RFC 1267 (rfc1267) - Page 1 of 35

Border Gateway Protocol 3 (BGP-3)

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Network Working Group                                        K. Lougheed
Request for Comments: 1267                                 cisco Systems
Obsoletes RFCs: 1105, 1163                                    Y. Rekhter
                                  T.J. Watson Research Center, IBM Corp.
                                                            October 1991


                  A Border Gateway Protocol 3 (BGP-3)

Status of this Memo

   This memo, together with its companion document, "Application of the
   Border Gateway Protocol in the Internet", define an inter-autonomous
   system routing protocol for the Internet.  This RFC specifies an IAB
   standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests
   discussion and suggestions for improvements.  Please refer to the
   current edition of the "IAB Official Protocol Standards" for the
   standardization state and status of this protocol.  Distribution of
   this memo is unlimited.

1.  Acknowledgements

   We would like to express our thanks to Guy Almes (Rice University),
   Len Bosack (cisco Systems), Jeffrey C. Honig (Cornell Theory Center)
   and all members of the Interconnectivity Working Group of the
   Internet Engineering Task Force, chaired by Guy Almes, for their
   contributions to this document.

   We like to explicitly thank Bob Braden (ISI) for the review of this
   document as well as his constructive and valuable comments.

   We would also like to thank Bob Hinden, Director for Routing of the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group, and the team of reviewers he
   assembled to review earlier versions of this document.  This team,
   consisting of Deborah Estrin, Milo Medin, John Moy, Radia Perlman,
   Martha Steenstrup, Mike St. Johns, and Paul Tsuchiya, acted with a
   strong combination of toughness, professionalism, and courtesy.

2.  Introduction

   The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an inter-Autonomous System
   routing protocol.  It is built on experience gained with EGP as
   defined in RFC 904 [1] and EGP usage in the NSFNET Backbone as
   described in RFC 1092 [2] and RFC 1093 [3].

   The primary function of a BGP speaking system is to exchange network
   reachability information with other BGP systems.  This network
   reachability information includes information on the full path of



Lougheed & Rekhter
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