Boot up the router

Just like a PC, a router boots up too. The power-on self test (POST) and bootstrap program also run on the router's boot process. Furthermore, hardware components such as CPU chips, RAM/DRAM, NVRAM, and Flash memory are initialized. Finally, the operating system IOS is located and loaded into the RAM/DRAM. That said, this section discusses the router's boot process.

Router's boot up process

Just like a switch, a router has a boot up process. It consists of several phases, and in each phase, significant activities are carried out. The following steps represent the router's boot process, when it is powered on:

1. As electricity starts flowing into the router's internal circuitry (more...