Specifications

ExtremeWare XOS 10.1 Command Reference Guide 585
14 BGP Commands
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an exterior routing protocol that was developed for use in TCP/IP
networks. The primary function of BGP is to allow different autonomous systems (ASs) to exchange
network reachability information.
An autonomous system is a set of routers that are under a single technical administration. This set of
routers uses a different routing protocol (such as OSPF) for intra-AS routing. One or more routers in the
AS are configured to be border routers, exchanging information with other border routers (in different
autonomous systems) on behalf of all of the intra-AS routers.
BGP can be used as an exterior gateway protocol (EBGP), or it can be used within an AS as an interior
gateway protocol (IBGP).
BGP Attributes
The following BGP attributes are supported by the switch:
• Origin – Defines the origin of the route. Possible values are IGP, EGP, and incomplete.
• AS_Path – The list of ASs that are traversed for this route.
• Next_hop – The IP address of the next hop BGP router to reach the destination listed in the NLRI
field.
• Multi_Exist_Discriminator – Used to select a particular border router in another AS when multiple
border routers exist.
• Local_Preference – Used to advertise this router’s degree of preference to other routers within the
AS.
• Atomic_aggregate – Indicates that the sending border router is used a route aggregate prefix in the
route update.
• Aggregator – Identifies the BGP router AS number and IP address that performed route aggregation.
• Community – Identifies a group of destinations that share one or more common attributes.
• Cluster_ID – Specifies a 4 byte field used by a route reflector to recognize updates from other route
reflectors in the same cluster. A route can contain a sequence of CLUSTER_ID values representing
the reflection path that the route has passed.
• Originator_ID – Specifies the Router_ID of the originator of the route in the local AS.