Route Table

Concept

A Route Table is a list of rules that tells network data which way to go. Each rule is called a route — it holds a destination range of IP addresses and the path (target) to send it through. Every VPC has a main route table, and every Subnet is associated with a Route Table. A local route exists automatically so that all resources inside the VPC can talk to each other. To use an Internet Gateway or a NAT Gateway, you add a route to it in the Route Table.

Simple example

A direction board inside a house: “Kitchen to the left, front gate to go outside.” The Route Table looks at where data wants to go and shows it the way.

Why it’s needed

The Route Table decides how things inside the VPC reach each other, and whether they can reach the internet.

Where it’s used

A public subnet’s Route Table has a route to the internet (the Internet Gateway). A private subnet’s Route Table does not.

Azure equivalent

Azure Route Table (User-defined routes)

Remember

Route Table = the network’s direction board. Whether a subnet is public or private is actually decided by its Route Table.

Related

Subnet · Internet Gateway · NAT Gateway

Learn more

For details and the latest information, see the official documentation:

• Route Table — AWS official documentation ↗