ORF Lists for BGP Route Reflectors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems face limitations in supporting the total number of routes, particularly when route reflectors are overwhelmed, leading to inefficiencies in VPN and Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPV4) routing, and partitioning routes becomes cumbersome, especially when extranet virtual private networks are formed across different partitions.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of Outbound Route Filtering (ORF) mechanisms, where route reflectors build ORF lists and filters from received ORF entries to reduce the load on route reflectors by advertising only necessary routing information, allowing PE routers to manage VPN and Internet routes efficiently without full mesh configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If route reflectors are used to exchange routing information within an autonomous system, then routing information can be propagated efficiently, but the route reflectors become overwhelmed when supporting the total number of routes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the routing information by creating separate ORF lists for different client types (VPN clients and Internet clients). Route reflectors are divided into different roles (primary and secondary) that handle different types of routing information, allowing the system to scale by distributing the routing table management across multiple specialized route reflectors rather than overwhelming a single route reflector with all routes
2Reliability
If full mesh configurations are used for PE routers to manage VPN and Internet routes, then complete routing information is available, but the configuration becomes cumbersome and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces route reflectors as intermediary devices between PE routers, eliminating the need for full mesh configurations. The route reflectors act as mediators that collect, process, and distribute routing information to the appropriate PE routers, simplifying the network topology from a complex full mesh to a hub-and-spoke model while maintaining routing information completeness
3Reliability
If route reflectors advertise all routing information to all peers, then complete routing coverage is achieved, but unnecessary routing updates increase network load
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by creating customized ORF lists tailored to each client's specific needs. VPN clients receive only VPN-related routing information while Internet clients receive only Internet routing information. This selective advertising approach maintains complete routing coverage for each client type while significantly reducing the volume of routing updates transmitted across the network
Data Source
AI summary
A method, apparatus and computer program product for providing Outbound Route Filtering (ORF) is presented. An ORF list is produced and an ORF filter is built from the ORF list. The ORF list is built from received ORF entries. The ORF list is advertised to client and non-client peers. The ORF filter is built from a received ORF list and is directed toward the advertiser of the ORF list.