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MikroTik MTCINE lab 5 of 12

Route reflectors and confederations

Fernvale's core is a ring of four routers and the iBGP full mesh is getting out of hand. Replace it with a route reflector, read the originator ID and cluster list it adds, prove that the reflector stays out of the forwarding path, and compare the design with confederations.

Run this lab

It needs Lite: its 5 nodes are set to 5 vCPU and 1,280 MB in total. That fits the free demo too.

In your workspace: Shared, then MikroTik MTCINE RouterOS v7 guided labs, then 05 - Route reflectors and confederations

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Level
Advanced
Time
About 75 minutes
Nodes need
5 vCPU, 1,280 MB
Smallest plan
Lite

The scenario

Fernvale's core is now a ring of four routers: EDGE1 (Northgate transit), RR1 (a new core router), and two points of presence, POP2 (Oakridge Clinic, 198.51.100.64/26) and POP3 (Brightwater School, 198.51.100.128/26). OSPF carries the loopbacks. Ten more POPs are planned this year, and a full iBGP mesh of 14 routers would need 91 sessions, each one touched again for every new router. You'll make RR1 a route reflector, so every other router needs one iBGP session.

RouterLoopbackRing links
EDGE110.255.255.1ether2 10.0.1.1/30 (RR1) · ether3 10.0.4.2/30 (POP3) · ether1 203.0.113.2/30 (Northgate)
RR110.255.255.10ether1 10.0.1.2/30 (EDGE1) · ether2 10.0.2.1/30 (POP2)
POP210.255.255.2ether1 10.0.2.2/30 (RR1) · ether2 10.0.3.1/30 (POP3) · customers 198.51.100.65/26
POP310.255.255.3ether1 10.0.3.2/30 (POP2) · ether2 10.0.4.1/30 (EDGE1) · customers 198.51.100.129/26

What you’ll practise

  • Explain why a full mesh doesn't scale and how route reflection relaxes the iBGP split-horizon rule
  • Configure a route reflector with cluster-id and local.role=ibgp-rr, and its clients
  • Read the originator ID and cluster list on reflected routes
  • Show that the route reflector controls routes, not the path traffic takes
  • Describe BGP confederations and when to choose them over route reflection

The tasks

  1. Count the sessions
  2. Make RR1 the route reflector
  3. Point the clients at the RR
  4. Read the reflected attributes
  5. Follow the traffic, not the routes
  6. Confederations: the other way to scale iBGP

The Lab Tasks pane has the scenario, these tasks, the checks to run, hints and the full solution.

Topology and devices

The network as it opens in EVE-NG, drawn from the lab’s own canvas, and the image each node runs.

Topology of Route reflectors and confederations5 nodes, 5 links. Every link is listed as text below the diagram.NORTHGATEEDGE1RR1POP2POP3ether1ether1ether2ether1ether2ether1ether2ether1ether2ether3
5 nodes, with the interface names each link uses. On a narrow screen, scroll the diagram sideways.
Every link, as text
  • NORTHGATE ether1 to EDGE1 ether1
  • EDGE1 ether2 to RR1 ether1
  • RR1 ether2 to POP2 ether1
  • POP2 ether2 to POP3 ether1
  • POP3 ether2 to EDGE1 ether3
Nodes in Route reflectors and confederations, with the image each runs and the vCPU and RAM it’s set to
NodeDeviceImage in Add NodeSet to
NORTHGATEMikroTik RouterOSmikrotik-7.14.21 vCPU, 256 MB
EDGE1MikroTik RouterOSmikrotik-7.14.21 vCPU, 256 MB
RR1MikroTik RouterOSmikrotik-7.14.21 vCPU, 256 MB
POP2MikroTik RouterOSmikrotik-7.14.21 vCPU, 256 MB
POP3MikroTik RouterOSmikrotik-7.14.21 vCPU, 256 MB

How to open this lab

  1. Sign in to your workspace at lab.cloudlabbox.com.

  2. In File Manager, open Shared, then the folder MikroTik MTCINE RouterOS v7 guided labs.

  3. Open 05 - Route reflectors and confederations and start its nodes, then open Lab Tasks for the scenario and the steps.

The lab is read-only. You can start the nodes and configure the devices, but changes to the topology can’t be saved. To change it, rebuild it in your own folder.

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CloudLabBox is independent of MikroTik. The lab follows exam topics and isn’t vendor training material; vendor names identify the exams and the images in the workspace.