LDP ECMP uniform failover allows the fast re-distribution by the ingress data path of packets forwarded over an LDP FEC next-hop to other next-hops of the same FEC when the currently used next-hop fails. The switchover is performed within a bounded time, which does not depend on the number of impacted LDP ILMs (LSR role) or service records (ingress LER role). The uniform failover time is only supported for a single LDP interface or LDP next-hop failure event.
This feature complements the coverage provided by the LDP Fast-ReRoute (FRR) feature, which provides a Loop-Free Alternate (LFA) backup next-hop with uniform failover time. Prefixes that have one or more ECMP next-hop protection are not programmed with a LFA back-up next-hop, and the other way around.
The LDP ECMP uniform failover feature builds on the concept of Protect Group ID (PG-ID) introduced in LDP FRR. LDP assigns a unique PG-ID to all FECs that have their primary Next-Hop Label Forwarding Entry (NHLFE) resolved to the same outgoing interface and next-hop.
When an ILM record (LSR role) or LSPid-to-NHLFE (LTN) record (LER role) is created on the IOM, it has the PG-ID of each ECMP NHLFE the FEC is using.
When a packet is received on this ILM/LTN, the hash routine selects one of the up to 32, or the ECMP value configured on the system, whichever is less, ECMP NHLFEs for the FEC based on a hash of the packet’s header. If the selected NHLFE has its PG-ID in DOWN state, the hash routine re-computes the hash to select a backup NHLFE among the first 16, or the ECMP value configured on the system, whichever is less, NHLFEs of the FEC, excluding the one that is in DOWN state. Packets of the subset of flows that resolved to the failed NHLFE are therefore sprayed among a maximum of 16 NHLFEs.
LDP then re-computes the new ECMP set to exclude the failed path and downloads it into the IOM. At that point, the hash routine updates the computation and begin spraying over the updated set of NHLFEs.
LDP sends the DOWN state update of the PG-ID to the IOM when the outgoing interface or a specific LDP next-hop goes down. This can be the result of any of the following events:
interface failure detected directly
failure of the LDP session detected via T-LDP BFD or LDP Keep-Alive
failure of LDP Hello adjacency detected via link LDP BFD or LDP Hello
In addition, PIP sends an interface down event to the IOM if the interface failure is detected by other means than the LDP control plane or BFD. In that case, all PG-IDs associated with this interface have their state updated by the IOM.
When tunneling LDP packets over an RSVP LSP, it is the detection of the T-LDP session going down, via BFD or Keep-Alive, which triggers the LDP ECMP uniform failover procedures. If the RSVP LSP alone fails and the latter is not protected by RSVP FRR, the failure event triggers the re-resolution of the impacted FECs in the slow path.
When a multicast LDP (mLDP) FEC is resolved over ECMP links to the same downstream LDP LSR, the PG-ID DOWN state causes packets of the FEC resolved to the failed link to be switched to another link using the linear FRR switchover procedures.
The LDP ECMP uniform failover is not supported in the following forwarding contexts:
VPLS BUM packets
packets forwarded to an IES/VPRN spoke-interface
packets forwarded toward VPLS spoke in routed VPLS
Finally, the LDP ECMP uniform failover is only supported for a single LDP interface, LDP next-hop, or peer failure event.