Overview
Policy Based routing (PBR) lets you manipulate the path of a packet based on the various attributes of the packet. Packets that can be manipulated by PBR are packets that are already routing through the system at Layer 3, with a destination IP address that is on a network other than the packet ingress Layer 3 interface. PBR is an extension of the existing classifier policy system where traffic to be manipulated is matched by a classifier class, and policy actions to be executed on the matching traffic. Matching traffic with the same destination can be routed over different paths so that different types of traffic, such as VoIP or traffic with special security requirements, can be better managed.
PBR ability to influence a packet path is limited to the current router in that the next router to which the traffic is redirected makes an independent decision on where to forward traffic to next, if anywhere. Packets not matched by a PBR policy entry are not affected and take routes specified in the system route table.