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Exterior Routing Protocol: Definition, BGP, and EGP Explained

An exterior routing protocol exchanges reachability information between autonomous systems. BGP is the Internet’s standard example; EGP is also the name of an older, distinct protocol.
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An exterior routing protocol—more commonly called an exterior gateway protocol—exchanges network reachability information between autonomous systems (ASes). An autonomous system is an independently administered routing domain. On the Internet, BGP is the standard protocol for this inter-AS routing.

One acronym can cause confusion: “EGP” may refer to the general category of exterior gateway protocols, or to the specific historical Exterior Gateway Protocol defined in RFC 904. That older protocol is not another name for BGP.

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What does an exterior routing protocol do?

It lets separate autonomous systems tell neighboring systems which networks they can reach. An exterior gateway protocol therefore handles routing between independently administered routing domains, rather than routing solely within one domain. RFC 1812 describes the role as exchanging reachability information for networks internal to one autonomous system with a neighboring autonomous system.

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Reachability information is more than a map of physical links. In BGP, speakers exchange network reachability and path information, including the sequence of autonomous systems associated with a route. That path information can help identify looping paths and inform routing policies. BGP supports policy-based route selection; it should not be understood as simply choosing the physically shortest path.

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How is an exterior protocol different from an IGP?

An interior gateway protocol (IGP) distributes routing information within an autonomous system. An exterior gateway protocol exchanges reachability information across the boundary between autonomous systems. The distinction is primarily about routing scope, not whether a protocol runs on a particular brand or model of router.

Protocol category Routing scope Typical role
Interior gateway protocol (IGP) Within one autonomous system Shares routes inside an independently administered routing domain
Exterior gateway protocol Between autonomous systems Shares reachable-network and path information with neighboring domains

Is EGP the same as BGP?

No. The words exterior gateway protocol describe a broad category or role. Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP), with that specific name, is an older protocol specified by RFC 904. RFC 1812 characterizes that protocol as historical and notes that BGP removed many of its restrictions.

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Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the current standard exterior gateway protocol used to exchange routing information between Internet ASes. The IETF’s BGP-4 specification states that BGP is an inter-autonomous-system routing protocol, and a 2022 IETF overview identifies it as the standard exterior gateway protocol for the Internet. See RFC 4271 and RFC 9522.

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Are BGP route announcements automatically trustworthy?

No. BGP distributes routing information, but an announcement should not be treated as inherently trustworthy. The IETF’s RFC 4272 documents vulnerabilities involving faulty, misconfigured, or malicious routing information, which can disrupt routing.

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Key terminology

  • Autonomous system (AS): an independently administered routing domain.
  • Exterior gateway protocol: a protocol role for exchanging reachability information between ASes.
  • EGP: either an informal reference to that protocol category or the name of the historical protocol in RFC 904; context matters.
  • BGP: the standard protocol used for Internet inter-AS routing.

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