Earlier, Brian Carpenter wrote:
% What is relevant, IMHO, is divining whether the BGP4 system
% for IPv4 will hit a catastrophic scaling limit within a foreseeable
% timescale.
%
% If the answer is 'yes' we need a first-class solution for IPv4;
% if the answer is 'no' we only need a first-class solution for IPv6.
%
% Since my divination skills are weak, it seems safer to seek a
% first-class solution for both.
John Scudder (Juniper) had a presentation on BGP and FIB/RIB
scaling at NANOG in Toronto a year or so back (shortly after
the IAB Workshop):
<http://www.nanog.org/mtg-0702/presentations/fib-scudder.pdf>
His last slide (URL above) is directly on-topic and says (quote):
We can throw hardware at FIB scaling for at least
the next decade or so, with existing technology
• Several big FIB boxes shipping now
This provides time to research routing/addressing
architectures
• Really don’t want to build Internet on a R/A
architecture that was hacked up quick under
deadline pressure
BGP free core can protect core (“P”) router FIBs
• Deployed today
If one believes that, and following Brian's logic above,
then a first-class architectural approach for only IPv6
ought to be sufficient/acceptable as a Routing RG
output.
What do the big router implementers on this list
think about the question of when we will hit a
"catastrophic" scaling limit ?