IP Fast Reroute with Remote Loop-Free Alternates: the Unit Link Cost Case

Csikor, L. and Rétvári, G. (2012) IP Fast Reroute with Remote Loop-Free Alternates: the Unit Link Cost Case. In: International Workshop on Reliable Networks Design and Modeling, St. Petersburg, Russia, 03-05- Oct 2012, pp. 663-669. ISBN 9781467320153 (doi: 10.1109/ICUMT.2012.6459750)

Abstract

Up to not so long ago, Loop-Free Alternates (LFA) was the only viable option for providing fast protection in pure IP and MPLS/LDP networks. Unfortunately, LFA cannot provide protection for all possible failure cases in general. Recently, the IETF has initiated the Remote Loop-Free Alternates (rLFA) technique, as a simple extension to LFA, to boost the fraction of failure cases covered by fast protection. Before further stan- dardization and deployment, however, it is crucial to determine to what extent rLFA can improve the level of protection in a general IP network, as well as to find optimization methods to tweak a network for 100% rLFA coverage. In this paper, we take the first steps towards this goal by solving these problems in the special, but practically relevant, case when each network link is of unit cost. We also provide preliminary numerical evaluations conducted on real IP network topologies, which suggest that rLFA significantly improves the level of protection, and most networks need only 2 − 3 new links to be added to attain 100% failure case coverage.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Additional Information: The authors thank the support of High Speed Networks Laboratory at BME. This project was supported by TAMOP ´ 4.2.2.B-10/1-2010-0009 and OTKA-PD 104939 grants.
• Keywords: IP Fast ReRoute.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Csikor, Dr Levente
• Authors: Csikor, L., and Rétvári, G.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• ISBN: 9781467320153
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 IEEE
• First Published: First published in 4th International Congress on Ultra Modern Telecommunications and Control Systems and Workshops: 663-669
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy