RFC 1074 (rfc1074) - Page 1 of 5
NSFNET backbone SPF based Interior Gateway Protocol
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group J. Rekhter
Request for Comments 1074 T.J. Watson Research Center
IBM Corporation
October 1988
The NSFNET Backbone SPF based Interior Gateway Protocol
Status of this Memo
This memo is an implementation description of the standard ANSI IS-IS
and ISO ES-IS routing protocols within the NSFNET backbone network.
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my thanks to Hans-Werner Braun (MERIT) for
his contribution to this document.
1. Overview
This document provides an overview of the NSFNET Backbone routing
with specific emphasis on the intra-backbone routing.
By the end of 1987, the American National Standardization Institute
(ANSI) forwarded a specification for an Intermediate System to
Intermediate System routing protocol to the International
Standardization Organizations (ISO) for the adaptation as an
international standard. This ANSI IS-IS protocol is used as the
interior gateway protocol (IGP) of the NSFNET backbone. Documented
here is an implementation description which also includes further
definitions that were necessary for the integration into an Internet
Protocol (IP) environment. Therefore, it should be viewed as a
continuation of the specifications of the ANSI IS-IS protocol [1] and
the ISO standard End System to Intermediate System (ES-IS) protocol
[2]. While the ANSI IS-IS protocol suffices as an IGP, additional
methods are used to orchestrate routing between the backbone and the
attached mid-level networks; most notably the Exterior Gateway
Protocol (EGP). Further information about the overall NSFNET routing
as well as some future aspects can be found in [3], [4], [5] and [6].
2. A brief overview of the NSFNET backbone
The NSFNET backbone is a wide area network which currently connects
thirteen sites within the continental United States. All connections
are permanent point-to-point links at T1 speed (1.544Mbps). These T1
links may contain multiple logical links at sub-T1 and up to the full
T1 speed. The result is a hybrid circuit/packet switching network
able to contain a connectivity-richer logical topology than the
Rekhter