Multi-Link Failure Effects on MPLS Resilient Fast-Reroute Network Architectures

MPLS has been in the forefront of high-speed Wide Area Networks (WANs), for almost two decades [1, 12]. The performance advantages in implementing Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) are mainly its superior speed based on fast label switching and its capability to perform Fast Reroute rapidly when failure(s) occur – in theory under 50 ms [16, 17], which makes MPLS also interesting for real-time applications. We investigate the aforementioned advantages of MPLS by creating two real testbeds using actual routers that commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use, one with a ring and one with a partial mesh architecture. In those two testbeds we compare the performance of MPLS channels versus normal routing, both using the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol. The speed of the Fast Reroute mechanism for MPLS when failures are occurring is investigated. Firstly, baseline experiments are performed consisting of MPLS versus normal routing. Results are evaluated and compared using both single and dual failure scenarios within the two architectures. Our results confirm recovery times within 50 ms.