Configuration and Analysis of OSPF

and iBGP With Route Reflectors

Submitted By: Rabeya Rubbaiyath Hridika
Division: Technology
Section: NGNC
Date: 28/08/2024

Objective:
 To gain a comprehensive understanding of the OSPF and iBGP routing
protocols.
 To learn how to configure OSPF and iBGP within a network topology.
 To understand the importance of implementing a Route Reflector (RR).

Introduction:
In this task, we first established a topology with 8 routers, including 4 PE and 4 P
routers, to set up OSPF. We began by configuring loopback addresses on all routers
and assigning IP addresses to all interfaces. Following this, we configured OSPF,
ensuring that all networks connected to each router, including the loopback
networks, were declared. Initially, routers that were not directly connected could
not communicate. However, once OSPF was configured, connectivity between
these routers was achieved.
To configure iBGP, we then introduced two additional routers as Route Reflectors.
In iBGP, routes learned from an eBGP router are only shared with other eBGP
routers due to the split-horizon rule, which is designed to prevent routing loops.
While one solution to this limitation is to establish full mesh connectivity, this
approach can be challenging in large networks. The Route Reflector was used to
address this issue effectively.
Network Topology:

Figure 1: Network topology in GNS3 Software

Key Steps:
 Assign IP addresses to all router interfaces.
 Configure a loopback address on each router.
 Set up OSPF on all routers.
 Verify the neighbor table and ensure connectivity between routers.
 Add two Route Reflector routers and repeat steps 1-4.
 Configure iBGP on all routers, designating RR1 and RR2 as route reflector
clients.
 Advertise networks from select routers and verify reachability across all
routers.

Theory:
Working Procedure:
1. Assign IP Addresses to All Router Interfaces: Initially, a Gigabit Ethernet
interface is chosen for its high-speed data transmission capabilities, which
supports up to 1 Gbps. To configure the interface, an IP address and a subnet
mask are assigned to it. For point-to-point connections, a /30 subnet mask is
typically used, which provides a total of 4 IP addresses: 1 network address, 1
broadcast address, and 2 usable addresses. This subnet mask is ideal for such
connections as it efficiently utilizes IP address space by ensuring that only
the two directly connected devices need addresses. By employing a /30
subnet, network configuration is simplified, reducing broadcast traffic and
conserving IP resources.

After assigning the IP addresses, the no shutdown command is issued to

activate the interface. By default, many interfaces are administratively shut
down, meaning they are not operational until explicitly enabled. The no
shutdown command transitions the interface to an "up" state, allowing it to
begin transmitting and receiving data. This process ensures that the interface
is fully operational and capable of participating in network communications.
Overall, the use of a /30 subnet and the activation of the interface with the
no shutdown command are standard practices that optimize network
performance and resource management.

2. Configure Loopback Address on Each Router: A loopback address is a

virtual interface used primarily for testing and troubleshooting within the
network device itself. Unlike physical interfaces, loopback interfaces do not
rely on hardware and are always up, providing a stable endpoint for various
network services and protocols. The /32 subnet mask for a loopback address
is used because it provides a single, unique IP address with no additional
network or broadcast addresses. This subnet mask indicates that the IP
address is a host address only, with no other devices in the subnet. The use
of a /32 mask simplifies routing and addressing, as the loopback address is
treated as a single point with no range of addresses to consider. It ensures
that the loopback interface is isolated from other network traffic and can be
used for tasks such as reliable network testing, routing protocol peering, and
service monitoring.
3. OSPF Configuration: OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is a widely used
link-state routing protocol designed for efficient and scalable routing within
large networks. Here's a brief overview of its configuration –

OSPF configuration is started by enabling OSPF on the router with the

router ospf [process-id] command, where [process-id] is a unique identifier
for the OSPF process. This process ID is a locally significant identifier that
is assigned to an OSPF routing process during its configuration. It is
important to note that the process ID is only relevant to the router on which
it is configured and has no impact on the OSPF communication with other
routers in the network. The purpose of the process ID is to allow the router
to distinguish between different OSPF instances that might be running on the
same device.

The network [network-address] [wildcard-mask] area [area-id]

command is used to specify which interfaces participate in OSPF and the
OSPF area they belong to. The network address and wildcard mask define
the range of IP addresses that will be included. In OSPF, a wildcard mask is
used instead of a subnet mask because it offers more flexibility in specifying
which IP addresses or subnets should participate in OSPF routing. The
wildcard mask allows network administrators to precisely define which bits
of an IP address should be matched, enabling the selection of specific IP
address ranges or subnets without the rigidity of a traditional subnet mask.
This flexibility simplifies OSPF configuration, especially when dealing with
complex network topologies.

OSPF neighborship is created when two routers with OSPF enabled on their
interfaces share the same area ID, network type, subnet, and have
compatible OSPF settings such as hello and dead intervals. The process
begins when routers exchange hello packets on their connected interfaces. If
the routers agree on key parameters, they proceed to establish a two-way
communication, during which they exchange more detailed information
about their OSPF state and routing tables. Once this exchange is complete,
the routers form an adjacency, allowing them to synchronize their link-state
databases and share routing information, thus creating a stable OSPF
neighborship.
 OSPF routing's path manipulation involves adjusting the cost metrics or
modifying certain OSPF attributes to influence the selection of routes within
the network. By default, OSPF selects the path with the lowest cost as the
best route. However, network administrators can manipulate these paths to
achieve specific routing objectives, such as load balancing, traffic
engineering, or redundancy. One common method of path manipulation is
altering the interface cost. By manually adjusting the cost of an OSPF-
enabled interface, administrators can make certain paths more or less
preferable. For example, increasing the cost on a specific interface makes
OSPF consider that path as less desirable, potentially diverting traffic to an
alternative route. To set the interface cost in OSPF, the ip ospf cost command
is used. This command is configured on the interface level and allows to
manually specify the cost of an OSPF interface. Here’s the syntax for the
command:
[Router]# interface [interface-type] [interface-number]
[Router-interface]# ip ospf cost [cost]

OSPF dynamically updates routing tables to reflect network changes and

uses cost as its metric to determine the shortest path for routing packets.
Proper configuration ensures efficient and reliable routing within the OSPF-
enabled network.

4. Route Reflector Routers (RR): BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is required

alongside OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) to handle different aspects of
routing within and between autonomous systems. OSPF is an Interior
Gateway Protocol (IGP) designed for routing within a single autonomous
system, focusing on internal network efficiency and fast convergence.
However, it lacks the capability to manage routing decisions between
multiple autonomous systems, which is where BGP excels. BGP is an
Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) used to exchange routing information
between different autonomous systems, making it essential for internet-wide
routing and policy-based routing. In large-scale networks, especially those
serving as backbones or ISPs, OSPF is often used internally due to its
scalability and efficient handling of internal routes, while BGP is used to
handle external route exchange. OSPF's role in backbone networks is crucial
because it provides a reliable, hierarchical routing structure that scales
 efficiently within large networks, ensuring robust and scalable internal
routing before external routes are managed by BGP.

Two route reflector routers are added in a network to simplify BGP (Border
Gateway Protocol) route distribution and reduce the number of required
BGP peering sessions. In large BGP networks, especially with many routers,
establishing a full mesh of peer connections between all routers can be
impractical and resource-intensive. By introducing route reflectors, these
routers can consolidate and redistribute BGP route information to other
routers within the same AS (Autonomous System). This setup reduces the
number of direct peer connections needed and helps manage the complexity
of BGP route propagation, ensuring efficient and scalable route distribution
throughout the network.

5. iBGP Configuration: eBGP (External Border Gateway Protocol) and iBGP

(Internal Border Gateway Protocol) serve different purposes within BGP
routing. eBGP is used for exchanging routing information between different
autonomous systems (ASes) and is essential for inter-domain routing, such
as across the internet. It operates between routers in different ASes and is
designed to handle policies and path selection for external routes. iBGP, on
the other hand, operates within a single AS, facilitating the exchange of
routing information between routers within the same AS. iBGP is more
efficient for internal routing within an AS because it helps ensure that all
routers in the AS have a consistent view of the BGP routing table, avoiding
the need for a full mesh of external peering sessions. It uses route reflectors
or confederations to simplify internal route distribution, reducing the number
of required BGP peerings and minimizing the complexity of maintaining a
full mesh of connections. This internal consistency and simplified route
distribution make iBGP an efficient method for managing BGP routes within
an AS.
In this topology, iBGP is used to maintain a consistent routing table across
all routers within a single autonomous system (AS).

The command router bgp 65000 is used to initiate the BGP process on a
router and specify the autonomous system (AS) number for that router. In
this command, 65000 is an example of an AS number assigned to the router,
which identifies the autonomous system to which the router belongs. This
AS number is crucial for BGP operation, as it distinguishes routing
information within and between autonomous systems. By setting up the BGP
process with this AS number, the router is configured to participate in BGP
routing, allowing it to exchange routing information with other BGP routers
both within its own AS (iBGP) and with external ASes (eBGP).

In the given iBGP topology, the command neighbor [the loopback]

remote-as 65000 is used to configure BGP peering between routers, where
[the loopback] represents the IP address of the loopback interface on the
route reflector (RR) routers (R9 and R10). This command establishes a BGP
session between the client routers (R1-R8) and the RR routers, specifying
that they belong to the same autonomous system (AS 65000). The command
neighbor [the loopback] update-source loopback 0 is used to ensure that
the BGP updates are sourced from the loopback interface of the RR routers,
which provides a stable endpoint for BGP peering. In this configuration, R9
and R10 act as route reflectors (servers) that distribute BGP routing
information to the client routers (R1-R8), simplifying the internal BGP mesh
by reducing the number of peer connections required between all routers in
the AS. This setup leverages route reflectors to efficiently manage and
propagate BGP routes within the AS.

The command neighbor [loopback] route-reflector-client is used on the

route reflector routers (R9 and R10) to designate specific BGP peers as route
reflector clients. By applying this command, the route reflector routers (R9
and R10) inform BGP that the client routers (R1-R8) are under their
authority for route reflection. This means that R9 and R10 will reflect the
BGP routes learned from one client router to other client routers within the
same autonomous system, rather than requiring a full mesh of BGP peer
connections among all client routers. This approach significantly reduces the
complexity and number of BGP peer connections required within the AS, as
client routers only need to establish peering sessions with the route
reflectors, which then handle the distribution of routing information across
the network.

After configuring BGP with route reflectors and client routers, the command
show ip bgp summary is used to verify the status and health of the BGP
peering sessions. This command displays an overview of BGP neighbors,
 their states, and various statistics. When the states of the loopback addresses
are shown as "up," it indicates that the BGP peering sessions between the
client routers (R1-R8) and the route reflectors (R9 and R10) have been
successfully established and are operational. The "up" state means that the
BGP routers are actively exchanging routing information, and the BGP
session is stable. This status confirms that the route reflectors are correctly
reflecting routes to the clients and that the BGP configuration is functioning
as intended, allowing for efficient route distribution within the network.

6. Advertisement: For advertising a network using the command network

6.6.6.6 mask 255.255.255.255 within the BGP process (router bgp 65000),
the router informs its BGP peers about the existence of the specified
network. The route reflectors (R9 and R10) propagate this network
information to all client routers (R1-R8) based on the BGP configuration.
Once the network is advertised, other routers that have established BGP
sessions with the route reflectors will receive this route update. To verify
connectivity, the ping [other-router-ip] command can be used to check if
the new network is reachable from other routers. This ping test confirms that
the routing information has been successfully propagated and the network is
accessible. Unlike OSPF, which is an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) used
within a single autonomous system and performs automatic route
advertisement and distribution, BGP is an Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP)
used for inter-domain routing and requires explicit route advertisement and
distribution. iBGP is crucial within an AS to ensure consistent route
propagation across all routers, especially when using route reflectors to
manage internal BGP routes.

Summary:
In this task, IP addresses are assigned to router interfaces and activated, with a
loopback address configured for stable internal testing. OSPF is implemented to
handle internal routing by defining networks and areas and adjusting path
preferences, while ensuring that routing updates are not advertised back into the
same interface to avoid routing loops, adhering to the split horizon principle. BGP
with route reflectors is employed to manage route distribution efficiently and
minimize peer connections, and iBGP is set up to maintain internal routing
consistency. Route reflector clients are designated, and the configuration is verified
to confirm that routing information is accurately propagated and routing loops are
prevented, ensuring smooth network operation.