
Configuring IP Services
13-2
117356-D Rev 00
When using GRE, remember that:
• This protocol is slower than native routing because packets require additional
processing.
• IP fragmentation of the packet can occur due to extra bytes introduced by
encapsulation.
• Troubleshooting the physical link when problems occur is difficult.
How GRE Tunneling Works
You configure a GRE tunnel manually, assigning it a unique name. The source
address is the IP address of an interface on the router on which you are
configuring the GRE tunnel, and the destination address is the IP address of an
interface on the router where the tunnel terminates.
The GRE tunnel can use any IP interface configured on the router as a physical
end point. To maximize the robustness of the tunnel, use a circuitless IP address as
a tunnel’s physical end point whenever possible (see “Using the Circuitless IP
Interface” on page 3-16).
The following steps explain how GRE tunneling takes place (refer to Figure 13-1
):
1.
The router interface on router 1 receives a packet from host 1, looks up the
packet’s destination address in its routing table, and determines that the next
hop to the destination address is the remote end of a GRE tunnel. The router
interface places the packet in the queue of the tunnel interface for GRE
encapsulation.
2.
The tunnel interface router 1 adds a GRE header to the packet and sends the
packet to IP.
3.
IP looks up the route to the remote tunnel end point and sends the
GRE-encapsulated packet to the appropriate next-hop address.
4.
The remote tunnel interface on router 2 removes the outer IP header and the
GRE header.
5.
The remote router interface looks up the packet’s destination address in its
routing table, and chooses the next hop to reach host 2.
Comentarios a estos manuales