Re: [Banana] diff (banana load distribution, next-hop selection of multipath)

[Margaret Cullen <[e-mail]>]

Hi Joe,

> On Feb 3, 2017, at 11:46 AM, Joe Touch <[e-mail]> wrote:
> So am I to understand that the "problem statement" is:
> 
>   - given two cooperating devices, how to manage a set of bonded links
> between them?

No that is not what we are talking about here.  We are talking about distributing a single flow across non-bonded links, potentially provided by different Internet Service Providers, and recombining that traffic at a convergence point for both paths (whether that is a tunnel endpoint, or a proxy is solution specific) to arrive at the remote destination as it was originally sent by the local end-point.

> Isn't that what routers already do?

No, routers don’t do this.  Routers choose a next hop for each IP packet based on <destination IP address>, <source/dest IP addresses> or <source/dest IP addresses, transport protocol, and protocol source/dest ports>, depending on what type of router you are talking about.  

There are all sorts of devices that are routers AND include other sorts of traffic shaping or loadsharing.  There are even some routers deployed today that can share a single flow across multiple access links, recombining the traffic in a provider network.   However, there is no standard that I am aware of for doing this, so both ends need to be provided by a single vendor.

Margaret