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Table of Contents
IXP Route Collector
A Route Collector is a router or appliance running a routing daemon that gathers routing information from IXP members.
Purpose
The Route Collector's purpose is to be a reference for the routing information available at the IXP, and is useful for promotional purposes of the IXP to attract new members.
It is useful for existing members to check the functionality of their BGP filters as their outbound peering policy with the Route Collector is the same as would be used with the IXP Route Server and bi-lateral peers.
It is also very useful as the “back-end” of a widely used troubleshooting facility called a Looking Glass.
Implementation
Each member peers with the Collector using the same outbound BGP policy configuration as they would with any other peer.
The Collector is attached to the IXP's LAN like any other IXP participant would be.
Any device capable of talking modern standards based BGP can act as a Route Collector. This can range from older routers no longer useful for service, to routing software such as BIRD or FRR running on Linux or BSD-based appliances.
The Route Collector only collects routes by BGP. It does not make any announcements to any member. It does not forward packets either.