========
Nexthops
========

**Nexthops** define intermediary points in routes in SD-WAN. Multiple
nexthops can be assigned to a route, providing for custom failover scenarios
and granular control over routing configurations.

Nexthops can be one of four types. This is explained in the following table:

+---------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Type**      | **Description**                                                                 |
+===============+=================================================================================+
| **Peer**      | Specifies a peer (tunnel) as the intermediary for routing traffic. The most     |
|               | common nexthop type for SD-WAN configurations. When used in a route,            |
|               | traffic is forwarded through the peer to reach its destination.                 |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Gateway**   | Routes traffic directly via a gateway device (router or L3 switch) on the local |
|               | network. An optional interface can be specified to limit forwarding to a        |
|               | specific interface.                                                             |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Interface** | Directs traffic to hosts on a local Layer-2 network. The destination host       |
|               | Layer-2 address will be determined using ARP if IPv4 and NDP if IPv6.           |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Blackhole** | Silently discards matching traffic. Common uses include blocking unwanted       |
|               | traffic (e.g., DDoS mitigation), preventing routing loops, or to avoid sending  |
|               | high-bandwidth traffic over metered or low-bandwidth links when a more          |
|               | appropriate connection is down.                                                 |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Nexthops work in tandem with routes and VRFs to create SD-WAN routing
configurations. See the `routes <../routes/index.html>`__ and `VRF
<../vrfs/index.html>`__ documentation for details.

Refer to the following links for more information on adding, editing, and
deleting nexthops.

.. toctree::
    :glob:
    :maxdepth: 1

    managing-nexthops