RFC 3346 (rfc3346) - Page 2 of 14

Applicability Statement for Traffic Engineering with MPLS

RFC 3346    Applicability Statement for Traffic Engineering  August 2002


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction....................................................2
   2.  Technical Overview of ISP Traffic Engineering...................3
   3.  Applicability of Internet Traffic Engineering...................4
   3.1 Avoidance of Congested Resources................................4
   3.2 Resource Utilization in Network Topologies with Parallel Links..5
   3.3 Implementing Routing Policies using Affinities..................5
   3.4 Re-optimization After Restoration...............................6
   4.  Implementation Considerations...................................6
   4.1 Architectural and Operational Considerations....................6
   4.2 Network Management Aspects......................................7
   4.3 Capacity Engineering Aspects....................................8
   4.4 Network Measurement Aspects.....................................8
   5.  Limitations.....................................................9
   6.  Conclusion.....................................................11
   7.  Security Considerations........................................11
   8.  References.....................................................11
   9.  Acknowledgments................................................12
   10. Authors' Addresses.............................................13
   11. Full Copyright Statement.......................................14

1. Introduction

   It is generally acknowledged that one of the most significant initial
   applications of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is traffic
   engineering (TE) [1][2] in IP networks.  A significant community of
   IP service providers have found that traffic engineering of their
   networks can have tactical and strategic value [2, 3, 4].  To support
   the traffic engineering application, extensions have been specified
   for Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP) IS-IS [5] and OSPF [6], and to
   signaling protocols RSVP [7] and LDP [8].  The extensions for IS-IS,
   OSPF, and RSVP have all been developed and deployed in large scale in
   many networks consisting of multi-vendor equipment.

   This document discusses the applicability of TE to Internet service
   provider networks, focusing on the MPLS-based approach.  It augments
   the existing protocol applicability statements and, in particular,
   relates to the operational applicability of RSVP-TE [9].  Special
   considerations for deployment of MPLS in operational contexts are
   discussed and the limitations of this approach to traffic engineering
   are highlighted.









Boyle, et al.                Informational