Drop sensitive prefix (BGP path) attribute modification

A method in a system including a first autonomous system (AS) configured to have a first edge device forward data associated with a set of Internet Protocol (IP) address prefixes, to a second AS via a first link to a first border device of the second AS, the method comprising:

• a) receiving information about data packets dropped at the output of the first edge device and associating the received information with the set of IP address prefixes;
• b) determining whether a data traffic offload condition exists using the received information;
• c) changing one or more attributes of at least some of the IP address prefixes of the set, responsive to the determination that a data traffic offload condition exists, such that the first edge device will be less likely to forward data associated with the at least some of the IP address prefixes of the set;
• and
• d) outputting the changed one or more attributes for communication to at least one other data forwarding device of the first AS.

A first gateway router configured to forward data associated with a set of IP address prefixes to an external autonomous system (AS) system via a first link to a first external border gateway protocol (eBGP) peer device of the external AS, the first gateway router comprising:

• a) at least one processor;
• and
• b) a storage device storing processor-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method including
• 1) receiving information about data packets dropped at an output of the first gateway router and associating the received information with the set of IP address prefixes;
• 2) determining whether a data traffic offload condition exists using the received information;
• 3) changing one or more path attributes of at least some of the one or more of the IP address prefixes of the set, responsive to the determination that a data traffic offload condition exists, such that the first gateway router will be less likely to forward data associated with the at least some of the one or more IP address prefixes of the set;
• and
• d) generating a BGP update message including the changed one or more path attributes for communication to at least one internal border gateway protocol (iBGP) peer device.