Internet Exterior Routing Protocol Development: Problems, Issues, and Misconceptions

Global routing in the Internet continues to have scalability problems which underscore weaknesses in the design and implementation of the various TCP/IP Exterior Routing Protocols. This paper explores the historical design and development relative to the decision making process in the specification and implementation of Internet External Routing Protocols; and in particular discusses problems associated with provider-based address space allocation. Keywords--- Computer networks, Computer network management, Communication system routing, Clustering methods, Hierarchical Systems, Internetworking, Networks, Packet switching, Protocols I. Introduction "This interim solution in no way constrains the selection of the next generation addressing and routing technology." - RFC 1367, October 1992 [1] In 1977, Kleinrock and Kamoun [2] published a detailed discussion on hierarchical routing in large internetworks. In their landmark paper, Hierarchical Routing for Large Networks, Kleinrock and Ka..