CS Summer 2003 CS672: MPLS Architecture, Applications and Fault-Tolerance

CS Summer 2003 Stub-AS Routing Options Provider may use one of the following options to learn about customer routes: Static routing IGP BGP Customer may use one of the following options: Default routing IGP BGP

CS Summer 2003 Multihomed Stub AS Routing Provider may use one of the following options to learn about customer routes: IGP BGP (preferable for better load balancing) Customer may use one of the following options: IGP BGP (preferable for better load balancing)

CS Summer 2003 Transit AS Routing In addition to advertising its own routes, a transit AS also advertises routes learned from other AS’s. Upon learning routes advertised by a transit AS, other AS’s direct traffic toward transit AS for certain routes. A transit AS uses BGP-4 for routing between other AS’s

CS Summer 2003 Transit AS AS 1 destinations (d1,d2,d3) destinations (d4,d5,d6) AS 2 AS 3 destinations (d7,d8,d9) BGP (d4,d5,d6) (d1,d2,d3) (d1,d2,d3,…, d8,d9)

CS Summer 2003 Guidelines for BGP Usage The Internet may be considered as an interconnection of transit, multihomed (non-transit), and stub AS’s. Single- and Multihomed Stub Autonomous Systems  may use protocols other than BGP (e.g., EGP, IGP, static routes)  however, use of BGP for advertising reachability information is recommended Transit Autonomous Systems  use BGP-4 for distributing routing information between multiple transit AS’s. Using BGP inside an AS BGP is mainly used for exchanging routing information between autonomous systems (inter-AS) However, BGP can be used to carry routing information across inside the AS

CS Summer 2003 Introduction to BGP-4 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an an exterior gateway protocol main function of BGP is to allow exchange of routing information between BGP peers in different AS’s. routers that run BGP are known as BGP speakers. BGP version 4 (BGP-4) is the de-facto standard for inter-AS routing BGP-4 obsoletes the earlier versions 1-3 BGP can also be used inside of an AS (e.g., as a pipe) to carry external routing information across the AS. Use of BGP inside an AS protects non-BGP speakers from potentially large number of external routing information. Provides better control in selecting the exit and entrance points for the AS’s traffic.

CS Summer 2003 Motivations for BGP-4 Existing IGP (e.g., OSPF, IS-IS, RIP) protocols are not designed for routing in large global networks. Some of the factors include: Lack of mechanism to partition large networks into politically independent technical administrations (e.g., governments, institutions etc.) Count to infinity limitation of distance vectors protocols such as RIP Excessive control traffic generated by periodic updates of entire routing table (e.g., RIP).

CS Summer 2003 Motivations for BGP-4 Lack of mechanism to suppress excessive control traffic generated due unstable links flaps (i.e., up/down events) in link state protocols (e.g., OSPF) The processing and path recompilations due to excessive control traffic can easily overload control processor in the router Lack of support for route aggregation and CIDR Growth of table size becomes unmanageable in large networks Lack of effective mechanism to enforce policies (e.g., selection of routes,control of route redistribution)

CS Summer 2003 BGP Routing Model BGP is a path vector protocol because it exchanges complete AS path information between peers. A BGP speaker can constructs a graph of autonomous systems interconnection based on the exchanged routing information The use of full path information enables: Detection of BGP speaker routing loops Elimination of count-to-infinity problems associated with distance vector protocols Enforcement of policies based on configurations  Provides effective mechanisms for route selection and controlling redistribution of routing information. BGP supports CIDR and aggregation of routing information Reduction of table size Scalability

CS Summer 2003 AS Topology Graph Vertex – represents an AS Path (or edge) – represents interconnection between two AS. Route – collection of path information form a route. AS1 AS2 AS3 AS4 Path Routing Flow Traffic flow Route – (AS1, AS2, AS3)

CS Summer 2003 BGP Session BGP uses TCP for reliable delivery of its messages For establishing connection with neighbors, BGP uses TCP port 179 Before any routing exchange can take place, a TCP connection must be established between two BGP peers To establish TCP connection, BGP uses TCP port 179 After TCP connection establishment, BGP session parameters are negotiated. After BGP session parameters have been negotiated: during the initial update the complete entire routing table information is exchanged between neighbors afterwards, only incremental updates take place.

CS Summer 2003 External BGP Session BGP speakers may reside in the same AS or different AS’s A BGP session between two speakers in different AS’s is known as external BGP (eBGP) session. An eBGP session requires that the two BGP peers be directly connected (e.g., shared data between two AS’s) Cisco routers have removed the requirement of physical connectivity for eBGP session.

CS Summer 2003 Internal BGP Session A session between two speakers in the same AS is known as internal BGP (iBGP) session. An eBGP session can be established between directly or indirectly connected BGP speakers.

CS Summer 2003 eBGP and iBGP Sessions How does a BGP speaker know whether a BGP session internal or external? During BGP session establishment, BGP peers exchange AS numbers. Therefore, determination of a BGP session as iBGP or eBGP is based on comparison of AS numbers. If the AS numbers are same, the session is iBGP. Otherwise, eBGP.

CS Summer 2003 AS 300 AS 200 R1 R2 R3 R4 R6R7 R5 iBGP peers eBGP peers iBGP peers

CS Summer 2003 BGP Messages Each BGP message has a fixed size header that contains following fields: Marker Length Type (i.e., BGP message type) BGP defines following message types: Open KeepAlive Notification Update

CS Summer 2003 BGP Message Fixed Header Length (2 byte)Type (1 byte) Marker (16 byte) Total size of the fixed header = = 19 Byte

CS Summer 2003 BGP Open Message After establishing TCP connection, each speaker sends a BGP Open message BGP Open contains fields such as: Version My Autonomous System Hold Time BGP Identifier Optional Parameters If the values of the parameters are acceptable, the receiving side sends back KeepAlive message as an acknowledgement. Upon receipt of KeepAlive, other messages (e.g., Update, KeepAlive etc.) are exchanged.

CS Summer 2003 BGP Open Message Version (1 byte) My Autonomous System (2 byte) BGP Identifier (4 byte) Op Parameter Len (1 byte) TLV Encoded Optional Parameters

CS Summer 2003 BGP KeepAlive Message BGP peers send periodic KeepAlive messages to avoid Hold timer expiration For example, every 1/3 of Hold Timer period a KeepAlive message is sent The two BGP peers may negotiate to not send any KeepAlive. For example, If Hold Time = 0, KeepAlive is never sent. KeepAlive message only contains fixed length header (19 bytes)

CS Summer 2003 BGP Notification Message Whenever an error condition is encountered, BGP sends a Notification message. Following transmission of a notification message, the associated TCP connections is immediately closed. In addition to the fixed sized header, Notification message contains following fields: Error Code (e.g., 1= Message Hdr Error, 2=Open Msg Error, …) Error Subcode Data to help troubleshooting the error.

CS Summer 2003 OpenConfirm Established OpenSent ActiveConnect Idle 1,9,11,12 2-8,10,13(see note) 2,4,6, ,3, ,7 1 1,9 2-8,10,12,13 1, BGP Events: 1- BGP Start 8- Hold Timer Expired 2- BGP Stop 9- Keep Alive Timer Expired 3- BGP Transport Connection Open 10- Receive Open Message 4- BGP Transport Connection Closed 11- Receive Keep Alive Message 5- BGP Transport Connection Failed 12- Receive Update Message 6- BGP Transport Connection Fatal Error 13-Receive Notification Message 7- Connect Retry Timer Expired Note: Whenever BGP transitions Established to Idle state, it closed the TCP connection and withdraws all routes learned on that connection.

CS Summer 2003 BGP Update Message Update is the most important BGP message because it is used for exchanging routing information between BGP peers. Based on routing information exchanged via Update messages, BGP speakers construct graph of the AS’s topology. In short, BGP Update contains all the required information that enables BGP speakers to perform loop-free-routing. In addition to mandatory fixed-sized header, BGP Update may contain one or more of the following optional fields: Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) Withdrawn Routes Path Attributes

CS Summer 2003 Length (1 byte)Prefix (1 byte) Unfeasible Routes Length (2 bytes) Length (1 byte)Prefix (1 byte) Total Path Attribute Length (2 bytes) Withdrawn Routes (variable length) Path Attributes (a variable length sequence of path attributes such as AS_PATH, NEXT_HOP etc. NLRI Path Attributes Unfeasible Routes

CS Summer 2003 BGP Update Message In order to be able to exchange Update message, BGP session must be in established state Update message may simultaneously Advertise single feasible route But withdraw multiple routes What is a route? A route is an association of the path attributes with one or more IP destination prefixes contained in the NLRI. It is important to realize that all path attributes (carried in the Path Attribute field) apply to all IP destination prefixes listed in the NLRI field. This means, Update message cannot advertise more than one route

CS Summer 2003 BGP Update Message How come more than one routes can be withdrawn in a single message? A BGP speaker receiving an Update message can unambiguously can identify a route to be withdrawn based on an IP destination address listed in the withdrawn field. As a result, it is possible to withdraw multiple routes simultaneously.

CS Summer 2003 AS Topology Graph Vertex – represents an AS Path (or edge) – represents interconnection between two AS. Route – collection of path information form a route. AS1 AS2 AS3 AS4 Path Routing Flow Traffic flow Route – (AS1, AS2, AS3)