[179626] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Euro-IX quagga stable download and implementation
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mike Hammett)
Fri Apr 24 07:49:01 2015
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 06:48:53 -0500 (CDT)
From: Mike Hammett <nanog@ics-il.net>
To: nanog@nanog.org
In-Reply-To: <13A7BFA0-E258-4A85-9879-95E0CD3FD786@nosignal.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
The best IX list I've found is Open-IX as it's the only one I've found dedi=
cated to IXes while still being public. Tried to join the Euro-IX ones, but=
as you indicated... members only.=20
-----=20
Mike Hammett=20
Intelligent Computing Solutions=20
http://www.ics-il.com=20
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Davidson" <andy@nosignal.org>=20
To: "Goran Slavic" <gslavic@sox.rs>=20
Cc: nanog@nanog.org=20
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 4:30:12 AM=20
Subject: Re: Euro-IX quagga stable download and implementation=20
Hi, Goran, everyone --=20
On 23 Apr 2015, at 09:06, Goran Slavic <gslavic@sox.rs> wrote:=20
> at the mailing list and have an interest in downloading and implementing =
the Euro-IX version of Quagga in our Internet exchange. My questions are si=
mple:=20
> - Considering the time when the post is written (2012) - what is the curr=
ent status of the Euro-IX Quagga ?=20
> - Where can it be downloaded as a stable release / version ?=20
This email is a comment on using this software as a route-server, and not a=
comment on using this software as a RIB manager on a forwarding device - i=
f you=E2=80=99re a reader from the future trying to understand about runnin=
g this software on a router, then please bear this in mind.=20
There are three well known open source BGP implementations which are common=
ly used as a route-server - BIRD, Quagga, and OpenBGPd. It is typical to co=
nfigure them today in a way that has the route-server calculate a different=
RIB for every connected ASN on your exchange. This is because it is also c=
ommon to allow route-server users to filter (prevent their prefixes reachin=
g) other participants. Information about why this is important has been pub=
lished in various presentations and papers at IX and operator events.=20
Calculating best-path for every participant becomes complex when you have a=
lot of participants, further when the number of prefixes on the exchange g=
rows.=20
OpenBGPd will stay up but take a very long time to process and forward anno=
unce/withdraw BGP messages. On a ~100 ASN/participant/table system with ~50=
00 prefixes, it can take anywhere up to an hour for a withdraw to be proces=
sed and forwarded which means your participants will get a route that is wi=
thdrawn for a long time and blackhole traffic at the exchange. It is theref=
ore problematic to use this software on all but the smallest exchanges. It=
=E2=80=99s OK on small instances but does not scale.=20
Quagga=E2=80=99s vanilla build will fail to stay up with large numbers of t=
ables and participants. Chris Hall did an amazing job at making a build tha=
t was more prone to staying up and his build is doing a sterling job at LIN=
X (alongside BIRD) but I understand that this source tree is no longer main=
tained and that the task of merging his stability fixes into the mainline o=
r OSR (https://www.opensourcerouting.org) version is not a simple job and h=
as not been done. This gives me a serious concern about the future of this =
branch.=20
BIRD just doesn=E2=80=99t die, no matter what scale we seem to throw at it.=
This thing just keeps flying.=20
We now have two (busy) BIRD instances at the LONAP exchange in London where=
most of our 150 exchange point members use the service.=20
Goran - SOX is a member of the Euro-IX association for exchange points and =
there is a private mailing list for members who operate route-servers. Ther=
e may be a greater concentration of route-server operators on that list so =
it=E2=80=99s probably worth continuing the discussion there? You sign in to=
the website and visit https://www.euro-ix.net/mailing-list-archives to sub=
scribe.=20
With best wishes,=20
Andy Davidson=20
(Relevant Hats: LONAP, IXLeeds, Euro-IX, IIX, NapAfrica)=20
