Which protocol is an EGP?

An Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) is used for exchanging routing information between different autonomous systems on the internet. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is recognized as the primary EGP. It plays a crucial role in the functioning of the internet by allowing multiple networks (autonomous systems) to communicate and route traffic effectively.

The significance of BGP stems from its ability to handle large amounts of routing information and its policy-based routing capabilities, which allow network administrators to define routing preferences and establish paths based on various attributes. This makes BGP essential for determining the best paths for data transfer across the internet.

In contrast, while OSPF is a widely used Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) that operates within a single autonomous system, TCP is a transport layer protocol responsible for reliable data communication, and STP is a data link layer protocol used for preventing loops in Ethernet networks. None of these fulfill the role of an EGP like BGP does.