Fundamentals of BGP Operation

BGP is structured around the concept that the Internet is divided into a number of Autonomous Systems (ASs). Before you learn how the protocol operates, you should become familiar with ASs.

An Autonomous System (AS) is a network under a single administration, identified by a single two-byte number (1–65536), which is allocated by the InterNIC and is globally unique to the AS. Within an AS, private AS numbers may be used by BGP, but they must be translated to the official AS prior to connectivity with the Internet.

An AS is essentially a network under a single administrative control, and it may be categorized as a stub, multihomed, or transit AS. A stub AS is a network that connects to a single Internet service ...

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