Patent attributes
A technique efficiently sends probe packets from a source to a target in a destination prefix over two or more paths of a computer network. According to the novel technique, the source, e.g., configured for optimized edge routing (OER), sends probe packets (probes) over all available paths (exits) to the target in the destination prefix in order to select a preferred path based on received responses to the probes, e.g., according to one or more policies. Once the preferred path is selected, the source sends probes to that target only over the preferred path until a trigger occurs, such as, e.g., an out of policy (OOP) event, a policy change, or an optional timer-based trigger. Upon being triggered, the source again probes all paths to reselect the preferred path.