Arista Networks, Inc.
NEIGHBOR EQUIVALENCE GROUPS

Abstract:

Techniques for implementing neighbor equivalence groups on a network device are provided, where a neighbor equivalence group is a group of peers of the network device that communicate identical control plane state information for a given network protocol to the network device. In the context of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), these techniques can include (1) creating, by the network device, a neighbor equivalence group for a set of BGP peers that advertise the same BGP paths to the device, (2) maintaining, by the network device, a single path database for the neighbor equivalence group (rather than one path database for each BGP peer in the group), and (3) immediately processing. by the network device, BGP path update/withdrawal messages received from any of the BGP peers in the group against the single path database, without waiting for the same message to be received from every peer.