Is there any registry or documented method for allocation values for "BGP
communities"
to be used inside the AMPRnet as helpers for the BGP routing?
Note I am not referring to internet BGP, but to the BGP protocol used on isolated radio
networks operated using private AS numbers.
Some time ago we have discussed the allocation of AS numbers in the 32-bit AS space,
and I would like to know if people feel a necessity for allocating (reserving) community
values as well.
These are 32-bit values, commonly written as two decimal 16-bit values separated by a
colon,
used to communicate attributes of a route. I now use one value to tell the other
routers
that a route is not over radio (but over internet tunnel, in this case) so inside the
network
it can be used as a backup route when the radio route fails.
In practice there is little chance of collision of these community values, and they can
easily be filtered or translated at boundaries between areas where different values are
used.
Originally a common practice was to use the own AS number as the first value in the
2x16bit pair, but of course that no longer works now the AS number can be 32 bits.
Rob