Network design techniques and techniques for routing virtually-concatenated
data traffic in a network in a manner which distributes
delay to intermediate nodes of the network are disclosed. For example, in one aspect of the invention, a technique for routing virtually-concatenated
data traffic in a network comprising a plurality of nodes comprises, for a given traffic demand to be routed from a source node to a destination node in the network, the following steps / operations. Two or more paths are determined to
route the given traffic demand. Each of the two or more paths correspond to a member of a virtually-concatenated group. At least one path of the two or more paths comprises the source node, the destination node and at least one other node coupled between the source node and the destination node. Further, at least a subset of the source node, the destination node and the one other node buffer at least a portion of the given traffic demand such that a
delay is distributed over the at least one path. The given traffic demand is routed over the two or more determined paths. The at least one path is preferably the shorter of the two or more determined paths.