BGP, or Border Gateway Protocol, is a routing protocol used on the Internet and in enterprise networks to exchange routing information between autonomous systems (AS).

We need to consider two main aspects: its technical definition and its status as an internet standard.

Technical Definition

BGP is technically a layer 4 network protocol that operates on top of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) to facilitate communication between routers. It allows autonomous systems to exchange routing information to determine the best routes to reach specific destinations on the Internet.

This means that BGP provides the rules and mechanism for routers to decide how to send data packets across the global network.

Open Standard Status

As to whether BGP is an open protocol, the answer is yes and no, depending on the context. On a technical level, BGP is a well-documented and widely implemented protocol.

BGP technical specifications are publicly available in documents such as RFCs (Request for Comments), which are technical and standards publications developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) community.

This means that anyone can access the BGP specification and develop their own implementation of the protocol. However, the term “open” can also refer to whether a protocol is completely available for modification and redistribution without restrictions.

In this sense, BGP is not completely open, as its development and evolution are controlled by a specific group of organizations, such as the IETF and major network equipment vendors. Although most BGP implementations are proprietary, many of them follow standard specifications and are compatible with each other.

Additionally, there is an open source approach to BGP called Quagga, which is a routing suite that includes implementations of BGP and other routing protocols. Quagga and similar projects provide open source alternatives for those who want a completely open and transparent BGP implementation.

In summary, BGP is a widely used and well-documented routing protocol that provides the foundation for connectivity on the Internet and in enterprise networks.

Although it is not completely open in the sense of being fully modifiable and redistributable without restrictions, its technical specification is publicly available and open source alternatives are available for those seeking more transparent implementations.