Prioritized formation of bgp sessions

A network device comprising one or more processors implemented in circuitry, the one or more processors being configured to:

• select a prioritized sub-set of a plurality of routing protocol sessions based on peer priority information, each routing protocol session of the plurality of routing protocol sessions corresponding to a session with a respective peer network device of a plurality of peer network devices, wherein the peer priority information indicates a priority level of the routing protocol session;
• establish one or more routing protocol sessions of the prioritized sub-set, wherein establishing the one or more routing protocol sessions of the prioritized sub-set comprises refraining from establishing one or more routing protocol sessions of the plurality of routing protocol sessions that are not included in the prioritized sub-set;
• in response to determining that a threshold for establishing the prioritized sub-set of the plurality of routing protocol sessions is satisfied, establish one or more routing protocol sessions of the plurality of routing protocol sessions that are not included in the prioritized sub-set;
• and
• forward network traffic using the established one or more routing protocol sessions of the prioritized sub-set and the established one or more routing protocol sessions of the plurality of routing protocol sessions that are not included in the prioritized sub-set.

A computer-readable storage medium comprises instructions for causing a programmable processor to:

• select a prioritized sub-set of a plurality of routing protocol sessions based on peer priority information, each routing protocol session of the plurality of routing protocol sessions corresponding to a session with a respective peer network device of a plurality of peer network devices, wherein the peer priority information indicates a priority level of the routing protocol session;
• establish one or more routing protocol sessions of the prioritized sub-set, wherein establishing the one or more routing protocol sessions of the prioritized sub-set comprises refraining from establishing one or more routing protocol sessions of the plurality of routing protocol sessions that are not included in the prioritized sub-set;
• in response to determining that a threshold for establishing the prioritized sub-set of the plurality of routing protocol sessions is satisfied, establish one or more routing protocol sessions of the plurality of routing protocol sessions that are not included in the prioritized sub-set;
• and
• forward network traffic using the established one or more routing protocol sessions of the prioritized sub-set and the established one or more routing protocol sessions of the plurality of routing protocol sessions that are not included in the prioritized sub-set.