MPLS TE: Loose Path vs Explicit Path

[maher]

Hi NetPro,

I'm new with MPLS TE. Upon reading, I'm trying to understand the different between the terms of configuring loose path and explicit path.

Can anyone explain in simple term how to differentiate between this two terms?

Thanks in advance.

maher

[Harold Ritter]

Hi Maher,

I'm glad to hear from you. These two terms are not mutually exclusive. In other words, an explicit path can be configured with or without the loose option.

The loose option would rather be the opposite of the strict option.

Here is a brief summary of the difference between the strict and loose option:

Strict means that the next address in the explicit path belongs to an adjacent router to the router in the sequence.

Loose means that the next address can belong to a router that is not necesseraly adjacent.

Regards,

[maher]

Hi Harold,

Glad to hear from you too. Cheers and thanks for the explanation. Maybe I could summarize it into implementation like

for configuring strict mode, all the next hop along the P routers, and as for loose mode, by configuring next-address loopbacks for each P routers?

Thanks and regards,

maher

[Harold Ritter]

Maher,

Configuring the loopback IP address of the next node in the path doesn't constitute loose mode. Configuring the IP address of a physical or loopback interface of a not directy connected node does.

Regards,

[maher]

Harold,

I see. Thanks for the explanation.

cheers.

maher