Replace IOS BGP router with an MX?

Steve9R
Conversationalist

Replace IOS BGP router with an MX?

Ive been reading the https://documentation.meraki.com/MX/Networks_and_Routing/BGP article, and it got me thinking about using an MX to replace an ageing IOS based Cisco setup we have in production.

 

I also see this post : https://community.meraki.com/t5/Security-SD-WAN/MX84-with-BGP-Protocol/m-p/14120#M3431

 

which maybe the only solution as we are almost exactly the same scenario as them. 

 

So at the moment we have 2 x IOS Routers with their own ethernet to different carriers, then each router runs BGP (in HSRP mode) using our own public AS to advertise our own portable public IP ranges in the event of a carrier or router failure.

 

for example, I currently have configured on our Primary IOS Router:

 

router bgp <ASnumber>
no synchronization
bgp router-id <LocalRouterIP>
bgp log-neighbor-changes
network <IP range>
neighbor <LocalRouterIP> remote-as <ASnumber>
neighbor <LocalRouterIP> send-community both
neighbor <LocalRouterIP> soft-reconfiguration inbound
neighbor <RemoteRouterIP> remote-as <ProviderAS>
neighbor <RemoteRouterIP> password <password>
neighbor <RemoteRouterIP> next-hop-self
neighbor <RemoteRouterIP> send-community both
neighbor <RemoteRouterIP> soft-reconfiguration inbound
neighbor <RemoteRouterIP> route-map BGP-IN in
neighbor <RemoteRouterIP> route-map BGP-OUT out
no auto-summary

 

we have them configured to pull in only regional routing tables then forward all other requests upstream so table size shouldnt be a problem.

 

Has anything changed enough since 2018 to allow us to do this on an MX84 or MX100 without having to have an IOS router in front of them?

 

2 Replies 2
GIdenJoe
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

Hmm, I personally don't think the MX can fill your usecase.

 

The MX can only be used as a true internet firewall with NAT and static routes outbound or as a VPN endpoint (where it is used to terminati LOCAL customer owned subnets to the datacenter.

 

So this is not for internet routing.

 

This remains the domain for an actual router and you should look at replacing your ageing IOS routers to multihome your internet with DMZ connection.

PhilipDAth
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

The MX can not do BGP in this way - so it wouldn't work with the current network design.

 

Typically you don't use BGP for Internet resiliency in an MX world.  You use the automated failover system instead.  This is likely to require a redesign in your case.

https://documentation.meraki.com/MX/Firewall_and_Traffic_Shaping/Connection_Monitoring_for_WAN_Failo... 

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