Network traffic is often forwarded from one router to another. These routers may include a Routing Information Base (RIB) that stores a set of routes that facilitate network traffic to all of the Internet. For example, a router may include a RIB that stores approximately 575,000 Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) routes. In addition, this router may include a Forwarding Information Base (FIB) that imports copies of most of the approximately 575,000 IPv4 routes from the RIB. These copies stored in the FIB may represent and/or constitute the active routes used by the router to forward all Internet traffic.
In many cases, only a small fraction of these IPv4 routes may be needed to carry the vast majority of Internet traffic. For example, 90% of Internet traffic may traverse approximately 3,150 IPv4 routes, and 99% of Internet traffic may traverse approximately 25,900 IPv4 routes. Accordingly, the remaining approximately 549,100 IPv4 routes may be used to carry only 1% of Internet traffic. As a result, the FIB may be able to facilitate 90% of Internet traffic by importing only 0.5% of the IPv4 routes from the RIB or 99% of Internet traffic by importing only 4.5% of the IPv4 routes from the RIB.
In view of the above observation, the FIB may, in theory, be able to operate successfully using far less memory than the RIB. Moreover, because FIB memory is often much more expensive than RIB memory, routing equipment vendors may be able to significantly reduce manufacturing costs by decreasing the amount of FIB memory included in their routers and making efficient use of that decreased FIB memory. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved methods, systems, and apparatuses for forwarding network traffic using minimal FIBS.