A comparison of scaling techniques for BGP

Abstract

BGP is the inter-domain routing protocol used in the Internet today. During the course of its evolution, the Internet has gone from being a simple and small network to one that is run at its core by large service providers constantly battling with bigger and bigger topologies forcing the routing community to invent ways of scaling both interior and exterior routing protocols. Route-reflectors and confederations have turned out to be the weapons of choice in scaling BGP to these large topologies. This paper takes a close look at these two mechanisms and seeks to compare them.