Load Balancing in an MPLS Network > Configuring and Verifying Load Balancing

Purpose

Load balancing is configured on the ingress router and uses the hash algorithm to distribute traffic equally across paths. The hash algorithm is designed to distribute packets to prevent any single link from being saturated. Before you can configure and verify load balancing in an MPLS network, you must have all the necessary MPLS components and protocols configured correctly. For information on configuring an MPLS network, see the JUNOS MPLS Network Operations Guide.

Keep the following information in mind when you configure load balancing:

• The load-balance per packet policy is configured on an ingress router with more than one LSP configured to the same egress router.
• Load balancing offers no guarantee of equal distribution of traffic over equal-cost links, nor does it guarantee that increasing the number of Internet flows will create a better hash distribution.

Steps To Take

To configure and verify load balancing, follow these steps:

1. Define a Load-Balancing Policy
2. Apply the Load-Balancing Policy to the Forwarding Table
3. Verify That Load Balancing Is Working