  In networks, availability is of paramount importance. As link failures are
disruptive, modern networks in turn provide Fast ReRoute (FRR) mechanisms to
rapidly restore connectivity. However, existing FRR approaches heavily impact
performance until the slower convergence protocols kick in. The fast failover
routes commonly involve unnecessary loops and detours, disturbing other traffic
while causing costly packet loss.
  In this paper, we make a case for augmenting FRR mechanisms to avoid such
inefficiencies. We introduce ShortCut that routes the packets in a loop free
fashion, avoiding costly detours and decreasing link load. ShortCut achieves
this by leveraging data plane programmability: when a loop is locally observed,
it can be removed by short-cutting the respective route parts. As such,
ShortCut is topology-independent and agnostic to the type of FRR currently
deployed. Our first experimental simulations show that ShortCut can outperform
control plane convergence mechanisms; moreover avoiding loops and keeping
packet loss minimal opposed to existing FRR mechanisms.
