RFC 4276
BGP-4 Implementation Report
Pages: 97
Informational
Informational
Part 1 of 4 – Pages 1 to 7
Network Working Group S. Hares Request for Comments: 4276 NextHop Category: Informational A. Retana Cisco January 2006 BGP-4 Implementation Report 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 (2006).Abstract
This document reports the results of the BGP-4 implementation survey. The survey had 259 questions about implementations' support of BGP-4 as specified in RFC 4271. After a brief summary of the results, each response is listed. This document contains responses from the four implementers that completed the survey (Alcatel, Cisco, Laurel, and NextHop) and brief information from three that did not (Avici, Data Connection Ltd., and Nokia). The editors did not use exterior means to verify the accuracy of the information submitted by the respondents. The respondents are experts with the products they reported on.Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................3 1.1. Conventions Used in This Document ..........................4 2. Results of Survey ...............................................4 2.1. Significant Differences ....................................4 2.2. Overview of Differences ....................................5 2.3. Implementations and Interoperability .......................6 2.4. BGP Implementation Identification ..........................7 3. BGP-4 Implementation Report .....................................7 3.0. Summary of Operation / Section 3 [RFC4271] .................7 3.1. Routes: Advertisement and Storage / Section 3.1 [RFC4271] ..8 3.2. Routing Information Bases / Section 3.2 [RFC4271] ..........9 3.3. Message Formats / Section 4 [RFC4271] ......................9 3.4. Message Header Format / Section 4.1 [RFC4271] .............10
3.5. OPEN Message / Section 4.2 [RFC4271] ......................11
3.6. UPDATE Message Format / Section 4.3 [RFC4271] .............12
3.7. KEEPALIVE Message Format / Section 4.4 [RFC4271] ..........16
3.8. NOTIFICATION Message Format / Section 4.5 [RFC4271] .......17
3.9. Path Attributes /Section 5 [RFC4271] ......................17
3.10. ORIGIN / Section 5.1.1 [RFC4271] .........................22
3.11. AS_PATH / Section 5.1.2 [RFC4271] ........................22
3.12. NEXT_HOP / Section 5.1.3 [RFC4271] .......................23
3.13. MULTI_EXIT_DISC / Section 5.1.4 [RFC4271] ................27
3.14. LOCAL_PREF / Section 5.1.5 [RFC4271] .....................30
3.15. ATOMIC_AGGREGATE / Section 5.1.6 [RFC4271] ...............31
3.16. AGGREGATOR / Section 5.1.7 [RFC4271] .....................32
3.17. BGP Error Handling / Section 6 [RFC4271] .................34
3.18. Message Header Error Handling / Section 6.1 [RFC4271] ....34
3.19. OPEN Message Error Handling / Section 6.2 [RFC4271] ......36
3.20. UPDATE Message Error Handling / Section 6.3 [RFC4271] ....40
3.21. NOTIFICATION Message Error Handling / Section 6.4
[RFC4271] ................................................50
3.22. Hold Timer Expired Error Handling / Section 6.5
[RFC4271] ................................................51
3.23. Finite State Machine Error Handling / Section 6.6
[RFC4271] ................................................51
3.24. Cease / Section 6.7 [RFC4271] ............................51
3.25. BGP Connection Collision Detection / Section 6.8
[RFC4271] ................................................53
3.26. BGP Version Negotiation / Section 7 [RFC4271] ............54
3.27. BGP Finite State Machine (FSM) / Section 8 [RFC4271] .....55
3.28. Administrative Events / Section 8.1.2 [RFC4271] ..........55
3.29. Timer Events / Section 8.1.3 [RFC4271] ...................61
3.30. TCP Connection-Based Events / Section 8.1.4 [RFC4271] ....62
3.31. BGP Messages-Based Events / Section 8.1.5 [RFC4271] ......63
3.32. FSM Definition / Section 8.2.1 [RFC4271] .................65
3.33. FSM and Collision Detection / Section 8.2.1.2 [RFC4271] ..66
3.34. FSM Event numbers / Section 8.2.1.4 [RFC4271] ............66
3.35. Finite State Machine / Section 8.2.2 [RFC4271] ...........67
3.36. UPDATE Message Handling / Section 9 [RFC4271] ............67
3.37. Decision Process / Section 9.1 [RFC4271] .................69
3.38. Phase 1: Calculation of Degree of Preference /
Section 9.1.1 ............................................70
3.39. Phase 2: Route Selection / Section 9.1.2 [RFC4271] .......71
3.40. Route Resolvability Condition / Section 9.1.2.1
[RFC4271] ................................................73
3.41. Breaking Ties (Phase 2) / Section 9.1.2.2 [RFC4271] ......74
3.42. Phase 3: Route Dissemination / Section 9.1.3 [RFC4271] ...76
3.43. Overlapping Routes / Section 9.1.4 [RFC4271] .............77
3.44. Update-Send Process / Section 9.2 [RFC4271] ..............79
3.45. Frequency of Route Advertisement / Section
9.2.1.1 [RFC4271] ........................................81
3.46. Aggregating Routing Information / Section 9.2.2.2
[RFC4271] ................................................82
3.47. Route Selection Criteria / Section 9.3 [RFC4271] .........87
3.48. Originating BGP Routes / Section 9.4 [RFC4271] ...........88
3.49. BGP Timers / Section 10 [RFC4271] ........................88
3.50. TCP Options that May Be Used with BGP / Appendix
E [RFC4271] ..............................................91
3.51. Reducing Route Flapping / Appendix F.2 [RFC4271] .........92
3.52. Complex AS_PATH aggregation / Appendix F.6 [RFC4271] .....92
3.53. Security Considerations [RFC4271] ........................92
4. Additional BGP Implementations Information .....................93
4.1. Avici .....................................................93
4.2. Data Connection Ltd. ......................................94
4.3. Nokia .....................................................94
5. Security Considerations ........................................95
6. Normative References ...........................................95
7. Acknowledgements ...............................................96
1. Introduction
This document reports results from a survey of implementations of
BGP-4 as specified in [RFC4271]. RFC 4271 is in alignment with
current deployments of BGP-4 and obsoletes the BGP standard
[RFC1771]. BGP is a widely deployed cornerstone of Internet
technology that continues to add additional functionality as the
needs of the Internet evolve. As deployed in the Internet, BGP-4
encompasses both this base specification and additional
specifications such as TCP MD5 [RFC2385], BGP Route Reflectors
[RFC2796], BGP Confederations [RFC3065], and BGP Route Refresh
[RFC2918].
The BGP-4 implementation survey had 259 detailed questions about
compliance with [RFC4271]. Four implementers (Alcatel, Cisco,
Laurel, and NextHop) completed the survey. Section 3 provides a
compilation of those results.
Section 2.1 highlights significant differences and Section 2.2
provides an overview of the differences between the four
implementations. Section 2.3 provides interoperability information.
Due to the large number of BGP implementations and the small number
of respondents, the editors took an informal survey to determine if
the length of the original survey caused implementers not to submit
it. Three implementers responded, and all indicated the length of
the survey was the issue. Section 4 gives the results of this
informal survey.
In this document, the editors have compiled the results of the implementation survey results and the informal survey.1.1. Conventions Used in This Document
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].2. Results of Survey
The respondents replied "Y" (yes) or "N" (no) to the survey's 259 questions to indicate whether their implementation supports the Functionality/Description of the [RFC2119] language in [RFC4271]. The respondents replied "O" (other) to indicate that the support is neither "Y" nor "N" (for example, an alternate behavior).2.1. Significant Differences
Each question received affirmative responses from at least two implementers (i.e., two "Y" responses, or one "Y" and one "O"), except the following questions: a) MUST - Linked Questions 212/213, regarding Section 9.1.4 Due to the format of the linked questions, three vendors (Cisco, Laurel, and NextHop) replied "N" to Question 213. (See Section 2.2 for details.) b) SHALL NOT - Question 228, regarding Section 9.2.2.2 Three vendors (Alcatel, Cisco, and Laurel) answered "N" to SHALL NOT (meaning they did). One vendor (NextHop) indicated "O" matching the specification. Text: Routes that have different MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute SHALL NOT be aggregated. (Section 9.2.2.2, [RFC4271]) c) SHOULD - Questions 257 and 258, regarding Appendix F Three vendors answered "N" and one vendor answered "Y" to Question 257. All four vendors answered "N" to Question 258. (Please note that support of Appendix F, "Implementation Recommendations", is optional.)
Text: A BGP speaker which needs to withdraw a destination and
send an update about a more specific or less specific route
SHOULD combine them into the same UPDATE message.
(Appendix F.2, [RFC4271])
Text: The last instance (rightmost occurrence) of that AS number
is kept. (Appendix F.6, [RFC4271])
d) MAY - Questions 180 and 254, regarding Sections 8.1.2.4 and 10
Three vendors answered "N", and 1 replied "Y" to Question 180.
Text: The Event numbers (1-28) utilized in this state machine
description aid in specifying the behavior of the BGP state
machine. Implementations MAY use these numbers to provide
network management information. The exact form of a FSM or
the FSM events are specific to each implementation.
(Section 8.1.2.4, [RFC4271])
Editors' note: Section 8.1.2.4 was written to allow existing
implementations to transition to the new event
numbering. It was expected over time (3 years)
that the FSM event numbering would be updated to
the new numbering.
Three vendors answered "N" and one answered "Y" to Question 254
about configurable jitter time values.
Text: A given BGP speaker MAY apply the same jitter to each of
these quantities regardless of the destinations to which
the updates are being sent; that is, jitter need not be
configured on a "per peer" basis. (Section 10, [RFC4271])
Question: Is the jitter range configurable?
2.2. Overview of Differences
This section provides the reader with a shortcut to the points where
the four implementations differ.
The following questions were not answered "Y" by all four respondents
(Note that the question numbers correspond to the final digit of
subsection numbers of Section 3):
MUST
97, 106, 107, 111, 122, 125, 138, 141, 213
SHALL
233, 239
SHALL NOT
228
SHOULD
42, 117, 132, 146, 152, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163,
164, 165, 169, 170, 171, 173, 174, 175, 202, 225, 250, 255, 256
SHOULD NOT
226
MAY
67, 94, 121, 143, 180, 223, 247, 254
Other
236, 238
Linked Questions
212/213
Three vendors answered "N" and one answered "Y" to Question 213
about the aggregation of routes. Questions 212 and 213 are
grouped together.
Question 212 states: "The decision process MUST either install
both routes or..."
Question 213 states: "Aggregate the two routes and install the
aggregated route, provided that both routes have the same value
of the NEXT_HOP attribute"
Of the four respondents that said "Y" to Question 212, three said
"N" to Question 213. Given the context of the question, answering
"N" to Question 213 is appropriate.
2.3. Implementations and Interoperability
Alcatel Cisco Laurel NextHop
Alcatel Y Y
Cisco Y
Laurel Y Y
NextHop Y Y
2.4. BGP Implementation Identification
1.6.0 Alcatel Implementation Name/Version: Alcatel 7750 BGP Implementation Release 1.3 Date: July 2003 Contact Name: Devendra Raut Contact Email: Devendra.raut@Alcatel.com 1.6.1 Cisco Implementation Name/Version: Cisco BGP Implementation, 12.0(27)S Contact Name: Alvaro Retana Date: 11/26/2003 1.6.2 Laurel Implementation Name/Version: Laurel Networks 3.0 Contact Name: Manish Vora Contact Email: vora@laurelnetworks.com Date: 2/1/2004 1.6.3 NextHop Technologies Implementation Name/Version: Gated NGC 2.0, 2.2 Date: January 2004
(page 7 continued on part 2)