noBGP Replaces Legacy Routing Protocols

In today’s cloud-native world, building private networks across clouds is no longer a rare edge case—it’s the new default for modern architecture. Whether you’re connecting AWS to Azure, running hybrid on-prem to cloud systems, or managing multi-region failover, the underlying routing protocol becomes a critical design decision.

This article compares BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), OSPF (Open Shortest Path First), and a BGP alternative—noBGP, in the context of building secure, scalable private networks across clouds.

Routing Protocols 101

Routing protocols are rulesets used by routers to decide how to forward packets in a network. They fall into two broad categories:

• Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs): Used within a single organization (e.g., OSPF, RIP).
• Exterior Gateway Protocols (EGPs): Used between organizations (e.g., BGP).

Each has a different method for determining the best path and different operational characteristics. Let’s explore.

What Is BGP and How Does BGP Work?

BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is the de facto EGP used on the Internet and in most cloud networking scenarios. It’s a path vector protocol that maintains routes between Autonomous Systems (AS)—each representing a different administrative domain like an ISP, cloud provider, or enterprise.

How BGP Works

• BGP peering is the process of two routers establishing a TCP session (over port 179) and exchanging routing information.
• BGP uses attributes such as AS_PATH, NEXT_HOP, and LOCAL_PREF to determine the best route.
• Instead of always choosing the shortest path, BGP makes policy-driven decisions—allowing you to prioritize certain routes over others.
• BGP does not require a full view of the entire topology. Instead, it passes along reachability information.

Pros

• Internet-scale reachability.
• Policy control for outbound/inbound routing.
• Widely supported by cloud vendors like AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Cons

• Slow convergence—takes time to react to failures.
• Complex to configure and maintain, especially in hybrid and multi-cloud scenarios.
• Security risks like BGP hijacking and route leaks.
• Requires public IPs, exposing infrastructure to potential threats.

What Is OSPF and How Does OSPF Work?

OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is a link-state routing protocol designed for use within a single administrative domain. It calculates the shortest path using Dijkstra’s algorithm and maintains a full map of the network topology.

How OSPF Works

• OSPF routers periodically share LSAs (Link-State Advertisements).
• These are used to construct a link-state database on each router.
• Routers then independently compute the shortest path tree.

Pros

• Fast convergence within enterprise networks.
• Efficient use of bandwidth (only sends updates on topology changes).
• Supports hierarchical design via areas to reduce routing overhead.

Cons

• Designed for LANs, not global-scale networks.
• Poor fit for cloud interconnects and VPC/VNet peering across providers.
• Doesn’t handle NAT or public IP translation well.

A New BGP Alternative: What Is noBGP?

noBGP is a modern BGP alternative designed specifically for cloud-native, private networking. Rather than relying on traditional routing protocols like BGP or OSPF, noBGP uses intent-based policies, encrypted overlays, and agent-based routing to connect workloads across clouds.

Where BGP requires public IPs, tunnels, or VPNs, noBGP enables private-to-private communication across any network environment—public cloud, on-prem, edge—without touching the public internet.

How noBGP Works

• Each host runs a noBGP Agent that discovers optimal paths to other agents via local or SaaS-managed routers.
• Agents create end-to-end encrypted tunnels and dynamically choose the best path based on performance, locality, or compliance policy.
• Network admins define high-level policies (e.g., “Send data from US-West to EU-Central via private router only”), not manual routes.

Pros

• No public IPs required—fully private overlay.
• End-to-end encryption with no intermediate decryption.
• Policy-driven, not route- or prefix-based.
• Instant convergence without reliance on external route tables.
• Multi-cloud and hybrid ready out of the box.

Cons

• Not compatible with traditional BGP hardware routers.
• Requires running noBGP Agents on each endpoint or gateway.

What Is RIP Protocol and How It Works

RIP (Routing Information Protocol) is one of the oldest distance-vector protocols. It uses hop count as its only metric, with a max of 15 hops—making it unsuitable for anything but the simplest networks.

How RIP Works

• Routers broadcast their entire routing table every 30 seconds.
• Neighbors update their own table based on received info.
• Loops are avoided via mechanisms like split horizon and hold-down timers.

Why it’s outdated: RIP has been largely replaced by OSPF and BGP due to poor scalability and slow convergence.

Comparing BGP vs OSPF vs noBGP for Cloud Connectivity

FeatureBGPOSPFnoBGPTypeExterior (EGP)Interior (IGP)Overlay Policy EngineUse CaseInter-AS, Cloud RoutingEnterprise LANPrivate multi-cloud overlayConvergence SpeedSlowFastInstantPublic IP RequiredYesSometimesNoEnd-to-End EncryptionNo (requires IPsec/MPLS)NoYesNAT TraversalManual (VPNs, tunnels)LimitedAutomaticScaleInternet-scaleRegionalGlobal via mesh overlayComplexityHighMediumLow (policy-based)PortTCP 179IP Protocol 89Agent-based, no open ports

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The Future of Routing Protocols in Cloud Architectures

Traditional BGP routing will remain essential for inter-AS traffic on the open internet. OSPF will continue to thrive in datacenter cores and LANs. But for connecting workloads across clouds, neither protocol meets modern demands for speed, security, or simplicity.

noBGP offers a compelling alternative: programmable, encrypted, and intent-driven connectivity that adapts to developer and business needs, not the limitations of 30-year-old protocols.

If you’re building cross-cloud private networks and tired of managing tunnels, NAT, VPNs, and static routes, it may be time to explore a new path with noBGP.

TL;DR

• BGP is policy-based but complex and slow to adapt, exposing public IPs.
• OSPF is fast but limited to internal networks.
• noBGP is a modern BGP alternative for cloud-native private networking: encrypted, simple, and programmable.

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