Advanced IP Network Design — Today and in the Future

Abstract

The art of large-scale IP network design rests in striking the right balance between the promise of feature-rich new technologies and the assurance of well-proven existing technologies to provide resilient network designs. The Data Network Engineering team at BT Laboratories has a proven track record in the design of world-leading IP networks for large corporate organizations within this area. Many of the concepts and design criteria are equally applicable to the global Internet which offers end-to-end connectivity for millions of users. A key component in the design of any intranet or the Internet (referred to hereafter as internetwork) is the network layer ‘routeing protocol’ which makes routeing decisions on how data should flow across the network and allows networks to be built which are resilient to link or node failure.