Patent ID: 8873372

Claim:
A method comprising: forwarding, by a first node, first packets according to a first route, of a plurality of different routes, to a second node that is downstream, along the first route, of the first node; determining, by the first node and based on a failure of the second node, that the first node stores information regarding the plurality of different routes; and forwarding, by the first node and based on determining that the first node stores information regarding the plurality of different routes, second packets according to a second route, of the plurality of different routes, the second route not including the second node, the second route being created by merging a third route with a fourth route, the third route and the fourth route having a common node after which the third route and the fourth route share at least one node and at least one link, the second route being different from the first route, and the first packets and the second packets being associated with a same flow of packets.