Flooding (computer networking)
Encyclopedia
Flooding is a simple routing algorithm
in which every incoming packet is sent through every outgoing link. See flooding algorithm
for details.
Routing
Routing is the process of selecting paths in a network along which to send network traffic. Routing is performed for many kinds of networks, including the telephone network , electronic data networks , and transportation networks...
in which every incoming packet is sent through every outgoing link. See flooding algorithm
Flooding algorithm
A flooding algorithm is an algorithm for distributing material to every part of a connected network. The name derives from the concept of inundation by a flood....
for details.
Advantages
- If a packet can be delivered, it will (probably multiple times).
- Since flooding naturally utilizes every path through the network, it will also use the shortest path.
- This algorithm is very simple to implement.
Problems
- Flooding can be costly in terms of wasted bandwidth and, as in the case of a Ping floodPing floodA ping flood is a simple denial-of-service attack where the attacker/s overwhelms the victim with ICMP Echo Request packets. It is most successful if the attacker has more bandwidth than the victim...
or a Denial of service attack, it can be harmful to the reliability of a computer networkComputer networkA computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
. - Duplicate packets may circulate forever, unless certain precautions are taken:
- Use a hop count or a time to liveTime to liveTime to live is a mechanism that limits the lifespan of data in a computer or network. TTL may be implemented as a counter or timestamp attached to or embedded in the data. Once the prescribed event count or timespan has elapsed, data is discarded. In computer networking, TTL prevents a data...
count and include it with each packet. This value should take into account the number of nodes that a packet may have to pass through on the way to its destination. - Have each node keep track of every packet seen and only forward each packet once.
- Use a hop count or a time to live