Route Convergence has become the dominant topic in the IP networking industry and Route Convergence Time is the most critical benchmark for network and router performance. Planned or unplanned network events produce topology changes that require route forwarding tables to converge upon the most up to date routing information. Packet Loss, observable to Service Provider's customers, will occur until there is convergence. Minimal Convergence Time is required for ISIS, OSPF, BGP, and LDP. This paper addresses the factors that contribute to convergence time and router software optimizations to minimize the impact of those factors. Network design optimizations to minimize convergence events and improve convergence time, including high availability routing and POS link redundancy, are presented. This paper also discusses route convergence benchmarking methodology so that accurate measurements can be made to assess the level of improvement due to optimization.