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For something a bit more technical, take a look at the below paper. It’s short (7 pages) and gives a great overview of BGP in ISP networks- why they do it, what it does and how you can have fun with BGP. I’ve often wondered about BGP is really used in these situations, but never came across something as clear as this.
From: Matthew Caesar
Date: March 31, 2005 1:45:28 PM EST
To: nanog@merit.edu
Subject: BGP routing policies in ISP networks
Hi NANOG,
Jennifer Rexford and I have written an overview of how BGP routing policies are done in ISP networks. The goal was to write a kind of tutorial that students learning about BGP and people new to the field could use to better understand some of the issues involved in setting up a BGP network, peering with neighbors, etc. We aimed to provide a taxonomy of policies commonly used, the goals motivating them, and a high-level overview of how they are implemented at routers, and we tried to discuss some of the complex issues that can arise which make the job of a network operator so challenging.
We’d really appreciate your comments on the work. We’d also enjoy learning about other types of policies that network operators use, or other issues you’ve run into when implementing policies in your networks.
Thanks,
Matt