Patent ID: 8036118

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a first packet having a source address and destination address; from a set of predetermined multi-topology routing topologies formed over a network providing multiple paths between the source address and the destination address, selecting a topology as a function of the source address and the destination address, wherein at least one path provided by the network is common to at least two of the multi-topology routing topologies and is assigned a first cost in a first one of the multi-topology routing topologies and is assigned a second cost in a second one of the multi-topology routing topologies, the second cost being different from the first cost, each of the first cost and the second cost characterizing the at least one path in terms of a predefined metric associated with the respective multi-topology routing topology, each predefined metric being distinct, wherein the at least one path comprises one or more network links; subsequent to selecting the topology, selecting a path of the multiple paths provided by the network, based on the cost assigned to each of the multiple paths by the selected topology; and sending the first packet on the selected path that is preferred by the selected topology.