What a route collector does
One BGP session, zero traffic impact
The route collector listens to the BGP announcements of every DSIX member. It is a one-way pipe: you send UPDATEs, it receives them, and it never sends anything back. This gives exchange operations a complete, real-time view of the routing table exposed on the fabric.
The collected data feeds internal dashboards that track member health, prefix counts, routing policy compliance and leak detection. Aggregate, anonymised statistics are published to PeeringDB and exported via IX-F Member Export. Individual member data stays private.
Peering with the route collector is a mandatory part of DSIX membership. It costs you nothing extra and is not counted against your transit or export quotas.
Service properties
Never announces any prefix to you
Never forwards dataplane traffic
Required for every DSIX member
Zero bandwidth or transit cost
Minimum 90 days of history
Route Collector Addresses
Point your BGP config at RC1 on both address families. We peer only on LAN1.
Required action: configure the RC session within 7 days of activating your DSIX port. If you need help with vendor-specific configuration, see the Route Servers & Tools page for ready-to-paste snippets, or open a ticket with noc@dreamserver.ro.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything operators ask before turning on the service.
What is a route collector?
A route collector is a passive BGP listener that receives routing information from every exchange member without forwarding any traffic or announcing any prefixes. It gives the DSIX operations team a real-time view of the exchange routing table, which is invaluable for diagnostics, statistics, monitoring and troubleshooting.
Why must I peer with the route collector?
It is part of the DSIX membership policy. Every member must establish a BGP session with the route collector so that ops can see the full exchange table. Members who do not peer with it get warnings and, if unresolved, can be quarantined until the session comes up.
Does the route collector announce any prefixes to me?
No. The route collector is configured in passive/listen-only mode. It accepts all your announcements and stores them for analysis, but never originates or re-announces any prefix back to you. Your BGP input queue from the RC will always be empty.
Does the route collector forward data-plane traffic?
No. It is a pure control-plane listener with no packet-forwarding path. Your traffic never goes through it. Only BGP UPDATEs travel over the session.
What do you use the collected data for?
Monitoring peering health (counting prefixes per member), detecting route leaks or accidental full-table announcements, producing aggregate traffic and routing reports, supporting incident investigations, and feeding PeeringDB / IX-F Member Export. We do not share individual member route data with third parties.
Is the route collector the same as the route server?
No, they are completely separate services with different purposes. Route servers (RS1/RS2) actively redistribute your announcements to other members so they can build BGP sessions without meshing bilaterally. The route collector is administrative only: it stores data, never redistributes.
What are the route collector addresses?
RC1 runs on 185.0.0.251 (IPv4) and 2001:7f8:133::5:8218:251 (IPv6), both in AS65432. You peer with it over the DSIX LAN1 fabric just like any other BGP session.
Do I need special filters on the RC session?
On your export side, announce the same prefixes you announce to the route servers (i.e. your normal DSIX export policy). On your import side, accept nothing, or configure a soft-fail since the RC never announces. Most members just use
import-policy: reject or leave the default empty prefix-list.How long does the data persist?
We store BGP table snapshots and UPDATEs for at least 90 days for correlation and incident response. Real-time data is always available in our internal dashboards. Long-term summaries feed the public PeeringDB and IX-F Member Export records.
Can I access the route collector data directly?
Upon request, DSIX operations can share per-member prefix lists, looking-glass snapshots or routing history with the member in question (your own routes, for your own ASN). Cross-member visibility is not shared; aggregate exchange statistics are public via PeeringDB.
What happens if my RC session drops?
The route collector alerts our ops team automatically. We will contact you through the registered NOC e-mail to investigate. Prolonged absence (more than a few days without explanation) can trigger quarantine under the DSIX connectivity policy.
