Border Gateway Protocol
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information between autonomous systems (AS) on the internet. It enables routers to make decisions about the best paths for data packets to travel across interconnected networks, ensuring efficient and reliable global connectivity. BGP is critical for the functioning of the internet, as it manages how data is routed between different internet service providers and large networks.
Developers should learn BGP when working on network engineering, cloud infrastructure, or internet-scale applications that require control over routing policies and traffic optimization. It is essential for roles involving network security, data center operations, or managing multi-homed networks to ensure redundancy and performance. Understanding BGP helps in troubleshooting connectivity issues and implementing advanced routing strategies in large-scale environments.