Described are a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) network device and method
for distributing routing information to a plurality of BGP peers over a
network. The BGP network device dynamically calculates a number of groups
and a number of BGP peers in each group based on routing information to
be distributed. A time interval is specified within which to generate an
update message for each BGP peer in a select one of the groups. An update
message is generated for each BGP peer in the select group during the
time interval. Routes included in the update message for each BGP peer
are based on an outbound routing policy for that BGP peer. The update
messages are forwarded for transmission to the BGP peers in the select
group after the time interval expires.