This document presents an illustrative framework for providing fast reroute in an IP or MPLS network through encapsulation and forwarding to "not-via" addresses. The general approach described here uses a single level of encapsulation and could be used to protect unicast, multicast, and LDP traffic against link, router, and shared risk group failure, regardless of network topology and metrics. The mechanisms presented in this document are purely illustrative of the general approach and do not constitute a protocol specification. The document represents a snapshot of the work of the Routing Area Working Group at the time of publication and is published as a document of record. Further work is needed before implementation or deployment. Status of This Memo This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes. This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Not all documents approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741. Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6981.

This document describes an extension to the basic IP fast reroute mechanism, described in RFC 5286, that provides additional backup connectivity for point-to-point link failures when none can be provided by the basic mechanisms.

This document describes an illustrative framework of a mechanism for use in conjunction with link-state routing protocols that prevents the transient loops that would otherwise occur during topology changes. It does this by correctly sequencing the forwarding information base (FIB) updates on the routers. This mechanism can be used in the case of non-urgent (management action) link or node shutdowns and restarts or link metric changes. It can also be used in conjunction with a fast reroute mechanism that converts a sudden link or node failure into a non-urgent topology change. This is possible where a complete repair path is provided for all affected destinations. After a non-urgent topology change, each router computes a rank that defines the time at which it can safely update its FIB. A method for accelerating this loop-free convergence process by the use of completion messages is also described. The technology described in this document has been subject to extensive simulation using pathological convergence behavior and real network topologies and costs. However, the mechanisms described in this document are purely illustrative of the general approach and do not constitute a protocol specification. This document represents a snapshot of the work of the Routing Area Working Group at the time of publication and is published as a document of record. Further work is needed before implementation or deployment.

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