic can be rerouted.  Specifically if there are failures in the network component, the traffics are rerouted without the need of manual works.

 

 

3. Automation

 

Dynamic routing is equipped with a process called Routing Process that runs between all the routers. This process ensures that all the routing updates are sent equally to the connected routers.

 

 

4. Uptime

 

Dynamic routing not only posses intelligence, it can also reach faster. As a result the users can notice more uptime.

 

 

5. Latency

 

Out of all the networking links, Dynamic routing is able to identify the most responsive link. Therefore, the users can experience less latency and more performance in the network.

 

 

6. Configuration

 

Whenever a new router is added to the network, there is no configuration needed for the remaining routers. For the network offerings, only new router needed the dynamic routing protocol configuration.

 

 

7. Problem Rectification

 

Dynamic routing not only does adapt to the changes in the configuration, it can also rectify problems in the network. In other words, the network will continue to function when it is failure. There is actually no difference between a configuration and a network failure.

 

 

Disadvantages of Dynamic Routing

 

1. Resources

 

Dynamic routing requires more resources such as CPU, RAM and Bandwidth. Hence, for works such as calculating dynamic routes and holding routing tables, it needs additional resources. 

 

 

2. Communication

 

Some machines in the network may have problems in communicating with dynamic routing protocol. Or else these machines would notice a common protocol. In this case, the only option is Static Routing.

 

 

3. Complexity

 

Dynamic routing tends to implement more complexity in the network, especially in the implementation process. Whenever a router adapt to the changes in the network it must constantly remove unwanted informations from the routing table. This type of situation adds more complexity in the routing protocol.

 

 

4. Security

 

Compared to a Static routing technique, a Dynamic routing is less secure due to their multicasting and broadcasting updates. The only way to increase the security is by using additional configuration settings such as routing protocol and passive interface.

 

 

5. Bandwidth Shortages

 

Using Dynamic routing protocol, router communicate with each other so that they can share information about network topology. If it is a low speed link such as a large or unstable network, this can drastically consume more bandwidth leading to bandwidth shortages. 

 

 

6. Cost

 

Some optical networks tend to use dynamic routing with a wavelength converter which is known to be highly expensive. The purpose of this is to lower the wavelength requirement. However the results have found to be not such effective.

 

 

7. Administration Control

 

The routes the dynamic routes has to choose is decided by the routing protocol. The network administrator has nothing to do with them.