IP Fast ReRoute is an emerging technology trying to rapidly repair failure conditions in IP/MPLS networks. This presentation will give an overview of some of the different techniques that have emerged and provide a comparison with MPLS FRR. IP fast-reroute can provide resilience in the event of a failure by quickly (<50ms) rerouting traffic to pre-computed alternates. The basic mechanism of loop-free alternates is described; candidate advanced methods are also discussed. The related problem of avoiding micro-forwarding loops during network convergence is described. Two mechanisms for micro-forwarding loop prevention--path locking via safe neighbors and Ordered FIB installation--are presented. Last, the open issues for concluding the industry-wide solution will be discussed.

About the Presenters
Dave Ward is a Distinguished Engineer and software geek at Cisco Systems. He is the software architect for IOS-XR, Cisco's next-generation operating system, and co-system architect of the CRS-1 multi-terabit router. Dave is also the chair of the IS-IS, HIP and BFD Working Groups at the IETF, and a member of the IETF-ITU ASON design committee.

Alia Atlas is a Consulting Software Engineer and manager for Avici Systems. Her current interests include MPLS, QoS, and protection mechanisms for IP and MPLS. She is the project lead for the RAPID, Avici's implementation of IP/LDP Fast-Reroute. She is a co-author of several IP Fast-Reroute Internet-Drafts and the RSVP-TE Fast-Reroute Internet-Draft, and an active member of the IETF Routing Area Working Group design team on micro-forwarding loop prevention.

Prior to joining Avici Systems, Alia was a network scientist in the GTE BBN Technologies Department of Internetwork Research. At BBN, she focused on router architectures for QoS and traffic engineering. Alia holds patents in the area of protection mechanisms for IP networks. She holds a B.S.E.E. from MIT and a Masters and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Boston University, where she focused on real-time systems.