Section Two $-$ Routing Tables You may be wondering how a

host or router determines where to transmit an IPv$4$ packet,

especially because any particular network can contain

dozens, hundreds, or thousands of hosts, and the answer lies

in the routing table. A routing table is a set of rules used by a

host to formulaically determine the next$-$hop destination of an

IPv$4$ packet. In particular, each host uses its routing table to

determine which of its network adapters it will use for the

transmission, and which host $($technically$,$ which network

adapter$)$ will be the next$-$hop recipient. The term "table" in $"$

routing table" is used primarily because the set of rules

defined in a routing table is most often displayed in a tabular

format, which consists of specific columns information, with

one rule per row. Each rule defines the next hop for a

particular network as defined by a network address and a

subnet mask. Computers and devices are concerned with the

rules themselves, and we as human beings view the rules in a

tabular format, for understandability. A routing table contains

all the information necessary for a host to determine where