Q: Not all of my routers have loopbacks, is it acceptable to peer from the closest interfaces to my BGP neighbors?
A: Yes, this is fine.
Q: For minimal configuration, are you looking for route reflectors?
A: No, just limit your configuration where possible.
Q: Do you want me to redistribute my loopback interfaces into BGP?
A: You won't lose points by doing this but keep it simple at this point.
Q: Can I use prepending to make it look like network 5.5.5.0/27 came from AS61555?
A: No, if you managed to do this, the original advertised autonomous system would still be present in the autonomous system path.
Q: The question states that I cannot modify the autonomous system in R8; can I modify the autonomous system number that R8's peers communicate with?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I use the local-autonomous system feature on R8?
A: Yes.
Q: I am trying to get R4 to prefer the next-hop to 10.5.5.5 for network 5.5.5.0/27 and have found that I cannot ping the network anyway when the next-hop is 10.1.1.1; is this as expected?
A: Yes, if you investigate you will find that the traffic will bounce between R1 and R4.
Q: Will this issue be cured when the next-hop is updated to 10.5.5.5 on R4?
A: Yes.
Q: Will it be acceptable to use the next-hop-self command on R1 for the neighbor statement to R4?
A: No, but you are almost there.
Q: I am trying to get R4 to prefer the next-hop to 10.6.6.6 for network 8.8.8.0/28 and have found that I cannot ping the network anyway when the next-hop is 10.1.1.1; is this as expected?
A: Yes, once again you will find traffic bouncing between R1 and R4. After you answer the question, you will cure this issue.
Q: So can I just set up a MED value for network 8.8.8.0/28 for my neighbor 10.4.4.4 on R1?
A: Yes.
Q: I have verified all my BGP networks in my BGP and routing tables; is this sufficient?
A: Possibly, but you should always test connectivity to ensure your configurations are correct.
