MPLS Traffic Engineering next-address 10.10.25.1 next-address 10.10.12.1 ! ip explicit-path name r8r1_oc3path enable next-address 10.10.48.1 next-address 10.10.14.1 ! ip explicit-path name r8r3_oc12path enable next-address 10.10.78.1 next-address 10.10.57.1 next-address 10.10.35.1 ! ip explicit-path name r8r3_oc3path enable next-address 10.10.48.1 next-address 10.10.24.1 next-address 10.10.23.1 ! end 220 Summary For a service provider to truly and successfully implement commercial IP services, a hard QoS with guaranteed delivery of packets is required. This can be accomplished by deploying MPLS traffic engineering across the core backbone. Traffic engineering encompasses many aspects of network performance. These include the provisioning of a guaranteed hard QoS, improving the utilization of network resources by distributing traffic evenly across network links, and providing for quick recov- ery when a node or link fails. Unequal-cost load balancing is a concept that allows routers to take advantage of load sharing over multiple unequal-cost paths to a given destination. This can be achieved by manipulating the pa- rameters that determine the routing metrics for protocols such as OSPF, IS-IS, and EIGRP. How-