Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

BGP Relationship between

Networks

1 v1.2
BGP Relationship between Networks

Transit Provider and Customer

2 v1.2
Transit Provider
• Provides Internet access to customers that are using their own
Provider-Independent (PI) address space.
• Commonly referred as “upstream provider” by customers.
• Offers Internet Transit service.
– Traffic from customer network travels through provider network to the Internet
– Also known as “IP Transit”
– Usually with a paid contract
• Customer pays for a specific amount of bandwidth
• Burstable bandwidth options may be available
– Most providers offer IPv4 Transit by default
• Increasing number of providers are supporting dual-stack (both IPv4 and IPv6)

3 v1.2
Transit Provider
• Some providers might offer premium routes to specific
destinations.
– For example, certain providers in Asia offer:
• Direct China route
– Routing to China through Hong Kong without traversing U.S.
• Low latency EU route
– Routing to Europe through Singapore without traversing U.S.

• Other services:
– DDoS Mitigation
– Colocation
– IPv4 for Lease
4 v1.2
Transit Customer
• Obtains Internet access from Transit Providers using own
Provider-Independent (PI) address space.
• Multiple links can be connected simultaneously to the same
or different providers for load sharing or redundancy.
– Single-homed: 1 link to 1 provider
– Dual-homed: 2 links to 1 provider
– Multi-homed: Multiple providers

• Can also be a Transit Provider at the same time.

5 v1.2
How Internet Transit Works?
• Provider and customer typically run EBGP. Global Internet

• Routing policies for Internet Transit:

– Customer
• Advertises own prefixes and customer prefixes to provider
– Provider
• Advertises prefixes for Internet access to customer Provider
Full route
– Full route: Entire global routing table or Own prefixes
– Partial route: Routes to specific destinations Partial route and
or Customer prefixes
– Default route: 0.0.0.0/0 for IPv4, ::/0 for IPv6 Default route

• Re-advertises prefixes received from customer to its

upstream providers and other peers
– Maximum prefix length: /24 for IPv4, /48 for IPv6
Customer

6 v1.2
Single-homed
• Connecting to single provider with one link. Global Internet

• Not resilient due to lack of redundancy. EBGP

Remove

• Customer does not require public ASN, can Private ASN

use private ASN.

– Provider must remove private ASN from AS_PATH
when re-advertising customer prefixes to others Provider

• Customer does not require specific routes. EBGP

(Transit)

– All traffic will be forwarded to the same next hop

– Single default route is sufficient
• BGP is optional, static routing between
provider and customer is possible. Customer
(Private ASN)
7 v1.2
Dual-homed
• Connecting to single provider with two links.
– Links may be connected to different routers
• Offers resiliency against connection failures to provider.
• Customer does not require public ASN, can use private ASN.
– Provider must remove private ASN from AS_PATH when re-advertising
customer prefixes to others

• Supported routing designs:

– Load sharing
– Primary and backup

8 v1.2
Dual-homed
Global Internet Global Internet Global Internet

EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP

Remove Remove Remove Remove Remove
Private ASN Private ASN Private ASN Private ASN Private ASN

IBGP IBGP

Provider Provider Provider

EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP
(Transit) (Transit) (Transit) (Transit) (Transit) (Transit)

IBGP

Customer Customer Customer

(Private ASN) (Private ASN) (Private ASN)
9 v1.2
Multi-homed
• Connecting to multiple providers.
– May have more than one link to each provider
– Links may be connected to different routers

• Offers resiliency against connection failures to provider as

well as Internet routing issues.
• Customer should peer with all providers using a public ASN.
• Supported routing designs:
– Load sharing
– Primary and backup

10 v1.2
Multi-homed
Global Internet Global Internet Global Internet

EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP

EBGP EBGP EBGP

Provider 1 Provider 2 Provider 1 Provider 2 Provider 1 Provider 2

EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP EBGP
(Transit) (Transit) (Transit) (Transit) (Transit) (Transit) (Transit) (Transit)

IBGP IBGP

Customer Customer Customer

11 v1.2
Load Sharing
• Traffic is distributed across multiple links.
• Inbound routing policies (Outbound traffic)
– Receive full route or partial route
• Use LOCAL_PREF to choose preferred path for specific destination
– Higher LOCAL_PREF than other paths

• Outbound routing policies (Inbound traffic)

– Advertise aggregate prefixes on all links
– Advertise more-specific prefix on selected links
• Manipulate AS_PATH to influence inbound traffic flow when multi-homed
– AS Path Prepending on less preferred links

12 v1.2
Primary and Backup
• All traffic is handled by primary link.
– Backup link will be used only when primary link is unavailable
• Inbound routing policies (Outbound traffic)
– Receive default route only
• Use LOCAL_PREF to determine primary and backup paths
– Higher LOCAL_PREF for primary, lower LOCAL_PREF for backup

• Outbound routing policies (Inbound traffic)

– Advertise aggregate prefixes on all links
– Advertise more-specific prefixes on primary link only
• Not required to advertise if dual-homed, but set MED on aggregate prefixes
– Lower MED for primary, higher MED for backup

13 v1.2
BGP Relationship between Networks

Peering

14 v1.2
Peering
• Networks exchange traffic with each other for mutual benefits.
– Higher bandwidth
– Reduced latency
– Lower cost
– Better routing control
– Keep local traffic local
• Peering itself is often settlement-free.
• Infrastructure expense may be covered by one party or
shared by multiple parties.

15 v1.2
How Peering Works?
• Peers run EBGP with each other. Global Internet Advertisement
Re-advertisement

• Routing policies for Peering:

– Advertise only…
• own prefixes
• customer prefixes
– Receive only… Peer X Provider 1 Provider 2 Peer Y
• peer’s prefixes
• peer’s customer prefixes
– Never re-advertise…
• prefixes received from providers to peers
• prefixes received from peers to providers
• prefixes received from one peer to other peers Customer 1 Customer 2 Peer Z

16 v1.2
Private Peering
• Direct connection between each pair of networks.
– Cost is usually shared between both networks
• Less cost-effective and scalable.
– Dedicated link and bandwidth
• Full mesh connectivity is required if multiple networks want to peer with each other
– 10 links for 5 networks
– 45 links for 10 networks
– 1,225 links for 50 networks
• Spare bandwidth on each link cannot be used for other traffic

• Usually considered only when dedicated bandwidth is

required or other options are not available.
17 v1.2
Full Mesh Private Peering

18 v1.2
Public Peering
• Interested networks connect to a centralized location –
Internet eXchange Point (IXP).
– Each network pays for own connection to the IXP
– IXP may charge membership fee or port fee for its services and
infrastructure

• More cost-effective and scalable

– Multiple networks are reachable over single link and shared bandwidth

19 v1.2
Internet eXchange Point (IXP)
• Operating models:
– Commercial
• Not much limitation besides profitability
• IXP might be a value-added service to other business
– Non-profit
• Subsidized
– Relies on government funding
– Vulnerable to political and policy changes
• Voluntary or Sponsored
– Runs by volunteers using sponsorship funds
– Ongoing support from volunteers and sponsors is not guaranteed
• Membership-based
– Funded by all members through membership fee or port fee
– Members participate in governance
– Neutrality and transparency are essential

20 v1.2
Internet eXchange Point (IXP)
• Core IXP services:
– Layer 2 Infrastructure
• Consists of Ethernet switches for connecting members
• Some IXPs extend their Layer 2 fabric to multiple locations
– Route Servers
• Simplify peering between members
• Collect prefixes from peered members and distribute to other members
• Not all prefixes are available through Route Servers
– Some members might not peer with Route Servers or selectively advertise only some prefixes
– Looking Glass
• Tool for looking up BGP status and routing table of the Route Servers
• Accessible via web interface
• Diagnostic functions like ping or traceroute are often included

21 v1.2
Internet eXchange Point (IXP)
• Other services and resources:
• Private Network Interconnect (PNI)
• Closed User Group (CUG)
• Colocation
• Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• DNS root servers
• RPKI validators

22 v1.2
Public Peering at IXP

IXP

23 v1.2
Peering Agreements
• Bi-Lateral Peering Agreement (BLPA)
– Between two networks
– Can be signed in private or public peering arrangement

• Multi-Lateral Peering Agreement (MLPA)

– Between multiple networks
– Required when peering with Route Servers at the IXP
• Some IXPs mandate MLPA and peering with Route Servers

24 v1.2
Process of Peering
• Peering target identification.
– Analyze traffic patterns
• Peering proposal, negotiation, and planning.
– Send request to targeted network
– Negotiate terms and conditions
– Sign peering agreement (if necessary)
– Work out implementation plan
• Peering implementation.
– Arrange physical connection (if necessary)
– Perform link test
– Bring up BGP session

25 v1.2
Rules of Peering
• Common rules for maintaining good peering relationship:
– Some peers might expect fair traffic ratio to justify the peering
– Exchange only own prefixes and customer prefixes
– Do not leak prefixes received from peers to upstream providers
– Never point a default route to any peer
– Reduce predictable route flapping
• Violation of common rules may be considered as impolite or
unfriendly peer.
– Potentially causes de-peering

26 v1.2