Dell Configuration Guide for the S4048–ON System 9.14.2.5

BGP IP version 4 (BGPv4) Overview

This section provides a general description of BGPv4 as it is supported in the Dell EMC Networking Operating System (OS).

BGP protocol standards are listed in the Standards Compliance chapter.

BGP is an external gateway protocol (EGP) that transmits interdomain routing information within and between autonomous systems (AS). An AS is an network managed by a single entity or administration. BGPv4 includes support for 4-byte autonomous system numbers and multiprotocol extensions to allow BGP to exchange information. BGP also support multiple Layer 3 protocol address families including IPv4 and IPv6. The primary function of the BGP is to exchange network reachability information with other BGP systems. BGP generally operates with an internal gateway protocol (IGP) such as open shortest path first (OSPF) or router information protocol (RIP), allowing you to communicate to external ASs smoothly. BGP adds reliability to network connections by having multiple paths from one router to another.

BGP uses a path-vector routing algorithm to communicate network information with other BGP configured routers. The network information is exchanged as updates between BGP peers, which contains information about the network, attributes and AS that is used to reach destination network. BGP selects a single path as a best path to a destination using best path selection algorithm.