IPv4 Routing Protocols

The JUNOS software implements full IP routing functionality, providing support for IP version 4 (IPv4). The routing protocols are fully interoperable with existing IP routing protocols and provide the scale and control necessary for the Internet core. The software provides support for the following routing and traffic engineering protocols:

• Unicast routing protocols
  • BGP—Border Gateway Protocol, version 4, is an Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) that guarantees loop-free exchange of routing information between routing domains (also called autonomous systems). BGP, in conjunction with JUNOS routing policy, provides a system of administrative checks and balances that can be used to implement peering and transit agreements.
  • ICMP—Internet Control Message Protocol router discovery is a method that hosts can use to discover the addresses of operational routers on a subnet.
  • IS-IS—Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System is a link-state interior gateway protocol (IGP) for IP networks that uses the shortest-path-first algorithm (SPF algorithm, also called the Dijkstra algorithm) to determine routes.
  • OSPF—Open Shortest Path First, version 2, is an IGP developed for IP networks by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). OSPF is a link-state protocol that makes routing decisions based on the SPF algorithm.
  • RIP—Routing Information Protocol, version 2, is an IGP for IP networks based on the Bellman-Ford algorithm. RIP is a distance-vector protocol. RIP dynamically routes packets between a subscriber and a service provider without the subscriber having to configure BGP or to participate in the service provider’s IGP discovery process.
• Multicast routing protocols
  • DVMRP—Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol is a dense-mode (flood-and-prune) multicast routing protocol.
  • IGMP—Internet Group Management Protocol, versions 1 and 2, is used to manage membership in multicast groups.
  • MSDP—Multicast Source Discovery Protocol enables multiple PIM sparse mode domains to be joined. A rendezvous point (RP) in a PIM sparse mode domain has a peering relationship with an RP in another domain, thereby discovering multicast sources from other domains.
  • PIM sparse mode and dense mode—Protocol-Independent Multicast is a multicast routing protocol used to route traffic to multicast groups that might span wide-area and interdomain internetworks. In PIM sparse mode, routers explicitly join and leave multicast groups. PIM dense mode is a flood-and-prune protocol.
  • SAP/SDP—Session Announcement Protocol and Session Description Protocol handle conference session announcements.
• MPLS application protocols
  • LDP—Label Distribution Protocol provides a mechanism for distributing labels in nontraffic-engineered applications. LDP allows routers to establish label-switched paths (LSPs) through a network by mapping network-layer routing information directly to data-link layer switched paths. LSPs created by LDP can also traverse LSPs created by Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP).
  • MPLS—Multiprotocol Label Switching enables you to configure LSPs through a network either manually or dynamically. You can control how traffic traverses the network by directing it through particular paths, rather than relying on an IGP's least-cost algorithm to choose a path.
  • RSVP—Resource Reservation Protocol, version 1, provides a mechanism for engineering network traffic patterns that is independent of the shortest path determined by a routing protocol. RSVP itself is not a routing protocol, but is designed to operate with current and future unicast and multicast routing protocols. JUNOS RSVP software supports dynamic signaling for MPLS LSPs.