Re: maximum ipv4 bgp prefix length of /24 ?

[Saku Ytti <saku () ytti fi>]

On Sun, 1 Oct 2023 at 21:19, Matthew Petach <mpetach () netflight com> wrote:

> Unfortunately, many coders today have not read Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid,
> and like the unfortunate Crab, consider their FIB compression algorithms to be unbreakable[0].
>
> In short: if you count on FIB compression working at a compression ratio greater than 1 in order for your network to 
> function, you had better have a good plan for what to do when your phone rings at 3am because your FIB has just 
> become incompressible.   ^_^;

I think if we make the argument 'devices must always work' no device
satisfies it today. There are already a lot of assumptions and
compromises which cause them to work 'highly likely in most practical
scenarios'. Certainly if we were to try to formally prove, we could
prove that everything is terrible, PPS under the worst-case situation
is beyond useless on devices people intuitively consider 'wire speed'.

I fully agree fundamentally FIB compression is not safe, but also that
ship has sailed, nothing we do is safe. But is it marketable? Likely
answer is resoundingly yes.

I do feel that often people underestimate the amount of risk they
carry, and overestimate the importance of the risks they understand.
Since the vast majority of risks are carried without understanding
them. But intuitively we like to think we have good visibility into
our risks and any recognised risk therefore automatically is an
important risk.

-- 
  ++ytti