





Network Working Group                                       D. McPherson
Request for Comments: 3345                                           TCB
Category: Informational                                          V. Gill
                                                   AOL Time Warner, Inc.
                                                               D. Walton
                                                               A. Retana
                                                     Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                             August 2002


  Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Persistent Route Oscillation Condition

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   In particular configurations, the BGP scaling mechanisms defined in
   "BGP Route Reflection - An Alternative to Full Mesh IBGP" and
   "Autonomous System Confederations for BGP" will introduce persistent
   BGP route oscillation.  This document discusses the two types of
   persistent route oscillation that have been identified, describes
   when these conditions will occur, and provides some network design
   guidelines to avoid introducing such occurrences.

1. Introduction

   The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an inter-Autonomous System
   routing protocol.  The primary function of a BGP speaking system is
   to exchange network reachability information with other BGP systems.

   In particular configurations, the BGP [1] scaling mechanisms defined
   in "BGP Route Reflection - An Alternative to Full Mesh IBGP" [2] and
   "Autonomous System Confederations for BGP" [3] will introduce
   persistent BGP route oscillation.

   The problem is inherent in the way BGP works: locally defined routing
   policies may conflict globally, and certain types of conflicts can
   cause persistent oscillation of the protocol.  Given current
   practices, we happen to see the problem manifest itself in the
   context of MED + route reflectors or confederations.



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   The current specification of BGP-4 [4] states that the
   MULTI_EXIT_DISC is only comparable between routes learned from the
   same neighboring AS.  This limitation is consistent with the
   description of the attribute: "The MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute may be
   used on external (inter-AS) links to discriminate among multiple exit
   or entry points to the same neighboring AS." [1,4]

   In a full mesh iBGP network, all the internal routers have complete
   visibility of the available exit points into a neighboring AS.  The
   comparison of the MULTI_EXIT_DISC for only some paths is not a
   problem.

   Because of the scalability implications of a full mesh iBGP network,
   two alternatives have been standardized: route reflectors [2] and AS
   confederations [3].  Both alternatives describe methods by which
   route distribution may be achieved without a full iBGP mesh in an AS.

   The route reflector alternative defines the ability to re-advertise
   (reflect) iBGP-learned routes to other iBGP peers once the best path
   is selected [2].  AS Confederations specify the operation of a
   collection of autonomous systems under a common administration as a
   single entity (i.e. from the outside, the internal topology and the
   existence of separate autonomous systems are not visible).  In both
   cases, the reduction of the iBGP full mesh results in the fact that
   not all the BGP speakers in the AS have complete visibility of the
   available exit points into a neighboring AS.  In fact, the visibility
   may be partial and inconsistent depending on the location (and
   function) of the router in the AS.

   In certain topologies involving either route reflectors or
   confederations (detailed description later in this document), the
   partial visibility of the available exit points into a neighboring AS
   may result in an inconsistent best path selection decision as the
   routers don't have all the relevant information.  If the
   inconsistencies span more than one peering router, they may result in
   a persistent route oscillation.  The best path selection rules
   applied in this document are consistent with the current
   specification [4].

   The persistent route oscillation behavior is deterministic and can be
   avoided by employing some rudimentary BGP network design principles
   until protocol enhancements resolve the problem.

   In the following sections a taxonomy of the types of oscillations is
   presented and a description of the set of conditions that will
   trigger route oscillations is given.  We continue by providing
   several network design alternatives that remove the potential of this
   occurrence.



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   It is the intent of the authors that this document serve to increase
   operator awareness of the problem, as well as to trigger discussion
   and subsequent proposals for potential protocol enhancements that
   remove the possibility of this to occur.

   The oscillations are classified into Type I and Type II depending
   upon the criteria documented below.

2. Discussion of Type I Churn

   In the following two subsections we provide configurations under
   which Type I Churn will occur.  We begin with a discussion of the
   problem when using Route Reflection, and then discuss the problem as
   it relates to AS Confederations.

   In general, Type I Churn occurs only when BOTH of the following
   conditions are met:

      1) a single-level Route Reflection or AS Confederations design is
         used in the network AND

      2) the network accepts the BGP MULTI_EXIT_DISC (MED) attribute
         from two or more ASs for a single prefix and the MED values are
         unique.

   It is also possible for the non-deterministic ordering of paths to
   cause the route oscillation problem.  [1] does not specify that paths
   should be ordered based on MEDs but it has been proven that non-
   deterministic ordering can lead to loops and inconsistent routing
   decisions.  Most vendors have either implemented deterministic
   ordering as default behavior, or provide a knob that permits the
   operator to configure the router to order paths in a deterministic
   manner based on MEDs.


















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2.1. Route Reflection and Type I Churn

   We now discuss Type I oscillation as it relates to Route Reflection.
   To begin, consider the topology depicted in Figure 1:

      ---------------------------------------------------------------
    /     --------------------               --------------------     \
   |    /                      \           /                      \    |
   |   |       Cluster 1        |         |      Cluster 2         |   |
   |   |                        |         |                        |   |
   |   |                        |   *1    |                        |   |
   |   |         Ra(RR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rd(RR)         |   |
   |   |         .  .           |         |           .            |   |
   |   |       .*5    .*4       |         |           .*12         |   |
   |   |     .          .       |         |           .            |   |
   |   |   Rb(C)        Rc(C)   |         |         Re(C)          |   |
   |   |     .            .     |         |           .            |   |
   |    \    .            .    /           \          .           /    |
   |      ---.------------.---               ---------.----------      |
    \        .(10)        .(1)     AS1                .(0)            /
      -------.------------.---------------------------.--------------
             .            .                           .
          ------            .     ------------      .
        /        \            . /              \   .
       |   AS10   |            |      AS6       |
        \        /              \              /
          ------                  ------------
                .                      .
                   .                   .
                      .       --------------
                         .  /                \
                           |      AS100       |- 10.0.0.0/8
                            \                /
                              --------------

             Figure 1: Example Route Reflection Topology

   In Figure 1 AS1 contains two Route Reflector Clusters, Clusters 1 and
   2.  Each Cluster contains one Route Reflector (RR) (i.e., Ra and Rd,
   respectively).  An associated 'RR' in parentheses represents each RR.
   Cluster 1 contains two RR Clients (Rb and Rc), and Cluster 2 contains
   one RR Client (Re).  An associated 'C' in parentheses indicates RR
   Client status.  The dotted lines are used to represent BGP peering
   sessions.

   The number contained in parentheses on the AS1 EBGP peering sessions
   represents the MED value advertised by the peer to be associated with
   the 10.0.0.0/8 network reachability advertisement.



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   The number following each '*' on the IBGP peering sessions represents
   the additive IGP metrics that are to be associated with the BGP
   NEXT_HOP attribute for the concerned route.  For example, the Ra IGP
   metric value associated with a NEXT_HOP learned via Rb would be 5;
   while the metric value associated with the NEXT_HOP learned via Re
   would be 13.

   Table 1 depicts the 10.0.0.0/8 route attributes as seen by routers
   Rb, Rc and Re, respectively.  Note that the IGP metrics in Figure 1
   are only of concern when advertising the route to an IBGP peer.

            Router  MED  AS_PATH
            --------------------
            Rb       10   10 100
            Rc        1    6 100
            Re        0    6 100

            Table 1: Route Attribute Table

   For the following steps 1 through 5, the best path will be marked
   with a '*'.

      1) Ra has the following installed in its BGP table, with the path
         learned via AS2 marked best:

                            NEXT_HOP
             AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -----------------------
               6 100    1          4
            * 10 100   10          5

         The '10 100' route should not be marked as best, though this is
         not the cause of the persistent route oscillation.  Ra realizes
         it has the wrong route marked as best since the '6 100' path
         has a lower IGP metric.  As such, Ra makes this change and
         advertises an UPDATE message to its neighbors to let them know
         that it now considers the '6 100, 1, 4' route as best.

      2) Rd receives the UPDATE from Ra, which leaves Rd with the
         following installed in its BGP table:

                            NEXT_HOP
             AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -----------------------
            *  6 100    0         12
               6 100    1          5





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         Rd then marks the '6 100, 0, 12' route as best because it has a
         lower MED.  Rd sends an UPDATE message to its neighbors to let
         them know that this is the best route.

      3) Ra receives the UPDATE message from Rd and now has the
         following in its BGP table:

                            NEXT_HOP
             AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -----------------------
               6 100    0         13
               6 100    1          4
            * 10 100   10          5

         The first route (6 100, 0, 13) beats the second route (6 100,
         1, 4) because of a lower MED.  Then the third route (10 100,
         10, 5) beats the first route because of lower IGP metric to
         NEXT_HOP.  Ra sends an UPDATE message to its peers informing
         them of the new best route.

      4) Rd receives the UPDATE message from Ra, which leaves Rd with
         the following BGP table:

                            NEXT_HOP
             AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -----------------------
               6 100    0         12
            * 10 100   10          6

         Rd selects the '10 100, 10, 6' path as best because of the IGP
         metric.  Rd sends an UPDATE/withdraw to its peers letting them
         know this is the best route.

      5) Ra receives the UPDATE message from Rd, which leaves Ra with
         the following BGP table:

                            NEXT_HOP
             AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -----------------------
               6 100    1          4
            * 10 100   10          5

         Ra received an UPDATE/withdraw for '6 100, 0, 13', which
         changes what is considered the best route for Ra.  This is why
         Ra has the '10 100, 10, 5' route selected as best in Step 1,
         even though '6 100, 1, 4' is actually better.





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      At this point, we've made a full loop and are back at Step 1.  The
      router realizes it is using the incorrect best path, and repeats
      the cycle.  This is an example of Type I Churn when using Route
      Reflection.

2.2. AS Confederations and Type I Churn

   Now we provide an example of Type I Churn occurring with AS
   Confederations.  To begin, consider the topology depicted in Figure
   2:

     ---------------------------------------------------------------
   /     --------------------               --------------------     \
  |    /                      \           /                      \    |
  |   |       Sub-AS 65000     |         |      Sub-AS 65001      |   |
  |   |                        |         |                        |   |
  |   |                        |   *1    |                        |   |
  |   |         Ra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rd           |   |
  |   |         .  .           |         |           .            |   |
  |   |       .*3    .*2       |         |           .*6          |   |
  |   |     .          .       |         |           .            |   |
  |   |    Rb . . . . . Rc     |         |          Re            |   |
  |   |     .    *5      .     |         |           .            |   |
  |    \    .            .    /           \          .           /    |
  |      ---.------------.---               ---------.----------      |
   \        .(10)        .(1)     AS1                .(0)            /
     -------.------------.---------------------------.--------------
            .            .                           .
         ------            .     ------------      .
       /        \            . /              \  .
      |   AS10   |            |      AS6       |
       \        /              \              /
         ------                  ------------
               .                      .
                  .                   .
                     .       --------------
                        .  /                \
                          |      AS100       |- 10.0.0.0/8
                           \                /
                             --------------

            Figure 2: Example AS Confederations Topology

   The number contained in parentheses on each AS1 EBGP peering session
   represents the MED value advertised by the peer to be associated with
   the 10.0.0.0/8 network reachability advertisement.





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   The number following each '*' on the IBGP peering sessions represents
   the additive IGP metrics that are to be associated with the BGP
   NEXT_HOP attribute for the concerned route.

   For example, the Ra IGP metric value associated with a NEXT_HOP
   learned via Rb would be 3; while the metric value associated with the
   NEXT_HOP learned via Re would be 6.

   Table 2 depicts the 10.0.0.0/8 route attributes as seen by routers
   Rb, Rc and Re, respectively.  Note that the IGP metrics in Figure 2
   are only of concern when advertising the route to an IBGP peer.

         Router  MED  AS_PATH
         --------------------
         Rb       10   10 100
         Rc        1    6 100
         Re        0    6 100

         Table 2: Route Attribute Table

   For the following steps 1 through 6 the best route will be marked
   with an '*'.

      1) Ra has the following BGP table:

                                    NEXT_HOP
                     AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -------------------------------
            *         10 100   10          3
               (65001) 6 100    0          7
                       6 100    1          2

         The '10 100' route is selected as best and is advertised to Rd,
         though this is not the cause of the persistent route
         oscillation.

      2) Rd has the following in its BGP table:

                                    NEXT_HOP
                     AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -------------------------------
                       6 100    0          6
            * (65000) 10 100   10          4

         The '(65000) 10 100' route is selected as best because it has
         the lowest IGP metric.  As a result, Rd sends an
         UPDATE/withdraw to Ra for the '6 100' route that it had
         previously advertised.



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      3) Ra receives the withdraw from Rd.  Ra now has the following in
         its BGP table:

                                    NEXT_HOP
                     AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -------------------------------
            *         10 100   10          3
                       6 100    1          2

         Ra received a withdraw for '(65001) 6 100', which changes what
         is considered the best route for Ra.  Ra does not compute the
         best path for a prefix unless its best route was withdrawn.
         This is why Ra has the '10 100, 10, 3' route selected as best,
         even though the '6 100, 1, 2' route is better.

      4) Ra's periodic BGP scanner runs and realizes that the '6 100'
         route is better because of the lower IGP metric.  Ra sends an
         UPDATE/withdraw to Rd for the '10 100' route since Ra is now
         using the '6 100' path as its best route.

         Ra's BGP table looks like this:

                                    NEXT_HOP
                     AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -------------------------------
                      10 100   10          3
            *          6 100    1          2

      5) Rd receives the UPDATE from Ra and now has the following in its
         BGP table:

                                    NEXT_HOP
                     AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -------------------------------
               (65000) 6 100    1          3
            *          6 100    0          6

         Rd selects the '6 100, 0, 6' route as best because of the lower
         MED value.  Rd sends an UPDATE message to Ra, reporting that '6
         100, 0, 6' is now the best route.











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      6) Ra receives the UPDATE from Rd.  Ra now has the following in
         its BGP table:

                                    NEXT_HOP
                     AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
             -------------------------------
            *         10 100   10          3
               (65001) 6 100    0          7
                       6 100    1          2

         At this point we have made a full cycle and are back to step 1.
         This is an example of Type I Churn with AS Confederations.

2.3. Potential Workarounds for Type I Churn

   There are a number of alternatives that can be employed to avoid this
   problem:

      1) When using Route Reflection make sure that the inter-Cluster
         links have a higher IGP metric than the intra-Cluster links.
         This is the preferred choice when using Route Reflection.  Had
         the inter-Cluster IGP metrics been much larger than the intra-
         Cluster IGP metrics, the above would not have occurred.

      2) When using AS Confederations ensure that the inter-Sub-AS links
         have a higher IGP metric than the intra-Sub-AS links.  This is
         the preferred option when using AS Confederations.  Had the
         inter-Sub-AS IGP metrics been much larger than the intra-Sub-AS
         IGP metrics, the above would not have occurred.

      3) Do not accept MEDs from peers (this may not be a feasible
         alternative).

      4) Utilize other BGP attributes higher in the decision process so
         that the BGP decision algorithm never reaches the MED step.  As
         using this completely overrides MEDs, Option 3 may make more
         sense.

      5) Always compare BGP MEDs, regardless of whether or not they were
         obtained from a single AS.  This is probably a bad idea since
         MEDs may be derived in a number of ways, and are typically done
         so as a matter of operator-specific policy.  As such, comparing
         MED values for a single prefix learned from multiple ASs is
         ill-advised.  Of course, this mostly defeats the purpose of
         MEDs, and as such, Option 3 may be a more viable alternative.

      6) Use a full IBGP mesh.  This is not a feasible solution for ASs
         with a large number of BGP speakers.



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3. Discussion of Type II Churn

   In the following subsection we provide configurations under which
   Type II Churn will occur when using AS Confederations.  For the sake
   of brevity, we avoid similar discussion of the occurrence when using
   Route Reflection.

   In general, Type II churn occurs only when BOTH of the following
   conditions are met:

      1) More than one tier of Route Reflection or Sub-ASs is used in
         the network AND

      2) the network accepts the BGP MULTI_EXIT_DISC (MED) attribute
         from two or more ASs for a single prefix and the MED values are
         unique.



































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3.1. AS Confederations and Type II Churn

   Let's now examine the occurrence of Type II Churn as it relates to AS
   Confederations.  Figure 3 provides our sample topology:

     ---------------------------------------------------------------
   /                     -------------------                          \
  |      AS 1          /      Sub-AS 65500   \                         |
  |                   |                       |                        |
  |                   |    Rc . . . . Rd      |                        |
  |                   |    .   *2      .      |                        |
  |                    \  .              .   /                         |
  |                      .-----------------.                           |
  |                     .*40                 .*40                      |
  |      --------------.-----                --.-----------------      |
  |    /              .        \           /     .                \    |
  |   |   Sub-AS     .          |         |        .      Sub-AS   |   |
  |   |    65501    .           |         |          .     65502   |   |
  |   |          Rb             |         |         Re             |   |
  |   |          .              |         |        . .             |   |
  |   |          .*10           |         |     *2.   .*3          |   |
  |   |          .              |         |      .     .           |   |
  |   |          Ra             |         |  . Rg . . . Rf         |   |
  |    \          .            /           .             .        /    |
  |      ----------.----------           .  -------------.-------      |
   \                .(0)               .(1)              .()          /
     ----------------.---------------.-------------------.----------

                     .            .                     .
                      ---------  .                  ---------
                      |AS 200 |                     |AS 300 |
                      ---------                     ---------
                              .                     .
                                .                 .
                                -------------------
                                |      AS 400     | - 10.0.0.0/8
                                -------------------

            Figure 3: Example AS Confederations Topology

   In Figure 3 AS 1 contains three Sub-ASs, 65500, 65501 and 65502.  No
   RR is used within the Sub-AS, and as such, all routers within each
   Sub-AS are fully meshed.  Ra and Rb are members of Sub-AS 65501.  Rc
   and Rd are members of Sub-AS 65500.  Ra and Rg are EBGP peering with
   AS 200, router Rf has an EBGP peering with AS 300.  AS 200 and AS 300
   provide transit for AS 400, and in particular, the 10/8 network.  The
   dotted lines are used to represent BGP peering sessions.




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   The number following each '*' on the BGP peering sessions represents
   the additive IGP metrics that are to be associated with the BGP
   NEXT_HOP.  The number contained in parentheses on each AS 1 EBGP
   peering session represents the MED value advertised by the peer to be
   associated with the network reachability advertisement (10.0.0.0/8).

   Rc, Rd and Re are the primary routers involved in the churn, and as
   such, will be the only BGP tables that we will monitor step by step.

   For the following steps 1 through 8 each router's best route will be
   marked with a '*'.

      1) Re receives the AS 400 10.0.0.0/8 route advertisement via AS
         200 from Rg and AS 300 from Rf.  Re selects the path via Rg and
         AS 200 because of IGP metric (Re didn't consider MED because
         the advertisements were received from different ASs).

                                  NEXT_HOP
            Router AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
            ------------------------------
            Re   * 200 400    1          2
                   300 400               3

         Re sends an UPDATE message to Rd advertising its new best path
         '200 400, 1'.

      2) The '200 400, 0' path was advertised from Ra to Rb, and then
         from Rb to Rc.  Rd learns the '200 400, 1' path from Re.

                                  NEXT_HOP
            Router AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
            -------------------------------
            Rc   * 200 400   0         50
            Rd   * 200 400   1         42
            Re     300 400              3
                 * 200 400   1          2















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      3) Rc and Rd advertise their best paths to each other; Rd selects
         '200 400, 0' because of the MED.

                                  NEXT_HOP
            Router AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
            ------------------------------
            Rc   * 200 400   0         50
                   200 400   1         44
            Rd   * 200 400   0         52
                   200 400   1         42
            Re     300 400              3
                 * 200 400   1          2

         Rd has a new best path so it sends an UPDATE to to Re,
         announcing the new path and an UPDATE/withdraw for '200 400, 1'
         to Rc.

      4) Re now selects '300 400' (with no MED) because '200 400, 0'
         beats '200 400, 1' based on MED and '300 400' beats '200 400,
         0' because of IGP metric.

                                  NEXT_HOP
            Router AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
            ------------------------------
            Rc   * 200 400    0         50
            Rd   * 200 400    0         52
                   200 400    1         42
            Re   * 300 400               3
                   200 400    0         92

         Re has a new best path and sends an UPDATE to Rd for '300 400'.

   5) Rd selects the '300 400' path because of IGP metric.

                                  NEXT_HOP
            Router AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
            ------------------------------
            Rc   * 200 400    0         50
            Rd     200 400    0         52
                 * 300 400              43
            Re   * 300 400               3
                   200 400    0         92
                   200 400    1          2

         Rd has a new best path so it sends an UPDATE to Rc and a
         UPDATE/withdraw to Re for '200 400, 0'.





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      6) Rc selects '300 400' because of the IGP metric.  Re selects
         '200 400, 1' because of the IGP metric.

                                  NEXT_HOP
            Router AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
            ------------------------------
            Rc     200 400    0         50
                 * 300 400              45
            Rd     200 400    0         52
                 * 300 400              43
            Re     300 400               3
                 * 200 400    1          2

         Rc sends an UPDATE/withdraw for '200 400, 0' to Rd.  Re sends
         an UPDATE for '200 400, 1' to Rd.

      7) Rd selects '200 400, 1' as its new best path based on the IGP
         metric.

                                  NEXT_HOP
            Router AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
            ------------------------------
            Rc     200 400    0         50
                 * 300 400              45
            Rd   * 200 400    1         42
            Re     300 400               3
                 * 200 400    1          2

         Rd sends an UPDATE to Rc, announcing '200 400, 1' and
         implicitly withdraws '300 400'.

      8) Rc selects '200 400, 0'.

                                  NEXT_HOP
            Router AS_PATH  MED   IGP Cost
            ------------------------------
            Rc   * 200 400    0         50
                   200 400    1         44
            Rd   * 200 400    1         42
            Re     300 400               3
                 * 200 400    1          2

         At this point we are back to Step 2 and are in a loop.








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3.2. Potential Workarounds for Type II Churn

   1) Do not accept MEDs from peers (this may not be a feasible
      alternative).

   2) Utilize other BGP attributes higher in the decision process so
      that the BGP decision algorithm selects a single AS before it
      reaches the MED step.  For example, if local-pref were set based
      on the advertising AS, then you first eliminate all routes except
      those in a single AS.  In the example, router Re would pick either
      X or Y based on your local-pref and never change selections.

      This leaves two simple workarounds for the two types of problems.

      Type I:  Make inter-cluster or inter-sub-AS link metrics higher
      than intra-cluster or intra-sub-AS metrics.

      Type II: Make route selections based on local-pref assigned to the
      advertising AS first and then use IGP cost and MED to make
      selection among routes from the same AS.

      Note that this requires per-prefix policies, as well as near
      intimate knowledge of other networks by the network operator.  The
      authors are not aware of ANY [large] provider today that performs
      per-prefix policies on routes learned from peers.  Implicitly
      removing this dynamic portion of route selection does not appear
      to be a viable option in today's networks.  The main point is that
      an available workaround using local-pref so that no two AS's
      advertise a given prefix at the same local-pref solves type II
      churn.

   3) Always compare BGP MEDs, regardless of whether or not they were
      obtained from a single AS.  This is probably a bad idea since MEDs
      may be derived in a number of ways, and are typically done so as a
      matter of operator-specific policy and largely a function of
      available metric space provided by the employed IGP.  As such,
      comparing MED values for a single prefix learned from multiple ASs
      is ill-advised.  This mostly defeats the purpose of MEDs; Option 1
      may be a more viable alternative.

   4) Do not use more than one tier of Route Reflection or Sub-ASs in
      the network.   The risk of route oscillation should be considered
      when designing networks that might use a multi-tiered routing
      isolation architecture.

   5) In a RR topology, mesh the clients.  For confederations, mesh the
      border routers at each level in the hierarchy.  In Figure 3, for
      example, if Rb and Re are peers, then there's no churn.



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4. Future Work

   It should be stated that protocol enhancements regarding this problem
   must be pursued.  Imposing network design requirements, such as those
   outlined above, are clearly an unreasonable long-term solution.
   Problems such as this should not occur under 'default' protocol
   configurations.

5. Security Considerations

   This discussion introduces no new security concerns to BGP or other
   specifications referenced in this document.

6. Acknowledgments

   The authors would like to thank Curtis Villamizar, Tim Griffin, John
   Scudder, Ron Da Silva, Jeffrey Haas and Bill Fenner.

7. References

   [1] Rekhter, Y. and T. Li, "A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC
       1771, March 1995.

   [2] Bates, T., Chandra, R. and E. Chen, "BGP Route Reflection - An
       Alternative to Full Mesh IBGP", RFC 2796, April 2000.

   [3] Traina, P., McPherson, D. and J. Scudder, J., "Autonomous System
       Confederations for BGP", RFC 3065, February 2001.

   [4] Rekhter, Y. and T. Li, "A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)",
       Work in Progress.




















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8. Authors' Addresses

   Danny McPherson
   TCB
   EMail: danny@tcb.net


   Vijay Gill
   AOL Time Warner, Inc.
   12100 Sunrise Valley Drive
   Reston, VA 20191
   EMail: vijay@umbc.edu


   Daniel Walton
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   7025 Kit Creek Rd.
   Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
   EMail: dwalton@cisco.com


   Alvaro Retana
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   7025 Kit Creek Rd.
   Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
   EMail: aretana@cisco.com

























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9. Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.



















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