BGP Protocol Visualization

This animation demonstrates how routing information propagates through a network of Autonomous Systems (AS). When an AS advertises a network prefix, it attaches its own number to an attribute called the AS_PATH. As this advertisement is passed to the next AS, that AS prepends its own number to the list. This creates an ordered sequence of AS numbers—the "AS Path"—which functions as a distance vector, showing the exact path the advertisement has traveled.

How to Read the Animation

Routing Information Base (RIB): The list of network prefixes and their paths shown below each AS. This is the router's table of all learned routes.
Best Path (Bold Green): The active, shortest AS_PATH selected by the router to reach a destination.
Other Paths (Grey): Alternative, longer paths that the router has learned but is not currently using.

Idle AS

Advertising AS

AS with Path