Heavy Networking 553: Why Does BGP Need Link State?

BGP link-state is not new. It’s been kicking around since 2015 or so. On the surface, you might think, “Why are we carrying around link state information in BGP? That’s not what BGP is for.” You’re not the only one with that reaction. But BGP-LS is more nuanced. Engineering choices are made for a reason, and remember that everything’s a trade off. To educate us on what BGP-LS is and why it exists, we welcome Hannes Gredler. He’s heavily involved in the deepest corners of the networking industry as the CTO and founder of startup RtBrick, offering cloud-native routing software for telcos. He’s also chaired the IETF IS-IS working group, and was a Distinguished Engineer at Juniper Networks. He holds some routing patents. He’s a published author. Hannes knows what’s going on when it comes to BGP-LS, and volunteered to share some of his time with Heavy Networking. We discuss: * What BGP-LS is and the problems it solves * How BGP-LS was conceived * Why carry link state in BGP? * Are we stuffing too many features into BGP? * How BGP-LS compares to segment routing * More Sponsor: ITProTV Start or grow your IT career with online IT training from ITProTV. There’s a special offer for Packet Pushers Heavy Networking listeners: sign up and save 30% off all plans! Visit itpro.tv/PACKETPUSHERS for 30% off all plans. Use promo code PACKETPUSHERS at checkout. Show Links: @HannesGredler – Hannes Gredler on Twitter Hannes Gredler on LinkedIn The Complete IS-IS Routing Protocol – Hannes Gredler’s book, available on Amazon RtBrick blog – RtBrick Heavy Networking 477: Segment Routing Boot Camp With Juniper Networks (Sponsored) – Packet Pushers