Routing protocols that have been designed to run within a single administrative domain (IGPs) generally do so by assigning a metric to each link and then choosing, as the installed path between two nodes, the path for which the total distance (sum of the metric of each link along the path) is minimized. BGP, designed to provide routing over a large number of independent administrative domains (autonomous systems), does not make its path-selection decisions through the use of a metric. It is generally recognized that any attempt to do so would incur significant scalability problems as well as interadministration coordination problems. However, there are deployments in which a single administration runs several contiguous BGP networks. In such cases, it can be desirable, within that single administrative domain, for BGP to select paths based on a metric, just as an IGP would do. The purpose of this document is to provide a specification for doing so.
The MEF Forum (MEF) has defined a rooted-multipoint Ethernet service known as Ethernet-Tree (E-Tree). A solution framework for supporting this service in MPLS networks is described in RFC 7387, "A Framework for Ethernet-Tree (E-Tree) Service over a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Network". This document discusses how those functional requirements can be met with a solution based on RFC 7432, "BGP MPLS Based Ethernet VPN (EVPN)", with some extensions and a description of how such a solution can offer a more efficient implementation of these functions than that of RFC 7796, "Ethernet-Tree (E-Tree) Support in Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS)". This document makes use of the most significant bit of the Tunnel Type field (in the P-Multicast Service Interface (PMSI) Tunnel attribute) governed by the IANA registry created by RFC 7385; hence, it updates RFC 7385 accordingly.
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