A method for processing data packets in a communication network includes establishing a path for a flow of the data packets through the communication network. At a node along the path having a plurality of aggregated ports, a port is selected from among the plurality to serve as part of the path. A label is chosen responsively to the selected port. The label is attached to the data packets in the flow at a point on the path upstream from the node. Upon receiving the data packets at the node, the data packets are switched through the selected port responsively to the label.

In general, techniques are described for signaling IP path tunnels for traffic engineering using constraints in an IP network. For example, network devices, e.g., routers, of an IP network may compute an IP path using constraint information and establish the IP path using, for example, Resource Reservation Protocol, to signal the IP path without using MPLS. As one example, the egress router generates a path reservation signaling message that includes an egress IP address that is assigned for use by the routers on the IP path to send traffic of the data flow by encapsulating the traffic with the egress IP address and forwarding toward the egress router. As each router in the IP path receives the path reservation signaling message, the router configures a forwarding state to forward traffic encapsulated with the egress IP address to a next hop along the IP path toward the egress router.

A link protection method in a software-defined networking (SDN), a corresponding switching device and network controller, where the method includes receiving, by a first switching device in the SDN, first information from a network controller in the SDN and link protection information, where the first information establishes a communication link between the first switching device and a destination device, and the link protection information instructs the first switching device to proactively perform primary-to-secondary link switching when a link is faulty, establishing, by the first switching device, the communication link with the destination device according to the first information, and determining, by the first switching device according to the link protection information, that the first switching device proactively performs the primary-to-secondary link switching.

A method for processing data packets in a communication network includes establishing a path for a flow of the data packets through the communication network. At a node along the path having a plurality of aggregated ports, a port is selected from among the plurality to serve as part of the path. A label is chosen responsively to the selected port. The label is attached to the data packets in the flow at a point on the path upstream from the node. Upon receiving the data packets at the node, the data packets are switched through the selected port responsively to the label.

A method for increasing the efficiency of copying data is disclosed. In one embodiment, such a method includes receiving a request to copy data from a first location to a second location. The method determines an original copy algorithm associated with the request and determines whether the original copy algorithm is the best copy algorithm available to copy the data. If the original copy algorithm is the best copy algorithm, the method uses the original copy algorithm to copy the data. If, however, the original copy algorithm is not the best copy algorithm available, the method substitutes a more efficient copy algorithm for the original copy algorithm. In certain embodiments, this may be accomplished by looking in a prioritized list of copy algorithms and selecting a more efficient copy algorithm from the list. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.

Disclosed is segment routing for load balancing. A network path identification device can receive a first service request identifying a first service. The first service request can originate from a first client device. The network path identification device can select, from a Source Routing (SR) list, a first service node to provide the first service and a first network path to reach the first service node. The SR list can include a set of service nodes that provide the service and one or more network paths to reach each service node from the set of service nodes. The network path identification device can then transmit a response message to the first service request. The response message can identify the first service node and the first network path so that the first client device can use the first network path to request the first service from the first service node.

Systems and methods of propagating frame loss information by a node in an Ethernet network include detecting one or more of service unaware port discards and service aware port discards; determining statistics based on the one or more of service unaware discards and service aware port discards; and transmitting the determined statistics to a sender node through one of a Link Layer Discovery Protocol Data Unit (LLDPDU) and a Link Trace Message (LTM). The LLDPDU and the LTM can include an organization specific Type-Length-Value (TLV) with a TLV information string therein based on the determined statistics and cause of the one or more of service unaware discards and service aware port discards.

The disclosed computer-implemented method may include (1) receiving, at a network node within a network, a packet from another network node within the network, (2) identifying, within the packet, a label stack that includes a plurality of labels that collectively represent at least a portion of a label-switched path within the network, (3) popping, from the label stack, a label that corresponds to a next hop of the network node, (4) determining, based at least in part on the label, that the next hop has experienced a failure that prevents the packet from reaching a destination via the next hop, (5) identifying a backup path that merges with the label-switched path at a next-to-next hop included in the label-switched path, and then (6) forwarding the packet to the next-to-next hop via the backup path. Various other methods, systems, and apparatuses are also disclosed.

The present application provides a redundant path resource reservation method, a network device, and a storage medium. The method includes: acquiring, from a received attribute declaration packet of a talker device, a TSN service targeted by the attribute declaration packet and an indication of whether to provide redundant propagation for the attribute declaration packet; duplicating the attribute declaration packet in response to the indication of providing the redundant propagation for the attribute declaration packet, and there are at least two spanning tree instances maintained in a bridge device; propagating the received attribute declaration packet and the duplicated attribute declaration packet, to establish a redundant path for the TSN service between the talker device and a listener device; and performing, in response to receiving a resource reservation request packet for the TSN service from the listener device, redundant path resource reservation for the TSN service.

Methods and systems are provided for connecting an electronic device to a network. In some situations, the electronic device connects to a first network provider and pings a first server having a static internet protocol address and a second server having a dedicated uniform resource locator. If the electronic device receives a response from the first and second server, the electronic device maintains its connection to the first network provider. Otherwise, the electronic device connects to a second network provider and pings the first and second servers.