Routing algorithms fill routing tables with a variety of information. Destination/next hop associations tell a router that a particular destination can be reached optimally by sending the packet to a particular router. This router represents the next hop on the way to the final destination.

When a router receives an incoming packet, it checks the destination address and attempts to associate this address with a next hop.

Web Links Using the Extended ping and Extended traceroute Commands http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/ index.html