Fault protection method and fault protection apparatus in a multi-domain network

The present invention relates to a fault protection method and a fault protection device for an inter-domain link of a multi-domain network. The invention may be particularly applied to multi-domain networks providing end to end services such as an Ethernet service. Embodiments of the invention use a link protection group for an inter-domain link. Link protection group information relating to the link protection group is used to identify a replacement inter-domain link for a faulty inter-domain link that is configured for an inter-domain service. Once the replacement link is identified, the routing of the inter-domain service may be re-configured from the network element ports of the faulty inter-domain link to the network element ports of the identified second inter-domain link.