The BGP MED attribute, commonly referred to as the BGP metric, provides a means to convey to a neighboring Autonomous System (AS) a preferred entry point into the local AS. BGP MED is a non-transitive optional attribute and thus the receiving AS cannot propagate it across its AS borders. However, the receiving AS may reset the metric value upon receipt, if it so desires.

Previous versions of BGP (v2 and v3) defined this attribute as the inter-AS metric (INTER_AS_METRIC) but in BGPv4 it is defined as the multi-exit discriminator (MULTI_EXIT_DISC). The MED is an unsigned 32bit integer. The MED value can be any from 0 to 4,294,967,295 (2^32-1) with a lower value being preferred. Certain implementations of BGP will treat a path with a MED value of 4,294,967,295 as infinite and hence the path would be deemed unusable so the MED value will be reset to 4,294,967,294. This rewriting of the MED value could lead to inconsistencies, unintended path selections or even churn. I’ll do a follow up article on how BGP MED can possibly cause an endless convergence loop in certain topologies.



Cisco’s BGP implementation automatically assign the value of the MED attribute based on the IGP metric value for any locally originate prefixes. The reasoning behind this is when there are multiple peering points with a neighboring AS the neighboring AS can use this metric to determine the best entry point into the local AS. This is the case when the originating AS’s network uses as single IGP. When multiple IGPs are used (i.e. OSPF and IS-IS) the metric value automatically copied into BGP will not be comparable. In this situation the metric values should be manually set before sending to the neighboring AS.

The MED value by default will only be used in Cisco’s BGP Best Path selection algorithm when comparing paths from the same AS. If comparison is desired between different ASes the bgp always-compare-med router configuration command can be used. Use this command with caution as different ASes can have different policies regarding the setting of the MED value or in the case of the MED automatically being set they could be using different IGPs. Additionally by default MED is not compared between sub-autonomous systems in a BGP confederation. To enabled comparison between different sub-ASes within a confederation use the bgp bestpath med confed router configuration command.

As mentioned by default the MED values are compared for paths from the same AS but this presents a problem in the way BGP path comparison is done in the IOS. Lets first examine how the path comparison is done to get a better understanding of the BGP Deterministic MED command and why Cisco recommends it to be enabled.

Here is the topology that we will use for this scenario:

We will primarily look at the effects of BGP MED on the BGP best path decision process from R1’s perspective. In this network AS 400 is advertising the 24.1.1.0/24 network. R2, R3 and R4 are in AS 200 with R5 being in AS 300. R2 is setting the MED for this network to 200, R3 to 300, R4 to 400 and R5 to 500 when the 24.1.1.0/24 network is advertised to R1. R1’s BGP configuration is below:

Rack1R1# show run | sec router bgp 100

router bgp 100

no synchronization

bgp router-id 1.1.1.1

neighbor 54.1.12.2 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.13.3 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.14.4 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.15.5 remote-as 300

no auto-summary

Rack1R1#

The output of the show ip bgp on R1:

Rack1R1#show ip bgp

BGP table version is 2, local router ID is 1.1.1.1

Status codes: s suppressed, d damped, h history, * valid, > best, i - internal,

r RIB-failure, S Stale

Origin codes: i - IGP, e - EGP, ? - incomplete Network Next Hop Metric LocPrf Weight Path

* 24.1.1.0/24 54.1.12.2 200 0 200 400 ?

* 54.1.14.4 400 0 200 400 ?

* 54.1.15.5 500 0 300 400 ?

*> 54.1.13.3 300 0 200 400 ?

Rack1R1#

Now lets look at the 24.1.1.0/24 network in a little more detail:

Rack1R1#show ip bgp 24.1.1.0/24

BGP routing table entry for 24.1.1.0/24, version 2

Paths: (4 available, best #4, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)

Advertised to update-groups:

2

200 400

54.1.12.2 from 54.1.12.2 (2.2.2.2)

Origin incomplete, metric 200, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.14.4 from 54.1.14.4 (4.4.4.4)

Origin incomplete, metric 400, localpref 100, valid, external

300 400

54.1.15.5 from 54.1.15.5 (5.5.5.5)

Origin incomplete, metric 500, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.13.3 from 54.1.13.3 (3.3.3.3)

Origin incomplete, metric 300, localpref 100, valid, external, best

Rack1R1#

As we can see R1 has selected R3’s (3.3.3.3) advertisement of the 24.1.1.0/24 as the best path. The MED is 300 for this advertisement which isn’t the lowest of all advertisements from AS 200. The advertisement from R2 is actually lower as it has a MED value of 200. Remember that the lower MED value is preferred since this value is normally copied from the IGP metric and with IGPs the lower metric value is preferred. Since the MED attribute is optional it may not be present in all paths. By default, BGP process will assume the MED value of zero for such paths, which will make them more preferred during the selection based on metric. If you want to change this behavior, use the bgp bestpath med missing-as-worst router configuration command.

Lets look at how R1 ended up selecting R3 as the best path. First off the router will order the paths from the newest to the oldest. By default all factors in the BGP best path decision process being the same, the oldest path will be selected as best. BGP does to this reduce the amount of churn in the routing table. To change this behavior and not use the oldest path as the best, the BGP router-ID can be used to determine the best path. To enable this use the bgp bestpath compare-routerid router configuration command.

Below the bgp bestpath compare-routerid command is enabled on R1. Now R1 has selected R2’s path as the best since it has the lowest BGP router ID.

Rack1R1#show run | sec router bgp

router bgp 100

no synchronization

bgp router-id 1.1.1.1

bgp bestpath compare-routerid

neighbor 54.1.12.2 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.13.3 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.14.4 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.15.5 remote-as 300

no auto-summary

Rack1R1#show ip bgp 24.1.1.0/24

BGP routing table entry for 24.1.1.0/24, version 3

Paths: (4 available, best #1, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)

Flag: 0x10840

Advertised to update-groups:

2

200 400

54.1.12.2 from 54.1.12.2 (2.2.2.2)

Origin incomplete, metric 200, localpref 100, valid, external, best

200 400

54.1.14.4 from 54.1.14.4 (4.4.4.4)

Origin incomplete, metric 400, localpref 100, valid, external

300 400

54.1.15.5 from 54.1.15.5 (5.5.5.5)

Origin incomplete, metric 500, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.13.3 from 54.1.13.3 (3.3.3.3)

Origin incomplete, metric 300, localpref 100, valid, external

Rack1R1#

The bgp bestpath compare-routerid command is removed for the remainder of this scenario. When the command is removed R3 is once again selected as best.

Rack1R1#show ip bgp 24.1.1.0/24

BGP routing table entry for 24.1.1.0/24, version 4

Paths: (4 available, best #4, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)

Flag: 0x10840

Advertised to update-groups:

2

200 400

54.1.12.2 from 54.1.12.2 (2.2.2.2)

Origin incomplete, metric 200, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.14.4 from 54.1.14.4 (4.4.4.4)

Origin incomplete, metric 400, localpref 100, valid, external

300 400

54.1.15.5 from 54.1.15.5 (5.5.5.5)

Origin incomplete, metric 500, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.13.3 from 54.1.13.3 (3.3.3.3)

Origin incomplete, metric 300, localpref 100, valid, external, best

Rack1R1#

Additional RFC 4277 (Experience with the BGP-4 Protocol) mentions the following in regards to selecting a path based upon oldest path.

7.1.4. MEDs and Temporal Route Selection Some implementations have hooks to apply temporal behavior in MED-based best path selection. That is, all things being equal up to MED consideration, preference would be applied to the "oldest" path, without preference for the lower MED value. The reasoning for this is that "older" paths are presumably more stable, and thus preferable. However, temporal behavior in route selection results in non-deterministic behavior, and as such, may often be undesirable.

Rack1R1#show ip bgp 24.1.1.0/24

BGP routing table entry for 24.1.1.0/24, version 4

Paths: (4 available, best #4, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)

Flag: 0x820

Advertised to update-groups:

2

200 400

54.1.12.2 from 54.1.12.2 (2.2.2.2)

Origin incomplete, metric 200, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.13.3 from 54.1.13.3 (3.3.3.3)

Origin incomplete, metric 300, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.14.4 from 54.1.14.4 (4.4.4.4)

Origin incomplete, metric 400, localpref 100, valid, external

300 400

54.1.15.5 from 54.1.15.5 (5.5.5.5)

Origin incomplete, metric 500, localpref 100, valid, external, best

Rack1R1#

First off it’s important to understand that the paths are compared in pairs starting with the newest path and comparing it with the second newest. The winning path between the first and second is then compared to the third and in our cause the winner of that comparison is finally compared with the fourth and final path. On R1 for the 24.1.1.0/24 network, R2’s and R3’s paths are compared first. Everything in the BGP best path decision algorithm is the same down to MED (weight, local preference, AS path, etc). Since the advertisements by R2 and R3 are in the same AS the MED is compared and R2 is wins since it has a MED of 200 as opposed to R3’s MED of 300. Next R2 is then compared to the third oldest entry which is R4’s. R2 and R4 are in the same AS so R2 wins based upon the lower MED value. Finally R2 is compared with R5. Everything is equal but the MED, router ID and age of the advertisement. Since R2 and R5 are in different ASes and the bgp always-compare-med isn’t enable, MED isn’t compared. Additionally we do not have bgp bestpath compare-routerid enabled which leads the R1 to select the oldest advertisement. Since R5 is listed below R2 we know that it is older and in turn wins out due to being the older advertisement and is installed as the best path to reach the 24.1.1.0/24 network.

As we can see the MED comparison between the paths advertised by AS 200 did not happen as intended by AS 200. AS 200 was setting the MED so that AS 100 will use R2 as the ingress point into AS 200. This is only because R5’s advertisement was second to the oldest that in turn broke the MED comparison between the AS 200 routers (R2, R3 and R4).

Ideally we want the MED compared between advertisements from the same AS irrespective of their age. This is where the bgp deterministic-med router configuration command is useful. When this command is enabled the router will group all paths from the same AS and compare them together before comparing them to paths from different ASes. Lets enable the command on R1. We should see that R2 is selected as the preferred path between R2, R3 and R4 but this will mean that once R2 is compared to R5, R5 will be installed since it is an older advertisement.

Rack1R1#show run | sec router bgp

router bgp 100

no synchronization

bgp router-id 1.1.1.1

bgp log-neighbor-changes

bgp deterministic-med

neighbor 54.1.12.2 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.13.3 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.14.4 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.15.5 remote-as 300

no auto-summary

Rack1R1#show ip bgp 24.1.1.0/24

BGP routing table entry for 24.1.1.0/24, version 5

Paths: (4 available, best #4, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)

Flag: 0x820

Advertised to update-groups:

2

200 400

54.1.12.2 from 54.1.12.2 (2.2.2.2)

Origin incomplete, metric 200, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.13.3 from 54.1.13.3 (3.3.3.3)

Origin incomplete, metric 300, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.14.4 from 54.1.14.4 (4.4.4.4)

Origin incomplete, metric 400, localpref 100, valid, external

300 400

54.1.15.5 from 54.1.15.5 (5.5.5.5)

Origin incomplete, metric 500, localpref 100, valid, external, best

Rack1R1#

It we want to have R2 selected as best we can clear the BGP neighbor relationship with R5 which will in turn cause R5’s paths to be cleared out. Once the neighbor relationship with R5 comes back up and R5 advertised the 24.1.1.0/24 path, it will be the newest advertisement and in turn be listed at the top.

Rack1R1#clear ip bgp 54.1.15.5

Rack1R1#

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.15.5 Down User reset

Rack1R1#

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.15.5 Up

Rack1R1#

Now as expected R2 was finally selected as the best path.

Rack1R1#show ip bgp 24.1.1.0

BGP routing table entry for 24.1.1.0/24, version 6

Paths: (4 available, best #2, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)

Flag: 0x820

Advertised to update-groups:

2

300 400

54.1.15.5 from 54.1.15.5 (5.5.5.5)

Origin incomplete, metric 500, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.12.2 from 54.1.12.2 (2.2.2.2)

Origin incomplete, metric 200, localpref 100, valid, external, best

200 400

54.1.13.3 from 54.1.13.3 (3.3.3.3)

Origin incomplete, metric 300, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.14.4 from 54.1.14.4 (4.4.4.4)

Origin incomplete, metric 400, localpref 100, valid, external

Rack1R1#

Of course to always ensure R2 is selected in our network as the best path we could also use the bgp always-compare-med command to compare MED between different ASes but this command is normally not used in the real world unless MED policies are standardized between neighboring ASes.

Rack1R1#show run | sec router bgp

router bgp 100

no synchronization

bgp router-id 1.1.1.1

bgp always-compare-med

bgp deterministic-med

neighbor 54.1.12.2 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.13.3 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.14.4 remote-as 200

neighbor 54.1.15.5 remote-as 300

no auto-summary

Rack1R1#

Rack1R1#clear ip bgp *

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.12.2 Down User reset

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.13.3 Down User reset

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.14.4 Down User reset

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.15.5 Down User reset

Rack1R1#

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.12.2 Up

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.13.3 Up

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.14.4 Up

%BGP-5-ADJCHANGE: neighbor 54.1.15.5 Up

Rack1R1#show ip bgp 24.1.1.0

BGP routing table entry for 24.1.1.0/24, version 4

Paths: (4 available, best #2, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)

Flag: 0x10860

Advertised to update-groups:

2

300 400

54.1.15.5 from 54.1.15.5 (5.5.5.5)

Origin incomplete, metric 500, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.12.2 from 54.1.12.2 (2.2.2.2)

Origin incomplete, metric 200, localpref 100, valid, external, best

200 400

54.1.13.3 from 54.1.13.3 (3.3.3.3)

Origin incomplete, metric 300, localpref 100, valid, external

200 400

54.1.14.4 from 54.1.14.4 (4.4.4.4)

Origin incomplete, metric 400, localpref 100, valid, external

Rack1R1#

If BGP Deterministic MED is used, it should be enabled on all BGP speaking devices within an AS to ensure a consistent policy regarding the use of MEDs.

We should now have a better understanding of how MED is used in the BGP route selection process and the BGP route selection process is general.

My next post will be in regards the Two Rate Three Color Marker (trTCM) as defined in RFC 2698 and implemented in the Cisco IOS. Also I hope to see many of you in my new RS Bootcamps.