09-17-2021 04:43 AM
Hi All,
Thanks in advance,
We have a Dual MPLS connection from our Data Center from Remote location as shown in the attached picture.
currently we are using one mpls as Active and other as standby (Using Path Prepend)
CE to PE is EBGP connection
and CE to Core Router is IBGP connection as shown in picture
Please guide/suggest us the best practices to load balance the MPLS links and efficiently use the bandwidth.
Thanks
09-17-2021 07:56 AM - edited 09-17-2021 07:56 AM
It might possibly be as simple as config "maximum-path 2" as the number of ECMP routes allowed in your BGP (for your iBGP) on both your internal (i.e. those routers with connections to your CEs) routers.
09-17-2021 02:14 PM
Hello @kumarmh91282 ,
if you want to achieve load balancing you would need to remove AS path prepending towards current secondary provider and in your core router you would need under router bgp
eibgp maximum-paths 2
the normal command applies only to eBGP sessions
note that depending on platform and IOS XE version the suggested command may be:
not availavable
supported in address family ip vrf <vrf-name>
supported under address family ipv4 unicast
Hope to help
Giuseppe
09-17-2021 04:17 PM - edited 09-18-2021 07:35 AM
@Giuseppe Larosa makes an excellent point about the "particular" form of "maximum-paths" needed to work with iBGP. If you're in the situation where it's not supported, you might also consider using perhaps eBGP between your core routers and CEs or perhaps an IGP (maximum-paths 2 more likely to work, with the former [correct Giuseppe?] and the latter, generally with Cisco, defaults to maximum-paths 4).
Giuseppe raises another point, if doing something like prepending, out, you'll need to adjust that. Ditto if using any other "traffic engineering" to "steer" ingress traffic.
Also, depending on how your two MPLS vendors implement their internal (private) BGP topology, you may see a difference there too you need to adjust for. (Years ago, I worked at a company doing MPLS/BGP/VPN, internationally across two different vendors. The one presented the whole world as one AS, the other had regional ASs. So the former, for inter-region communication, always appeared to have less "hops" on the one vendor than the other.)
Lastly, if your really want to use the two paths "efficiently", then you want to run something like Cisco's PfR on your CE routers. Maximum-paths just, more-or-less, round-robins flows to "equal" cost destinations. PfR dynamically moves flows about to load balance actual utilization. It can also do this unequally. It can also deal with "impairments" on one provider and shift to another. It can also shift flows based on QoS considerations. For example, you only show two sites, but if you had three, or more, how do you insure two sites sending to another, not only load balance their links to the MPLS clouds, but the egress on the links at the destination site? PfR can do that too.
09-18-2021 08:59 AM
Hello @Joseph W. Doherty ,
yes in case of lack of support of the correct command to make the core device able to support iBGP multipath a possible option is to use an IGP between core device and the two border routers implementing appropriate redistribution of BGP into the IGP of choice.
In the case of IGP the maximum paths commands default is 4.
Again, this time at IGP level the two Border routers have to inject in the IGP external routes with:
same type ( applies to OSPF O E1 are preferred over O E2 and recommended when there are multiple ASBR nodes advertsing the same set of prefixes)
same seed metric
the IGP metric to the two Border routers must be the same.
Please note that in each Branch site instead of redistribution of BGP routes advertising a default route in the IGP with same parameters as listed above can be enough.
The difference for OSPF you need the command
router ospf 10
default-information originate
on each branch WAN/border routers.
Hope to help
Giuseppe
09-20-2021 01:10 AM - edited 09-20-2021 01:12 AM
Hello
Can you confirm if CE to CE connections have the same link BW or do they differ as if they do differ in cost then you would probably need to use unequal cost load sharing- bgp-dmzlink-bw and for that costing to reach the IBGP peers (internal dc ibgp rtrs) then you would need to append neigbour dmzlink-bw and maximum-path-ibgp
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