Abstract: An improved technique for distributing routing information that allows routes to be prioritized such that information associated with higher priority routes is sent in update messages ahead of information associated with lower priority routes, thereby enabling the higher priority routes to converge faster than the lower priority routes. In the preferred embodiment of the invention a route policy map that associates routes with priorities is defined. The policy map is then applied to the routes to prioritize the routes. Update messages are then generated using the priority information and the route information contained in the update messages is organized such that route information associated with higher priority routes is placed ahead of route information associated with lower priority routes.

Abstract: Conventional methods of addressing a Distributed Denial of Service attack include taking the target node offline, and routing all traffic to an alternate countermeasure, or “sinkhole” router, therefore requiring substantial lag time to reconfigure the target router into the network. In a network, a system operator monitors a network for undesirable message traffic. Upon a notification of such undesirable message traffic, traffic is rerouted to a filter complex to separate undesirable traffic. The filter complex establishes an alternate route using a second communications protocol, and uses the alternate route to redirect the desirable message traffic to the target node. The use of the second protocol avoids conflict between the redirected desirable traffic and the original, or first, protocol which now performs the reroute.