Direct routing

Direct routing can take place when two hosts are directly connected to the same physical network. This can be a bridged token-ring network, a bridged Ethernet, or a bridged token-ring network and Ethernet. The distinction between direct routing and indirect routing is that, with direct routing, an IP datagram can be delivered to the remote host without subsequent interpretation of the IP address, by an intermediate host or router.

In Figure 1, a datagram traveling from Machine A to Machine B would be using direct routing, although it would be traveling through a bridge.