[c-nsp] Default Route vs Full routing table with BGP

[Joe Provo]

On Wed, Dec 28, 2005 at 12:43:09PM -0800, Joseph Jackson wrote:
> 
> 	I currently recivie only default route from my two providers because
> of memory issues.  We are doing an upgrade of our internet routers to 1 gig
> of ram and that would enable me to recivie the full internet routing table.
> Should I?  Is it any better to do so?

In most cases, yes.  You can make better-informed decisions about
utilizing the links.  Depending on the providers and your traffic
mix, you might find one advertizes a much better connection to the 
sources/sinks of the bulk of your traffic.  In that case, it is 
best to have a fallback in-hand.  Depending on your traffic load, 
etc you may wish to have your providers send you full tables + 
default, and filter out all but default + their ASNs on your end.
Then you can incrementally add more paths to acheive the performance
level that you desire.

It is useful to find out if your providers can supply you with 
community tagged routes to indicate their directly attached customers.
That often makes a good decision-assist.

Cheers,

Joe

--
Joe Provo                                            Voice  617.670.2904
Senior Manager, Internet Planning & Design           Fax    617.670.2920
Network Engineering, RCN                             <joe.provo at rcn.com>