Route advertisement management using tags in directly connected networks

Abstract

A system includes a provider network and a client network connected via a dedicated physical connection. The client network and the provider network exchange routing information using routing protocol messages, such as border gateway protocol (BGP) update messages exchanged during a BGP session. A provider network includes tag field values in outgoing routing protocol messages that indicate a portion of the provider network wherein resources of the provider network associated with a corresponding route are located. The client network may use the tag field value to determine whether to add the route to a routing table of the client network. A client network may also include tag field values in outgoing routing protocol messages to a provider network. The tag field values may indicate what portions of the provider network are to receive the routes from the client network. For example a tag field value may indicate that a route is to be propagated within a limited portion of the provider network.