reitittäjiin
Reitittäjiin, which translates to "routers" in English, are fundamental devices in computer networking. Their primary function is to forward data packets between different computer networks. When a data packet arrives at a router, the router examines the packet's destination IP address. Based on this address, the router consults its internal routing table, which contains information about the best paths to reach various network destinations. The router then forwards the packet to the next appropriate router or directly to the destination host if it's on a directly connected network. This process of decision-making and forwarding is crucial for the efficient and reliable flow of information across the internet and within private networks. Routers operate at the network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI model and are responsible for logical addressing and path determination. Without routers, the global network we know as the internet would not be possible, as individual networks would be isolated from each other. They enable communication between devices that are not on the same local network, making them indispensable components of modern communication infrastructure. Routers can be hardware devices, as commonly found in homes and offices, or software-based implementations.