Question

What is the difference between the startup configuration and the Running configuration of a Cisco Router?

Answer 1

CISCO ROUTER :--

A router is a device that connects different networks together. It works on physical layer,Data link layer and Network layer whereas a switch works only on physical and data link layer.A router determines the best path for the packet from the source to the destination.

We use cisco router for the following reasons :--

Cisco routing provides intent-based networking for the WAN, LAN, and cloud. Our network routers include advanced analytics, application optimization, automated provisioning, and integrated security to deliver a complete, proven solution.

Following are the difference between startup configuration and the Running configuration of a Cisco Router:--

CIsco devices store commands in two configuration files:

• startup configuration
• running configuration

The key difference on the two configuration files arisies on the basis of where the files are stored.Cisco router configuration files holds the commands to configure the routers.The file where the Cisco router stores the configuration when running currently is called the running config file.Immediately after you type a command in the global configuration mode, it will be stored in the running configuration. A running configuration resides in a device’s RAM, so if a device loses power, all configured commands will be lost.The "running-config" file is stored in RAM.The "running-config" file is NOT persistent, which means that the changes made in the "running-config" while the router is running are not retained after a reboot. You can back up, or save, "running-config" file to either NVRAM or a TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) server.

To avoid this scenerio we need a persisent memory where the configuration files would stilll be there when the device is turned off.The type of configuration file which is stored on a non-volatile memory is called startup-config-file.The "startup-config" file is kept in NVRAM and the contents of the "startup-config" file are retained after a reboot. To save the changes of "running-config" file to "startup-config", run the following IOS command.

copy running-config startup-config

The "running-config" can also be saved in a TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) server if you have a TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) server in your network. To save "running-config" file to a TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) server, run the following IOS command

copy running-config tftp 

In the case of startup config files the contents are still present even when the device power is lost..