RFC 5640 on Load-Balancing for Mesh Softwires

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        RFC 5640

        Title:      Load-Balancing for Mesh Softwires 
        Author:     C. Filsfils, P. Mohapatra,
                    C. Pignataro
        Status:     Standards Track
        Date:       August 2009
        Mailbox:    cfilsfil@cisco.com, 
                    pmohapat@cisco.com, 
                    cpignata@cisco.com
        Pages:      6
        Characters: 12250
        Updates/Obsoletes/SeeAlso:   None

        I-D Tag:    draft-ietf-softwire-lb-03.txt

        URL:        http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5640.txt

Payloads transported over a Softwire mesh service (as defined by BGP
Encapsulation Subsequent Address Family Identifier (SAFI) information
exchange) often carry a number of identifiable, distinct flows.  It
can, in some circumstances, be desirable to distribute these flows
over the equal cost multiple paths (ECMPs) that exist in the packet
switched network.  Currently, the payload of a packet entering the
Softwire can only be interpreted by the ingress and egress routers.
Thus, the load-balancing decision of a core router is only based on
the encapsulating header, presenting much less entropy than available
in the payload or the encapsulated header since the Softwire
encapsulation acts in a tunneling fashion.  This document describes a
method for achieving comparable load-balancing efficiency in a
network carrying Softwire mesh service over Layer Two Tunneling
Protocol - Version 3 (L2TPv3) over IP or Generic Routing
Encapsulation (GRE) encapsulation to what would be achieved without
such encapsulation.  [STANDARDS TRACK]

This document is a product of the Softwires Working Group of the IETF.

This is now a Proposed Standard Protocol.

STANDARDS TRACK: This document specifies an Internet standards track
protocol for the Internet community,and requests discussion and suggestions
for improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the Internet
Official Protocol Standards (STD 1) for the standardization state and
status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

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