gatewaydest

gatewaydest is a term used in computer networking to denote the destination address that a gateway uses to forward traffic toward a final endpoint. The term is not standardized across all vendors; it appears in various configuration guides and documentation as a generic label for the target destination that packets are addressed to when leaving a gateway.

In practice, gatewaydest is associated with routing decisions made by a gateway. It represents the destination network or host that traffic should reach through the gateway, and it is used in conjunction with routing tables, policy-based routing, or tunneling configurations. The concept can apply to traditional static routes, dynamic routing where a gateway determines the next hop, or VPN and site-to-site connections where the gatewaydest points to the remote network behind the other end of the tunnel. gatewaydest is distinct from the gateway’s own interface address and from the immediate next-hop in some configurations, serving as the intended final destination for forwarded traffic in a given path.

Configuration typically involves specifying gatewaydest alongside the gateway or next-hop, the applicable network mask, and the route's metrics or policies. For example, a route might state that traffic destined for a particular subnet should be sent via a specific gatewaydest through a defined gateway interface.

Security and operational considerations include ensuring gatewaydest values are consistent with network design to prevent misrouting or traffic leakage, and validating routes to prevent hijacking or misconfiguration. gatewaydest remains a descriptive, vendor- and implementation-dependent concept rather than a universal standard.

See also: gateway, next-hop, routing table, policy-based routing, VPN.