Strengthening Network Resilience and Control with BGP Routing

AMJ Cloud Technologies partnered with a global fintech company to implement a BGP-based routing architecture, enhancing network resilience and control. This case study showcases how we achieved multi-ISP redundancy, optimized traffic flows, and improved visibility for mission-critical applications.

Situation

The client, a fintech company operating across multiple regions, relied on a single ISP, leading to unpredictable network behavior and traffic congestion during peak hours. Their centralized routing setup lacked redundancy and control over inbound traffic paths, causing latency issues and potential downtime risks. Additionally, limited visibility into routing decisions hindered troubleshooting and compliance efforts, impacting operational efficiency.

Task

Our team was tasked with designing a scalable BGP-based routing solution to meet the following objectives:

• Improve network redundancy with multi-ISP connectivity.
• Enable fine-grained control over inbound and outbound traffic flows.
• Enhance visibility into routing decisions for troubleshooting and compliance.
• Ensure high availability and low latency for mission-critical applications.
• Minimize operational disruptions during implementation.

The project was executed by a team of network engineers and DevOps specialists over a three-month timeline.

Action

To achieve these objectives, we implemented a multi-ISP, BGP-based routing architecture, enabling dynamic interdomain routing and fault tolerance:

1. BGP Peering and Route Advertisement:

   • Established External BGP (eBGP) sessions with two upstream ISPs, allowing the client to advertise their public IP prefixes.
   • Configured secure neighbor relationships to ensure predictable route exchanges.

2. Autonomous System Number (ASN) Allocation:

   • Acquired a unique ASN from the regional internet registry, enabling the client’s network to operate as an independent autonomous system.
   • Facilitated global routing policy control and participation in inter-AS traffic.

3. Internal Routing with iBGP:

   • Deployed Internal BGP (iBGP) between internal routers to maintain consistent route information within the client’s AS.
   • Ensured all routers shared external route updates for unified routing decisions.

4. Route Control and Policy Tuning:

   • Configured BGP Attributes (e.g., Local Preference, AS Path Prepending, MED) to manipulate traffic flows.
   • Optimized outbound traffic by prioritizing preferred ISPs and controlled inbound traffic to reduce congestion.

5. Route Advertisements with Static and OSPF Redistribution:

   • Used network statements and redistributed OSPF and static routes into BGP for accurate route propagation.
   • Ensured both dynamic and manual routes were advertised to external networks.

6. Monitoring and Fault Tolerance:

   • Set BGP keepalive and hold timers to maintain session stability.
   • Implemented BGP route dampening to mitigate route flaps and used route withdrawal mechanisms to reroute traffic during link failures.
   • Leveraged Network Monitoring tools (e.g., show ip bgp, route logs) for real-time visibility.

The team conducted extensive testing, including failover scenarios, and collaborated with ISPs to validate route advertisements and stability.

Result

The BGP-based architecture delivered significant outcomes:

• Full Control over Traffic Flow: Enabled intelligent traffic steering for optimized latency and bandwidth usage.
• Multi-ISP Redundancy with Near-Zero Downtime: Automatic rerouting ensured uninterrupted service during outages.
• Improved Visibility and Faster Troubleshooting: Enhanced tools reduced root cause analysis time.
• Satisfied Compliance Audits: Deterministic routing policies met regulatory requirements.
• Operational Efficiency: Reduced manual intervention in traffic engineering.

This BGP solution has become a model for AMJ Cloud Technologies’ network resilience projects, showcasing our expertise in advanced routing architectures.

Technologies Used

• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP): Enabled dynamic interdomain routing.
• Internal BGP (iBGP): Maintained internal route consistency.
• External BGP (eBGP): Facilitated ISP peering.
• Autonomous System Numbers (ASN): Defined the client’s network identity.
• Route Redistribution (OSPF, Static): Propagated internal routes.
• BGP Attributes (Local Preference, AS Path, MED): Controlled traffic flows.
• Network Monitoring (show ip bgp, route logs): Provided routing visibility.

Key Use Cases

This architecture is suitable for:

• Fintech platforms requiring high availability and low-latency networking.
• Global enterprises needing multi-ISP redundancy and traffic control.
• Organizations with strict compliance requirements for routing visibility.

Ready to strengthen your network resilience? Contact us to explore how AMJ Cloud Technologies can help.

Key Takeaways

This case study highlights the transformative impact of BGP routing in building resilient, controllable, and compliant network architectures. By leveraging eBGP, iBGP, and advanced traffic engineering, we ensured redundancy and optimized performance for a global fintech client. AMJ Cloud Technologies is committed to delivering innovative networking solutions for mission-critical environments.