Routing Reflection

ZachM                    9/22/16

Describe the relative benefits of routing over a broadcast style of communication. Is routing traffic more secure than broadcasting? Justify your answer.

Routing is much more specific, unlike broadcast which just sends the message to all devices. Your messages sent by routing are more private than broadcast, because routing sends it to a specific device, while broadcast sends it to all devices. Routing is more secure than broadcasting, because only the recipient will receive the message. But, if someone has access to the router, they are able to see all the traffic coming in and out of it.

Can you know in advance the path a message will take between you and another computer on the internet? Justify your answer.

You can’t know the path a message will take because the fastest route is always changing. Since the path a message will take is always the fastest route, it will always go on the same route in a perfect world. However, internet traffic can make that route slower, and the message is sent along a different route, which is faster than the clogged route. Therefore, we do not know the path a message will take.

An internet service provider just purchased all the routers in your area. What types of things is this ISP capable of doing? Are you comfortable with this arrangement?

The ISP is able to see everything sent in and out of that area. They could censor the area by intentionally drop messages. I’m fine with them seeing my messages, but some people like their privacy.