HP VPN Firewall Appliances Appendix Protocol Reference

5
Default route
The term "router" in this document refers to both routers and routing-capable firewalls and firewall
modules.
A default route is used to forward packets that match no entry in the routing table.
Without a default route, a packet that does not match any routing entries is discarded.
A default route can be configured in either of the following ways:
• The network administrator can configure a default route with both destination and mask being
0.0.0.0. For more information, see "Static routing."
• Some dynamic
routing protocols, such as OSPF, IS-IS, and RIP, can generate a default route. For
example, an upstream router running OSPF can generate a default route and advertise it to other
routers, which install the default route with the next hop being the upstream router. For more
information, see the chapters on these routing protocols.