The world of indie hackers typically demands deep knowledge in areas like software development, product management, and marketing. When you're trying to bring a product to life from start to finish on your own, you understand the importance of every detail. However, sometimes, curiosity about specialized fields or the urge to "know everything" can lead us to spend too much time on topics that aren't actually critical for our projects. BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is one such topic that often emerges, likely remaining an "extra burden" for most indie hackers. In this post, I'll briefly explain what BGP is and share my own experiences on why indie hackers don't need to dive that deep, where they should be spending their time, and why we need to overcome the allure of such "extra" knowledge.
This isn't a guide saying "you shouldn't do this"; rather, it's an examination of "this shouldn't be among your priorities." I've encountered similar situations in my own projects: I once tried to learn the intricacies of DNSSEC to better manage my financial calculators on my own VPS. The result? Days of learning marathons, and the only tangible gain was realizing, "yes, this is complex." It offered no direct benefit to my project. BGP presents a similar trap; this protocol, which forms the backbone of the internet, doesn't directly contribute to an individual indie hacker's efforts to bring a product to market or improve user experience.
What is BGP and Why is it Important? (A Brief Overview)
BGP is one of the most fundamental routing protocols on the internet. It's used between autonomous systems (AS) on the internet—large networks—to determine the best path. An AS is typically an internet service provider (ISP) or a large corporate network. BGP's primary job is to inform other ASs about which IP address blocks are managed by which ASs and what the most efficient way to reach those blocks is.
This is part of an incredibly complex system that underlies how the internet works. BGP decisions not only dictate where packets go but also affect internet traffic flow, latency, and even cost. For instance, an ISP might use BGP to route traffic in specific directions to provide the fastest access to its customers. It's a massive chess game that enables billions of devices worldwide to communicate with each other.
ℹ️ BGP's Core Function
BGP's main function is to determine the most suitable route for packets to reach their destination within the internet's vast network structure. It achieves this by exchanging information between different autonomous systems (AS). This exchange of information is done via a mechanism called "path-vector," meaning a route is transmitted not just with the next hop but also as a list of all autonomous systems it has traversed. This helps prevent loops and allows for more informed routing decisions.
To get a bit more technical, BGP routers communicate with each other over TCP port 179. Each router builds its own routing table (RIB - Routing Information Base) based on the information received from neighboring routers. It then selects the most suitable routes from this table and transfers them to the global routing table (FIB - Forwarding Information Base). This selection process uses various "path attributes" (like AS_PATH, NEXT_HOP, LOCAL_PREF, MED, etc.) and is quite complex.
Why is it Generally Unnecessary for Indie Hackers?
Now, let's get to the main point. As indie hackers, we are generally concerned with:
- Product Development: Creating software, a mobile app, a website, or a service that solves users' problems.
- Marketing and Sales: Reaching our target audience with our product and making sales.
- Operational Overhead: Keeping our product live, scaling it, and ensuring its security.
At this point, BGP knowledge doesn't provide any direct, tangible benefit to any of these three main areas. A SaaS product developed by an indie hacker, a mobile game, or an e-commerce site typically runs on managed services from one or a few cloud providers (like AWS, Google Cloud, Azure). These providers already manage BGP on their own infrastructure at the highest level.
Imagine you're developing a mobile app. You upload it to the Play Store or App Store. Your app's users reach you through their ISP's network. How these ISPs manage BGP is of no concern to you, because ISPs do this professionally. You just ensure your app's servers are accessible.
Even if you're running a service on your own server (VPS), the situation isn't much different. Most VPS providers offer you an IP address and basic network configuration. Unless you need to optimize the routing between this provider's data centers or their connection to the outside world (which is usually not the case), you don't need to understand BGP. What's important to you is that your server's IP address is accessible and your firewalls are configured correctly.
⚠️ Point to Consider
This doesn't mean BGP is unimportant. The internet itself is largely built on BGP. However, for individuals who fit the "indie hacker" definition and generally run small-scale, independent projects, BGP knowledge usually doesn't directly impact the operational or development process. The situation is different for advanced users or ISPs who manage their own servers and need to build complex network topologies.
In summary, BGP knowledge for indie hackers can create a situation like a car mechanic knowing every screw and bolt. While not necessary for basic functionality, in some cases, in-depth knowledge can feel like it "might be useful." However, this is not where you'll use your time most effectively. In my own projects, I once tried to research the intricacies of BGP to optimize the network performance of my own servers. As a result, after spending a few days, I realized that the basic settings offered by the server provider already gave me good performance. This taught me to spend my time more on backend optimization or frontend usability.
When Might BGP Knowledge Be Necessary? (Rare Scenarios)
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. BGP knowledge might become critical in an indie hacker's career or project in a few situations. These are generally scenarios with more niche or advanced operational requirements:
If You Manage Your Own Data Center: If you, as an indie hacker, are setting up your own data center, hosting your servers, and connecting to multiple ISPs, BGP knowledge becomes unavoidable. In this case, you need to understand BGP to determine which ISP to use, how to route traffic, and how to provide redundancy against potential outages. This typically applies to larger-scale infrastructure projects that go beyond individual projects.
Multi-Cloud Strategy and Network Optimization: If you run your application across multiple cloud providers (multi-cloud) and want to optimize traffic between them, being familiar with BGP concepts can be beneficial. However, even at this point, specialized network solutions offered by cloud providers (e.g., AWS Transit Gateway, Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center) often abstract away the complexity of BGP for you. Still, knowing the basic principles of BGP is important to understand how these solutions work.
Developing or Managing Network Appliances: If your goal is to develop network devices (routers, firewalls, etc.) or work on software that manages these devices, BGP knowledge is directly necessary. However, this signifies an entry into a more specialized technical field rather than the typical "one-person orchestra" role of an indie hacker.
Large-Scale Distributed Systems: If you are building truly large-scale, distributed systems on your own servers (e.g., part of a global CDN, a distributed database infrastructure), you may need to understand how the network layer works in depth. This includes BGP and other routing protocols. However, this is far beyond most indie projects.
Each of these scenarios is far removed from the situations an individual indie hacker typically encounters initially. Generally, an indie hacker relies on the infrastructure managed by cloud providers when starting and growing their projects. Even if they manage their own servers, these servers are usually limited to a few, and complex BGP configurations are not required. For example, when running a web service on my own VPS, the IP address and basic network configuration provided by the server provider were sufficient. Security firewall rules and the performance of the service itself were much more important to me.
💡 Realistic Expectations
As an indie hacker, your time is your most valuable asset. Diving into topics like BGP, which often require deep technical knowledge and don't directly impact your project's core functionality, can distract you from your main goals. Setting your priorities correctly increases your chances of success.
Let me give another example from my own experience: When I was developing a financial analysis tool for Android, the security of the background services and the performance of data transfer were critical for me. I spent hours researching these topics, trying code optimizations. If I had tried to learn BGP at that time, I would likely have had much more difficulty completing this project, or its quality would have suffered. This is because BGP was not directly related to the value the application offered to users.
Where Should Indie Hackers Spend Their Time?
If you want to use your time more efficiently instead of learning BGP, here are the areas you should focus on:
Core Product Development: Developing features your users truly need, improving user experience, and differentiating your product from competitors should be your top priority. This means improving code quality, adding new features, or making existing features more usable. In my own ERP project, the simplicity of the operator screens and the speed of data entry were as important as the technical depth of the software. Understanding the users' workflow and designing an interface accordingly could be more valuable than writing complex algorithms.
Performance Optimization: Your application being fast and responsive is critical for user satisfaction. This covers many areas, such as optimizing your backend code, improving database queries (e.g., PostgreSQL index strategies), correctly using caching mechanisms, and reducing frontend loading times. Recently, I noticed a query in my own financial calculators slowing down. The problem stemmed from a simple missing index. Instead of rewriting the entire code, just running the
CREATE INDEXcommand increased efficiency by 80%. Such small optimizations are much more effective than getting lost in the depths of BGP.Security: The security of your product and user data is fundamental to building trust. Closing security vulnerabilities, implementing secure authentication mechanisms (like JWT, OAuth2), taking measures like rate limiting, and ensuring overall system security are far more important than learning BGP. For example, in one of my client's projects, we configured fail2ban and Nginx rate limiting rules to prevent brute-force attacks on their APIs. This ensured system stability and prevented potential data breaches.
Scalability and Infrastructure: As your product grows, your infrastructure needs to be able to handle that growth. This can mean increasing the number of servers, using load balancers, setting up database replication, or leveraging container orchestration tools (like Docker Compose). In my own projects, although I started with a single VPS, I took steps to make the system more scalable as traffic increased. This often involves effectively using services offered by cloud providers.
Marketing and User Acquisition: Even if you build a great product, it's meaningless if nobody notices it. SEO, content marketing, social media strategies, and direct sales techniques are critical for reaching your target audience with your product. The articles I write on my own blog are a tool for both improving SEO and adding value to readers. Instead of learning BGP, making these articles more readable and accessible to more people is more beneficial for me.
ℹ️ Areas to Focus On
- User Experience (UX): The easier and more enjoyable your product is to use, the more successful it will be.
- Basic Security Practices: Being familiar with topics like OWASP Top 10 allows you to prevent basic security vulnerabilities.
- Database Optimization: Correct indexing and query writing techniques in databases like PostgreSQL directly impact performance.
- Scalable Architecture: Ensuring your application is ready for future growth.
- Effective Marketing Strategies: Reaching the right people with your product.
Once, for a small Android spam blocker app I wrote, I focused on making the app consume less battery and use less memory. This was an improvement users directly experienced. Instead of learning BGP, focusing on such concrete, user-centric improvements was much more meaningful for the project's overall success.
The Allure of BGP Knowledge and Why to Overcome It
So, why do topics like BGP seem so appealing? There are a few reasons. First, complex and in-depth knowledge imparts a sense of "expertise." Understanding a protocol that forms the foundation of how the internet works can make one feel more knowledgeable and capable. Second, the "I must know everything" mentality. Especially when working alone on projects, you might feel the need to specialize in every area, thinking you have to handle every need yourself. Third, sometimes our tendency to question existing solutions with the thought, "there must be a better way." We might think that if we build our own network instead of the existing cloud infrastructure, it would be better.
Being aware of these attractions is the first step to resisting them. I acknowledge that BGP is an incredibly important protocol for how the internet works on a global scale. However, an indie hacker's primary goal is usually to bring their project to success. This is often the fastest and most efficient way by using existing, well-understood, and managed tools and infrastructure.
While building my own "side project" anonymous Turkish data platform, server management and data security were my priorities. This platform had a structure that anonymized and analyzed data from users. During this process, I spent hours optimizing database performance, correctly implementing encryption algorithms, and ensuring server security. If I had tried to learn BGP, I would have been delayed in developing the core functionality of this platform.
⚠️ Risk of Misprioritization
Focusing on niche and generally less relevant technical topics like BGP carries the risk of "wasted time" for indie hackers. This can slow down project progress, reduce motivation, and ultimately lead to project failure.
It's important to remember that as an indie hacker, your "field experience" is generally in software development, product management, and marketing. Not network engineering or BGP expertise. This is like a bricklayer being proficient with a hammer and trowel but not knowing carpentry details. Everyone has different areas of expertise, and that's perfectly natural.
Another example: When integrating an AI-powered production planning module into an ERP system, the biggest challenges I faced were data quality and operator adoption of the system. Instead of optimizing machine learning models, I focused on data cleaning and user interface design. Because this was more critical for the project's success. Instead of learning BGP, focusing on such practical issues that directly serve project goals brings success.
Conclusion: Shift Your Focus to the Right Place
For indie hackers, BGP knowledge generally falls into the "not worth the time" category rather than the "useful to know" category. While understanding this protocol, which forms the basis of the internet, is theoretically interesting, it doesn't provide you with a direct advantage in bringing your individual projects to life and growing them. Most of the time, the cloud providers or VPS services you use already handle these complex network management tasks for you.
Spending your time developing your product, improving user experience, ensuring security, and marketing it will be much more efficient than trying to learn the intricacies of BGP. As I've often seen in my own projects, the biggest advancements come from improvements made in the areas that have the most direct impact. Focus on increasing the value you offer to users, rather than understanding complex protocols.
If you encounter one of the rare scenarios, such as building your own infrastructure or having very specific network requirements, then you can dedicate time to learning BGP in depth. However, for the general indie hacker profile, directing these resources to more strategic areas is the most sensible approach. Remember, the best technology is the technology that helps you do your job best; not knowing every detail.
In my own development process, I also got stuck on unnecessary details at one point with the thought of "I must know everything." But over time, I realized that what's truly important is finding the most effective way to achieve the project's core goals. And most of the time, this path involves using the most practical solutions, not the most complex protocols.
