When a device has multiple path to reach a point selection is been made. This selection process is termed as Routing.

Routing is been performed by the devices called routers. The software based routers have limited functionality and limited scope.
 

Router can make decision based on the following information:

• Hop Count

• Bandwidth

• Metric

• Prefix-length

• Delay

Unicast routing

When the destination is fixed or known the path to send data is fixed. Routing this kind of data over internet is called unicast routing

Broadcast routing

Broadcast routing can be done in two ways (algorithm):

• A router create the data to be send . In this case, the router creates multiple copies of single data packet with different destination addresses.

  This method consumes lots of bandwidth and router must destination address of each node.

• Secondly, when router receives the packet to be send it floods it across all the nodes. All routers are configured in the same way.