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Routing & Switching · Advanced

BGP Confederation

Splitting one AS into multiple internal sub-ASes that run eBGP-like sessions among themselves, reducing iBGP mesh size.

Definition

Externally the confederation appears as a single AS. Sub-AS numbers appear in AS_CONFED_SEQUENCE segments and are removed when routes leave the confederation. Local preference, MED and next hop are preserved across confederation eBGP links.

Example

bgp confederation identifier 65000 / bgp confederation peers 65101 65102

Exam tip

Confederations and route reflectors both solve iBGP scaling; confederations are more disruptive to deploy.

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