Dynamic routing in Linux with Quagga

Zebra Scout

Conclusions

A Linux computer probably can't replace a high-end router with multiple 10Gb interfaces. On the other hand, the prices for routers with enough memory to process hundreds of thousands of routes for full BGP are so astronomically high that PC hardware at least provides a cheaper alternative.

If you are familiar with the syntax of Cisco systems, you will quickly find your way around Quagga. Nevertheless, it is unusual to have to start a new session for each routing protocol, and Quagga's behavior is subtly different from IOS, although this can also be true of different IOS versions.

Overall, you can go a long way with Quagga; it supports redundancy and lets you manage larger numbers of Linux routers in a clear-cut way, thanks to the use of dynamic routing protocols. Given the feature scope that Quagga offers to help you transport IP packets from A to B, the examples shown in this article only scrape the surface. Experienced scouts can benefit from advanced options, such as the ability to connect Quagga to a monitoring system via SNMP traps or to analyze the details of the Zebra protocol [11].

Infos

Quagga project: http://www.nongnu.org/quagga/
Zebra routing daemon: http://skaya.enix.org/vpn/zebra.html
RIP Version 2: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2453
RIPng: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2080
OSPF for IPv4: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2328
OSPF for IPv6: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5340
BGP: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4271
IS-IS: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1142
Quagga daemons: http://openmaniak.com/quagga_tutorial.php#daemons
Dynamips: http://www.gns3.net/dynamips/
Quagga manual: http://www.nongnu.org/quagga/docs/docs-info.html

The Author

Konstantin Agouros works for n.runs AG as a consultant for network security. His main focus is on telecommunications providers. His book DNS/DHCP is published by Open Source Press.

« Previous 1 2 3 4