Traffic distribution over equal-cost-multi-paths

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2005.01.011 Byline: Tat Wing Chim, Kwan L. Yeung, King-Shan Lui Keywords: Traffic engineering; Traffic splitting; ECMPs; Packet reordering; Load balancing Abstract: To effectively manage the traffic distribution inside a network, traffic splitting is needed for load sharing over a set of equal-cost-multi-paths (ECMPs). In this paper, a new traffic splitting algorithm, called Table-based Hashing with Reassignments (THR), is proposed. Based on the load sharing statistics collected, THR selectively reassigns some active flows from the over-utilized paths to under-utilized paths. The reassignment process takes place in such a way that the packet out-of-order problem is less severe. Simulations show that THR provides close-to-optimal load balancing performance but suffers about 5% of packets arrived out-of-order. Although additional traffic monitoring function is needed by THR, we show that the extra complexity incurred is marginal. Author Affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong Article History: Received 28 April 2004; Revised 11 October 2004; Accepted 10 January 2005 Article Note: (miscellaneous) Responsible Editor: H.-L. Truong