Exterior gateway protocol
Exterior gateway protocol definition
Exterior gateway protocol (EGP) is an older routing protocol that was used to exchange routing information between different autonomous systems (AS) in the early days of the internet. It was defined in RFC (a collection of documents that serve as official specifications, guidelines, and protocols for the internet) and was primarily designed to handle routing between different networks administered by separate entities or organizations.
EGP operated at the network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI model and was responsible for routing packets across autonomous systems. EGP allowed routers in one AS to exchange reachability information with routers in other ASs, enabling connection and communication between these networks.
However, it’s important to note that EGP has been largely replaced by more advanced and scalable routing protocols like Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), which is currently the standard exterior gateway protocol used on the internet. BGP provides greater flexibility, scalability, and enhanced features for managing routing between autonomous systems.