This document provides an overview of MX Trio load balancing. It discusses how packets are parsed and hashed to select the next hop in a load balancing system. Key points include: - Packets are parsed to select fields for hashing. A hash is computed from the fields to select the next hop. - Fields included in the hash depend on packet encapsulation like IP, MPLS, Ethernet. Advanced topics cover techniques for determining encapsulation. - Hashes are symmetric and consistent across devices to prevent polarization. Load balancing occurs at multiple levels by using different hash bits at each level. - The hash algorithm uses CRC polynomials for efficiency. A hash seed based on device MAC ensures different results across

1. MX TRIO LOAD BALANCING
Dmitry Shokarev
Product Line Management
Routing Business Unit
Version 1.4, April 2014
Confidential

2. 2 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
AGENDA
1. High level load balancing overview
2. Packet parsing and hash computation
3. Advanced Topics
4. Theoretical load balancing efficiency analysis
5. Adaptive and Stateful load balancing

3. 3 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW

4. 4 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
Ingress PFE
Parse
packet
Compute
hash
Lookup
Route
Select
next-hop
HIGH LEVEL LOAD BALANCING OVERVIEW
(SIMPLIFIED)
Parse packet
 Depending on the interface
encapsulation, select packet fields for
route lookup
Compute hash
 Compute fixed size hash value from
variable set of packet fields
Egress PFE
Encapsulate
Lookup route
 Find a route based on the packet fields
Select next-hop
 Select ultimate next-hop from a list of
possible next-hops (multiple levels)

5. 5 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
PACKET PARSING AND HASH
COMPUTATION

6. 6 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
Hash is symmetric (swapping
the fields does not change the
hash result)
Applicable only if there is a
field match (TCP or UDP
packets in this case). The field
is included into the hash
L4
L3
L2
HOW TO READ THE DIAGRAM [1 OF 2]
Source Port ON
OFF
Dest. Port
IIF
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
6 or 17
Source Address
Dest. Address
IIF
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
IPv4, GRE (PPTP)
ON
OFF
47
GRE Key (16 bits)
GRE Protocol 0x880B
Source Address
Dest. Address
Configurable (default on)
Applicable only if there is a field
match (PPTP packets in this
case). The field is NOT included
into the hash computation
Field is included
by default and can’t
be turned off
IIF stands for Incoming
Interface Index (internal
logical interface identifier)
ON
OFF
Configurable (default off)
IPv4, UDP or TCP

7. 7 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HOW TO READ THE DIAGRAM [2 OF 2]
L3/L4
L2
IIF ON
OFF
Source MAC
Dest. MAC
ON
OFF
Outer 802.1p
ON
OFF
VLAN Tag 1
VLAN Tag 2..N
Ether type 0x0800
IPv4 payload ON
OFF
Ethernet, IPv4
Shaded area refers to the hash field selection
procedure defined somewhere else
In this case IPv4 hash selection procedure will
be used
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
47
GRE Key (32 bits)
Source Address
Dest. Address
Fragment Flag 0
Fragment Offset 0
IPv4, GRE,
non fragmented
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
47
GRE Key (16 LS Bits)
GRE Protocol 0x880B
Source Address
Dest. Address
Fragment Flag 0
Fragment Offset 0
GRE Key (16 MS Bits)
IPv4, PPTP,
non-fragmented
Source Port
Dest. Port
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
17
Source Address
Destination Address
215
2
GTP TEID
ON
OFF
Fragment Flag 0
Fragment Offset 0
IPv4, GTP,
non-fragmented
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
IPv4
Source Address
Dest. Address
Source Port
Dest. Port
Fragment Flag
DSCP
ON
OFF
0
Source Address
Dest. Address
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Fragment Offset 0
Protocol 6 or 17
IPv4, UDP or TCP,
non-fragmented

8. 8 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
WHICH FIELDS SELECTED WHEN?
IP IP
Use IP fields
MPLS MPLS
Use MPLS fields
CCC, VPLS,
Bridge
Use CCC/Bridge/
VPLS fields
Answer depends on the encapsulation on ingress / egress
CCC,VPLS,
Bridge
IP MPLS
Use IP fields
CCC
Use CCC/Bridge/
VPLS fields
MPLS
Use MPLS fields
VPLS,
Bridge
Use CCC/Bridge/
VPLS fields
MPLS
IP IP+GRE/IPIP
Use IP fields
Use Inner IP fields
VPLS,
Bridge IP (VIA IRB)
Use IP fields

9. 9 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HASH FIELD SELECTION, IPV4 TRAFFIC [1 OF 2]
IIF
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
IPv4
Source Port
Dest. Port
ON
OFF IIF
Fragment Flag
DSCP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
0
Source Address
Dest. Address
Source Address
Dest. Address
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
L4
L3
L2
Fragment Offset 0 Include L4 only for
non fragments
Protocol 6 or 17
IPv4, UDP or TCP,
non-fragmented

10. 10 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
L4
HASH FIELD SELECTION, IPV4 TRAFFIC [2 OF 2]
L3
L2
Source Port
Dest. Port
IIF
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
17
Source Address
Destination Address
2152
GTP TEID
ON
OFF
IIF
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
47
GRE Key (32 bits)
IIF
Protocol
DSCP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
47
GRE Key (16 LS Bits)
GRE Protocol 0x880B
Source Address
Dest. Address
Source Address
Dest. Address
Fragment Flag 0
Fragment Offset 0
Fragment Flag 0
Fragment Offset 0
Fragment Flag 0
Fragment Offset 0
GRE Key (16 MS Bits)
IPv4, GRE,
non fragmented
IPv4, PPTP,
non-fragmented
IPv4, GTP,
non-fragmented

11. 11 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HASH FIELD SELECTION, IPV6 TRAFFIC [1 OF 2]
IIF
Next Header
Traffic Class
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Source Address
Dest. Address
L4
L3
L2
IPv6
Source Port
Dest. Port
IIF
Traffic Class
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Source Address
Dest. Address
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Next Header 6 or 17
IPv6, UDP or TCP

12. 12 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
L4
HASH FIELD SELECTION, IPV6 TRAFFIC [2 OF 2]
L3
L2
Source Port
Dest. Port
IIF
Next Header
Traffic Class
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
17
Source Address
Destination Address
2152
GTP TEID
ON
OFF
IIF
Next Header
Traffic Class
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
47
GRE Key (32 bits)
IIF
Next Header
Traffic Class
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
47
GRE Key (16 LS Bits)
GRE Protocol 0x880B
Source Address
Dest. Address
Source Address
Dest. Address
GRE Key (16 MS Bits)
IPv6, GRE IPv6, PPTP IPv6, GTP

13. 13 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HASH FIELD SELECTION
CCC/BRIDGE/VPLS TRAFFIC [1 OF 2]
IIF ON
OFF
Source MAC
Dest. MAC
ON
OFF
Outer 802.1p
ON
OFF
VLAN Tag 1
VLAN Tag 2..N
L4
L3
L2
Ethernet,
non IP or MPLS
Note, VLANs are note
included

14. 14 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
L3/L4
L2
HASH FIELD SELECTION
CCC/BRIDGE/VPLS TRAFFIC [2 OF 2]
IIF ON
OFF
Source MAC
Dest. MAC
ON
OFF
Outer 802.1p
ON
OFF
VLAN Tag 1 or none
VLAN Tag 2 or none
Ether type 0x0800
IPv4 payload
IIF ON
OFF
Source MAC
Dest. MAC
ON
OFF
Outer 802.1p
ON
OFF
VLAN Tag 1 or none
VLAN Tag 2 or none
Ether type 0x8847
MPLS payloadON
OFF
ON
OFF
IIF ON
OFF
Source MAC
Dest. MAC
ON
OFF
Outer 802.1p
ON
OFF
VLAN Tag 1 or none
VLAN Tag 2 or none
Ether type 0x86DD
IPv6 payload ON
OFF
Ethernet, IPv4 Ethernet, IPv6 Ethernet, MPLS
Single knob to control
payload analysis for all
packet types

15. 15 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HASH FIELD SELECTION, MPLS TRAFFIC
[JUNOS < 14.1]
IIF
Label 2..5 (20 bits each)
Outer Label EXP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Label 1 (20 bits)
IPv4, IPv6 payload
IIF
Label 2..5 (20 bits each)
Outer Label EXP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Label 1 (20 bits)
IPv4, IPv6 in Ethernet
pseudo-wire
L3/L4
L2
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Up to 5 top labels
MPLS, Encapsulated IPv4
or IPv6
MPLS, IPv4/IPv6 in
Ethernet Pseudo-wire

16. 16 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
MPLS ENCAPSULATED TRAFFIC DETERMINATION
[JUNOS < 14.1]
Bottom of the
stack reached?
Start
Use up to 5 top labels
in hash computation
Include topmost EXP
(if enabled)
End
No
Check first nibble
Compute IPv4
hash
Length matches?
Compute IPv6
hash
Length matches?
Check Ethertype
Yes Yes
Yes
Skip VLAN
VLANs skipped > 2
0x4 (IPv4) 0x6 (IPv6)
Else
0x8100
0x86DD
0x0800
No
Yes
NoNo
Else

17. 17 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HASH FIELD SELECTION, MPLS TRAFFIC
[JUNOS >= 14.1]
IIF
Label 2..8 (20 bits each)
Outer Label EXP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Label 1 (20 bits)
IPv4, IPv6 payload
IIF
Label 2..8 (20 bits each)
Outer Label EXP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Label 1 (20 bits)
IPv4, IPv6 or
MPLS in Ethernet
pseudo-wire
L3/L4
L2
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
MPLS, Encapsulated IPv4
or IPv6
MPLS, IPv4/IPv6 in
Ethernet Pseudo-wire
IIF
Label 2..8 (20 bits each)
Outer Label EXP
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
Label 1 (20 bits)
Entropy Label Indicator
detected,
Payload is not processed
Indicator is not included into
hash
MPLS, Entropy Label

18. 18 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
MPLS ENCAPSULATED TRAFFIC DETERMINATION
[JUNOS >= 14.1]
Bottom of the
stack reached AND
no ELI* detected?
Start
Use up to 8 top labels
in hash computation
except ELI*
Include topmost EXP
(if enabled)
End
No
Check first nibble
Compute IPv4
hash
Length matches?
Compute IPv6
hash
Length matches?
Check Ethertype
Yes Yes
Yes
Skip VLAN
VLANs skipped > 2
0x4 (IPv4) 0x6 (IPv6)
Else
0x8100
0x86DD
0x0800
No
Yes
NoNo
Else
* ELI: Entropy Label Indicator, value of 7

19. 19 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
Byte offset 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
0
4
8
12 DEI
16 DEI
20
24 S=0[1]
28 S=0[2]
32 S=1[3]
36
40
44
48 DEI
52 DEI
56
60
64
68
72
76
80
84
88
Identification Flags Fragment offset
Version Header Length DSCP ECN Total Length
Checksum
Ethertype (0x0800, IPv4)PCP Encapsulated Inner VLAN
Payload Data
0 Protocol = 17 (UDP) UDP Length
Source Port Destination Port
Length
TTL Protocol Header checksum
Source Address
Destination Address
Destination MAC
Destination MAC
Source MAC
Source MAC
TPID (0x8100) .1P
EXP[2]
Encapsulated Destination MAC
Encapsulated
Ethernet
Outer VLAN
TPID (0x8100) .1P Inner VLAN
Ethertype (0x8847, MPLS)
Encapsulated SRC MAC
Encapsulated Destination MAC
TPID (0x8100)PCP Encapsulated Outer VLAN
TPID (0x8100)Encapsulated SRC MAC
Bit position
UDP
IPv4
TTL[2] Label[3]
Label[3] EXP[3] TTL[3]
MPLS
Ethernet
Label[1]
Label[1] EXP[1] TTL[1] Label[2]
Label[2]
NOTES ON MPLS PAYLOAD PROCESSING
Algorithm features
 Heuristic nature, produces good detection results
 Certain (fixed) requirements to the traffic
 No control word for EoMPLS/VPLS frames
 0x8100 Ethertype for VLANs
Sample hash field selection for bridged MPLS traffic with pseudo-wire encapsulated UDP.
All optional fields are enabled except IIF, fields included into computation are in black

20. 20 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HOW HASH IS COMPUTED?
Trio hash computation algorithm
 Uses a combination of Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) 13 and
CRC-31 polynomial functions (similar functions are used to
compute ethernet frame checksum)
 Implemented in hardware
 Very efficient
Hash function result
 One 31 bit number (used to select the next-hop)
 For hierarchical load balancing sections of that result are used

21. 21 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
BGP
BGP
NEXT-HOP SELECTION EXAMPLE (MULTIPLE LEVELS)
IP Route
Next-hop
list 1.1
Indirect
next-hop 1
Indirect
next-hop 2
Indirect
next-hop 3
List 2.2
List 2.3
LSP 1
LSP 2
LSP 3
AE0-1
AE0-2
AE0-3
LSP1
PE0
LSP3
PE1
PE3
PE2
1st level balancing 2nd level balancing 3rd level balancing
Different set of bits from the hash are used to
select a next-hop at each level (to prevent
polarization)
List 2.1
AE0 List
BGP

22. 22 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
POLARIZATION PREVENTION (NETWORK WIDE)
Problem statement
 Hashing at different nodes
may produce same results
 Will result in traffic
polarization
Solution
 Include a hash seed into
computation
 Hash seed is based on the
system MAC
 Enabled by default, non
configurable
Traffic
Hash computation,
1st load balancing
decision
Hash computation (same result,
unless we enable IIF inclusion),
2nd load balancing decision
Different hash
seeds fixes that

23. 23 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
MULTICAST TRAFFIC LOAD BALANCING
Notes
 Only relevant in the context of aggregated ethernet
(ECMP join load balancing is managed by the
downstream)
 In enhanced-ip mode the algorithm behaves exactly the
same as for unicast traffic
 Same fields selected for hashing
 Same hash computation procedure
 Same member links are selected

24. 24 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HASH CONFIGURATION
forwarding-options {
enhanced-hash-key {
family inet {
incoming-interface-index;
gtp-tunnel-endpoint-identifier;
no-destination-port;
no-source-port;
type-of-service;
}
}
}
forwarding-options {
enhanced-hash-key {
family inet6 {
incoming-interface-index;
gtp-tunnel-endpoint-identifier;
no-destination-port;
no-source-port;
traffic-class;
}
}
}
IPv6 hash configuration
IPv4 hash configuration
forwarding-options {
enhanced-hash-key {
family mpls {
incoming-interface-index;
label-1-exp;
no-payload;
no-ether-pseudowire;/*13.3R3*/
}
}
}
forwarding-options {
enhanced-hash-key {
family multiservice {
incoming-interface-index;
no-mac-address;
no-payload;
outer-priority;
}
}
}
CCC/VPLS/Bridge hash configuration
MPLS hash configuration

25. 25 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
SYMMETRIC LOAD BALANCING

26. 26 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
SYMMETRIC LOAD BALANCING
Problem statement
 Same flow should reach same stateful appliance irrespective of the path (through
MX1 or MX2)
 Reverse flow should reach same stateful appliance
Solution
 Disable router hash seed
 Synchronize link order through link-index configuration
 Second problem is solved on Trio automatically
MX1 MX2Service
Appliances
Flow A->B
Flow B->A

27. 27 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
CONSISTENT HASHING

28. 28 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
CONSISTENT HASHING
Problem statement
 L3-L4 load balancing between servers should remain consistent in
failure scenarios (when server goes down or when it recovers)
 Need to detect and react to server failures
Solution
 Use EBGP for server health checks
 Use modified Equal Cost Multipath to distribute traffic
MX
Server 1
Server 2
Server N [N = 1..64]
Enabling highly efficient L3/L4 Load Balancing

29. 29 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
CONSISTENT HASHING
IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS
All Servers active
Server 1
Server 2
Server 3
Flow 1, Flow 2
Flow 3, Flow 4
Flow 5, Flow 6
Server 2 / Link 2 fails
Server 1
Server 2
Server 3
Flow 1, Flow 2, Flow 3
Flow 5, Flow 6, Flow 4
Server 2 recovers
Server 1
Server 2
Server 3
Flow 1, Flow 2
Flow 3, Flow 4
Flow 5, Flow 6
Flow (hash bucket) to ECMP next-hop mapping table in time
MX
Server 1
Server 2
Server 3
eBGP

30. 30 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
CONSISTENT HASHING
CONFIGURATION, SOFTWARE SUPPORT
policy-options {
policy-statement c-hash {
from {
route-filter ${virtual_ip};
}
then {
load-balance consistent-hash;
}
}
}
protocols {
bgp {
group server-group {
import c-hash;
}
}
}
Configuration
LINE CARD All Trio
JUNOS 13.3R3
LEVEL ECMP only
OTHER Unicast only
SCALING <1000 ECMP NHs
Software and hardware

31. 31 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
THEORETICAL LOAD BALANCING
EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS

32. 32 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
HOW MANY FLOWS DO WE NEED?
More flows will
 Improve load balancing efficiency (or reduce imbalance)
 Reduce imbalance probability
Some definitions
 Positive imbalance: difference between the max link rate and the expected average
 Tolerance limit: % of capacity that allowed to be wasted
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Positive
Imbalance
Expected average
Max link rate

33. 33 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
ESTIMATING THE FLOW COLLISION PROBABILITY
Traffic model
 N equal traffic flows are sent over M equal paths (or distributed between M member links);
 Traffic flows are balanced between paths using hash. The hash function produces uniform results, probability of a flow taking specific
path is 1/M;
 The balancing implemented for each flow independently. I.e. if one flow took path 1 with probability 1/M, another flow will take this
path with the same probability.
Bernoulli’s Trial Scheme applies in this case
 A given path is selected with probability 1/M;
 Any of other paths is selected with probability 1-1/M.
KN
K
MMK
N
KP
1
1
1
)(
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
16.00%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64
KN
K
MMK
N
KP
1
1
1
)( Probability of the K flows hitting the same link
64 flows distributed over 8 links, probability of K flows hitting the same link N flows
Probability

34. 34 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
TAKING TOLERANCE INTO ACCOUNT
How to find the imbalance probability
 Define tolerance limit (25% in this case, i.e. 10 flows is ok to map to a single link)
 Sum up probabilities of undesired outcomes (more than 11 flows mapped to a link)
Some results
 With 25% imbalance target, probability to stay within this target is 82.96%
 To reach 99.99% probability, need to increase the number of flows to 1605
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
16.00%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64
64 flows distributed over 8 links, probability of K flows hitting the same link, outcomes in green are within
25% tolerance
N flows
Probability

35. 35 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
ADAPTIVE LOAD BALANCING

36. 36 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
Ingress PFE
Parse
packet
Compute
hash
Lookup
Route
Select
next-hop
ADAPTIVE LOAD BALANCING OVERVIEW
Monitor utilization
and adjust mapping
Hash Buckets
1
2
N
LAG link [1 .. M]
LAG link [1 .. M]
LAG link [1 .. M]
Rate Table
1
2
N
Rate 1
Rate 2
Rate 3
To fabricFrom WAN
Implementation details
 Track traffic rate per hash bucket
 Re-map hash buckets periodically if imbalance crosses a threshold

37. 37 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
Link #1
Link #2
Link #8
ADAPTIVE AT WORK
Example
 Balancing towards network core (8 links in
a group)
 Many small flows
 Very few high volume flows
Results
 Without adaptive balancing, flows are
distributed in a uniform way, but link rates
differ because of the high volume flows
 With adaptive, the imbalance is
compensated
1 N
Rate
Rates per hash bucket
High volume flows

38. 38 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
ADAPTIVE MAPPING OF HASH BUCKETS
Link rates, sample uniform (default) mapping of hash buckets to links
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Link rates, sample adaptive mapping of hash buckets to links Savings

39. 39 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
LAB VERIFICATION
1.25
1.3
1.4
1.45
1.5
1.55
1.6
1.35
1.65
1.7
42:00 43:00 44:00 45:00 46:00 47:00 48:00 49:00 50:00 51:00 52:00 53:00
Time, MM:SS
Interfacerate(Gbps)
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Link 6
Adaptive
balancing enabled Adjustment made

40. 40 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
MX ADAPTIVE LOAD BALANCING SUPPORT
INGRESS LINE CARD Trio
EGRESS LINE CARD Trio, DPC
MX MIXED MODE Yes
JUNOS 12.3R4
Software and hardware
LEVEL
Only across LAG members
(no ECMP)
OTHER
Tracks usage and
compensates imbalance for
unicast traffic only,
multicast is load balanced
in a regular way
Features
OTHER NOTES
Optimization is local to the ingress PFE, in case of multiple ingress PFEs, each
ingress PFE compensates imbalance on its own
Hash bucket counters are maintained per egress IFL
Multi-LU line cards are supported (MPC3, MPC4)

41. 41 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
STATEFUL LOAD BALANCING

42. 42 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
Ingress PFE
Parse
packet
Compute
hash
Lookup
Route
Map to hash-bucket
Select a link for a new
bucket
Select next-hop
STATEFUL LOAD BALANCING OVERVIEW
Hash Buckets
1
2
N
LAG link [1 .. M]
LAG link [1 .. M]
LAG link [1 .. M]
To fabricFrom WAN
Implementation details
 Initially all hash buckets point to void
 Map packet to hash bucket
 If a hash bucket does not point to a link, incrementally choose a link

43. 43 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
MX STATEFUL LOAD BALANCING SUPPORT
INGRESS LINE CARD Trio
EGRESS LINE CARD Trio, DPC
MX MIXED MODE Yes
JUNOS 12.3R3
Software and hardware
LEVEL
Only across LAG members
(no ECMP)
OTHER
Unicast traffic only,
multicast follows regular
hashing
Features
OTHER NOTES
Mapping is local to the ingress PFE, in case of multiple ingress PFEs, each
ingress PFE maintains its own mapping
Multi-LU line cards are not supported (MPC3, MPC4)

44. 44 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
Stateful
• Best for few flows of the same size
• Requires more NPU memory
Regular
• Best for multiple flows of the same size
• Note, use formulas to estimate
number of flows (threshold)
USAGE GUIDELINES
Adaptive
• Best for multiple flows with few high
volume flows
• Requires more NPU memory
Flow rate
Nflows
Threshold
Flow rate
Nflows
Threshold
Flow rate
Nflows
Threshold

45. 45 Copyright © 2009 Juniper Networks, Inc. www.juniper.net
RELATED FEATURE LIST AND SCALING
SW FEATURE
10.2 Baseline Trio implementation
11.4R6 Turn off hash calculation based on Layer-4 information for fragments
12.3R2 GTP TEID hash inclusion
12.3R2 Introduce length checks in the heuristic algorithm
12.3R3 Increase number of links in a LAG to 64
13.3R3 Selectively disable hash computation for psedo-wires only
13.3R3 Consistent Hashing
ECMP PATHS 64
LAG MEMBERS 64
LAG GROUPS 496
Feature list
Current scaling