Routing
207
M4100 Series Managed Switch
Configure Route Preferences
Use this panel to configure the default preference for each protocol, such as 60 for static
routes, 120 for RIP. These values are arbitrary values in the range of 1 to 255 and are
independent of route metrics. Most routing protocols use a route metric to determine the
shortest path known to the protocol, independent of any other protocol.
The best route to a destination is chosen by selecting the route with the lowest preference
value. When there are multiple routes to a destination, the preference values are used to
determine the preferred route. If there is still a tie, the route with the best route metric is
chosen. To avoid problems with mismatched metrics (for example, RIP and OSPF metrics
are not directly comparable), you must configure different preference values for each of the
protocols.
 To configure route preferences:
1. Prepare your computer with a static IP address in the 169.254.100.0 subnet, for
example, 169.254.100.201.
2. Connect an Ethernet cable from an Ethernet port on your computer to an Ethernet port on
the switch.
3. Launch a web browser.
4. Enter the IP address of the switch in the web browser address field.
The default IP address of the switch is 169.254.100.100.
The Login screen displays.
5. Enter the user name and password.
The default admin user name is admin and the default admin password is blank, that is,
do not enter a password.
6. Click the Login button.
The web management interface menu displays.
Preference The preference is an integer value from 0 to 255. You can specify the
preference value (sometimes called administrative distance) of an
individual static route. Among routes to the same destination, the route
with the lowest preference value is the route entered into the forwarding
database. By specifying the preference of a static route, the user
controls whether a static route is more or less preferred than routes
from dynamic routing protocols. The preference also controls whether a
static route is more or less preferred than other static routes to the
same destination.
Metric Administrative cost of the path to the destination. If no value is entered,
default is 1. The range is 0 –255.
Table 65. Route Configuration, Learned Routes Table
Field Description