static routes on clients ?

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fran1942

82 posts

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#153482 28-Sep-2014 18:40

Hi there, just started working in the industry after studying.
I am noticing quite a few servers in company environments have static routes added to their windows route tables.
For instance, I changed a static route on a router to accommodate a new company wide network change, then could not work out why some traffic was still failing. Then I realised that a static route had been added to a Windows server which then had to be modified to get things working.
Is this bad practice? I mean would it not be more central and manageable if routes were ONLY added on the company router or core switch ?
Or is adding static routes to severs very common and acceptable ?

Thanks for any info.

Inphinity

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#1143171 28-Sep-2014 22:03

Imo, adding these sorts of routes to non-router devices is a recipe for disaster, except for the rare cases where you've got a configuration management tool that will updated the necessary routes on all affected hosts, or other mission-specific purposes. So in most cases, it's bad practice, but there are a few specific scenarios where it could be fine.

markg1275

24 posts

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#1143176 28-Sep-2014 22:09

Its a very quick fudge and is normaly is done when you don't have access to the switch / router that's the default gateway. Its not great but have done it myself a few times when I worked back in the UK when BT managed every router for the NHS sites I worked at. There was no other way to get routing to other sites via another router on the same subnet.

If you have total control then you really should be making all routing decisions at the default gateway and upstream not at the client end.

Hope this helps,

lxsw20

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#1143208 28-Sep-2014 23:22

We use it a little at work. Our default gateway goes to the WAN rather than the internet, some devices need the default gateway to be the Internet and WAN as static routes. You can set an option in DHCP for default routes too btw if all clients needed them.

Zeon

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#1143220 29-Sep-2014 00:31

TBH this is really a terrible hack and if you find yourself having to do this, you need to really question your network design.

I can sympathise with the likes of NHS and the BS politics that go around that....

Speedtest 2019-10-14

hashbrown

463 posts

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#1143266 29-Sep-2014 09:08

For hosts with one NIC, static routes are a result of bad network design. L3 switching has been around long enough, that clients should not be sharing VLANs with more than one gateway.

For hosts with more than one NIC they may be a necessity. Good, forward looking network design can limit the impact of network changes though.

lxsw20: We use it a little at work. Our default gateway goes to the WAN rather than the internet, some devices need the default gateway to be the Internet and WAN as static routes. You can set an option in DHCP for default routes too btw if all clients needed them.

In this case the solution would be to insert a L3 switch inbetween the hosts and the two routers. The switch has a default route to the internet router, and learns routes from the WAN router dynamically. The clients sit on a different VLAN and have the L3 switch as their sole default gateway.

Mattmannz

471 posts

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+1 received by user: 88

#1143267 29-Sep-2014 09:13

hashbrown: For hosts with one NIC, static routes are a result of bad network design. L3 switching has been around long enough, that clients should not be sharing VLANs with more than one gateway.

For hosts with more than one NIC they may be a necessity. Good, forward looking network design can limit the impact of network changes though.

lxsw20: We use it a little at work. Our default gateway goes to the WAN rather than the internet, some devices need the default gateway to be the Internet and WAN as static routes. You can set an option in DHCP for default routes too btw if all clients needed them.

In this case the solution would be to insert a L3 switch inbetween the hosts and the two routers. The switch has a default route to the internet router, and learns routes from the WAN router dynamically. The clients sit on a different VLAN and have the L3 switch as their sole default gateway.

You don't need a layer 3 switch to do this. The WAN router should have learned specific routes for all the connected networks and then should have a default route that points to your firewall/internet gateway.

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hashbrown

463 posts

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#1143288 29-Sep-2014 09:30

Mattmannz:
hashbrown: For hosts with one NIC, static routes are a result of bad network design. L3 switching has been around long enough, that clients should not be sharing VLANs with more than one gateway.

For hosts with more than one NIC they may be a necessity. Good, forward looking network design can limit the impact of network changes though.

lxsw20: We use it a little at work. Our default gateway goes to the WAN rather than the internet, some devices need the default gateway to be the Internet and WAN as static routes. You can set an option in DHCP for default routes too btw if all clients needed them.

In this case the solution would be to insert a L3 switch inbetween the hosts and the two routers. The switch has a default route to the internet router, and learns routes from the WAN router dynamically. The clients sit on a different VLAN and have the L3 switch as their sole default gateway.

You don't need a layer 3 switch to do this. The WAN router should have learned specific routes for all the connected networks and then should have a default route that points to your firewall/internet gateway.

You don't need one, but it is a better design. In your setup, all the traffic will either be bounced off the WAN router needlessly, or you'll need to use ICMP redirects.

Mattmannz

471 posts

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+1 received by user: 88

#1143310 29-Sep-2014 09:52

hashbrown:
Mattmannz:
hashbrown: For hosts with one NIC, static routes are a result of bad network design. L3 switching has been around long enough, that clients should not be sharing VLANs with more than one gateway.

For hosts with more than one NIC they may be a necessity. Good, forward looking network design can limit the impact of network changes though.

lxsw20: We use it a little at work. Our default gateway goes to the WAN rather than the internet, some devices need the default gateway to be the Internet and WAN as static routes. You can set an option in DHCP for default routes too btw if all clients needed them.

In this case the solution would be to insert a L3 switch inbetween the hosts and the two routers. The switch has a default route to the internet router, and learns routes from the WAN router dynamically. The clients sit on a different VLAN and have the L3 switch as their sole default gateway.

You don't need a layer 3 switch to do this. The WAN router should have learned specific routes for all the connected networks and then should have a default route that points to your firewall/internet gateway.

You don't need one, but it is a better design. In your setup, all the traffic will either be bounced off the WAN router needlessly, or you'll need to use ICMP redirects.

ICMP redirects should be setup and working and will prevent traffic being passed through the WAN router.

hashbrown

463 posts

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+1 received by user: 131

#1143408 29-Sep-2014 11:32

Mattmannz: ICMP redirects should be setup and working and will prevent traffic being passed through the WAN router.

Still WAN router down = Internet down.

Mattmannz

471 posts

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#1143421 29-Sep-2014 11:44

hashbrown:
Mattmannz: ICMP redirects should be setup and working and will prevent traffic being passed through the WAN router.

Still WAN router down = Internet down.

For sure - if your WAN router is down then you have problems which are probably greater than accessing the internet. Unless you move to dual everything ie dual layer 3 switches as per your suggestion then you will have a single point of failure, it just depends where that ends up.