1. A traffic network element (“TNE”) in a network, the TNE comprising: a traffic engineering network database (“TEND”) that stores network topology information for the network and bandwidth availability information for links in the network; and a routing engine that receives a request for a label switched path (“LSP”) through the network with specified constraints, processes network topology information from the TEND to create a network graph comprising links meeting the specified constraints, and computes a primary path through the network, wherein the primary path comprises links selected from the network graph.