Performance evaluation of ethernet resilience mechanisms

Ethernet is an emerging alternative in metro networks for efficient data transport. Originally defined for local area networks it is now also introduced in carrier´s metro and core networks. However, carrier grade resilience remains an issue with Ethernet, because the resilience requirements of carrier networks differ significantly from local environments. Extended and new routing and resilience mechanisms have been proposed in the past. In this paper we evaluate the traditional spanning tree protocol in comparison with two popular new protocols: rapid spanning tree and resilient packet ring. For simulative investigations we extended the OMNET simulator with these protocols. The simulation results show their advantages in terms of recovery and restoration time.