NETWORK ROUTING APPARATUS THAT PERFORMS SOFT GRACEFUL RESTART

摘要

A network data packet routing apparatus with BGP is configured to soft reset an AFI or SAFI, so that forwarding on routes associated with the AFI or SAFI can continue even after an event or error. One approach involves establishing a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) peering session between a first node and a second node in a packet-switched network; detecting a BGP condition requiring a reset of a BGP address family indicator (AFI) data structure or a sub-address family indicator (SAFI) data structure, wherein the BGP condition does not affect states of routes in the AFI or SAFI; preserving a BGP state and a forwarding state of the AFI or SAFI; and forwarding data on routes represented in the AFI or SAFI. Soft notification messaging and marking routes as stale facilitates the approach.