Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!CornellA!NJG
From: NJG@CornellA (Nick Gimbrone)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: ReChoosing gateways
Message-ID: <8804021544.AA18628@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 30 Mar 88 01:22:15 GMT
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 15

>host is using G1 to communicate with a host on the destination
...
>Are there any rules/guidelines/standards/... as to how the host can
>"find" G2?
We run the IBM product for VM (FAL) and have thought about this same
problem. In this case the package is configured with but one "default"
gateway. Several alternatives seem to exist (perhaps we'll do one one of
these days). One could build a list of "default" gateways and if you
note G1 isn't talking start using G2 (G3, G4, etc). You could even add
active steps to look for G1 not talking (ping it once in a while?).
Another alternative is to "listen" to whatever internal routing protocol
is used on the LAN. For us we use lots of RIP, which talks via
broadcasts. This makes it easy for any host that cares to to "listen in"
on what the RIPers are saying. The host can then act accordingly for
all their routing decisions.
-njg