Longest path first route selection

An apparatus comprising:

• a network interface configured to enable network communications;
• a memory configured to store logic instructions;
• and
• a processor, when executing the logic instructions, configured to:
• receive a request to establish a path through a network from the apparatus to a network device, wherein the apparatus and the network device are part of a first autonomous system;
• in response to the request, determine, from among a plurality of potential paths between the apparatus and the network device, a longest acceptable path between the apparatus and the network device;
• send data to the network device via the longest acceptable path between the apparatus and the network device;
• and
• signal to an autonomous system boundary router of a second autonomous system that the data is to be routed via a longest path in the second autonomous system.

A non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

• receive, at a first network device, a request to establish a path through a network from the first network device to a second network device, wherein the first network device and the second network device are part of a first autonomous system;
• in response to the request, determine, from among a plurality of potential paths between the first network device and the second network device, a longest acceptable path between the first network device and the second network device;
• send data from the first network device to the second network device via the longest acceptable path between the first network device and the second network device;
• and
• signaling to an autonomous system boundary router of a second autonomous system that the data is to be routed via a longest path in the second autonomous system.