In this article, the authors first introduce the basic idea of optical burst switching (OBS), compare it with other switching paradigms, and point out why OBS is a viable technology for the next-generation optical Internet. Techniques for generating a burst at the edge of an OBS network are studied next, followed by discussions of various burst reservation protocols. Characteristics of the burst traffic assembled using different assembly algorithms are also analyzed. Recent efforts on supporting service differentiation, Internet protocol (IP)/ wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) multicast, the performance of TCP, and other issues related to traffic engineering in OBS networks are described at the end. The article also attempts to provide comprehensive coverage of research issues related to OBS. Among the issues covered are various burst assembly algorithms used at the edge of an OBS network as well as their effect on traffic characteristics of the assembled burst traffic and in turn the TCP performance. The authors have also presented various scheduling algorithms as well as burst contention resolution strategies used in the OBS core. Finally, recent work on quality of support and IP/WDM multicast has been discussed.