2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS Concepts

Basic MPLS Concepts

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Outline
Overview Drawbacks of Traditional IP Routing Basic MPLS Concepts MPLS Versus IP over ATM Traffic Engineering with MPLS

MPLS Architecture
MPLS Labels Label Switch Routers

Lesson Summary
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-3

Drawbacks of Traditional IP Forwarding

Is based on:
Routing protocols are used to distribute Layer 3 routing information.

Forwarding is based on the destination address only.

Routing lookups are performed on every hop.

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-4

Drawbacks of Traditional IP Forwarding (Cont.) Traditional IP Forwarding

Every router may need full Internet routing information (more than 100,000 routes).

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-5

Drawbacks of Traditional IP Forwarding (Cont.) Traditional IP Forwarding

Every router may need full Internet routing information (more than 100,000 routes). Destination-based routing lookup is needed on every hop.
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-6

Drawbacks of Traditional IP Forwarding (Cont.) IP over ATM

Layer 2 devices have no knowledge of Layer 3 routing informationvirtual circuits must be manually established.

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-7

Drawbacks of Traditional IP Forwarding (Cont.) IP over ATM

Layer 2 devices have no knowledge of Layer 3 routing informationvirtual circuits must be manually established.

Layer 2 topology may be different from Layer 3 topology, resulting in suboptimal paths and link use.
Even if the two topologies overlap, the hub-and-spoke topology is usually used because of easier management.
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-8

Drawbacks of Traditional IP Forwarding (Cont.) Traffic Engineering

Most traffic goes between large sites A and B, and uses only the primary link. Destination-based routing does not provide any mechanism for load balancing across unequal paths. Policy-based routing can be used to forward packets based on other parameters, but this is not a scalable solution.
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-9

Basic MPLS Concepts

MPLS is a new forwarding mechanism in which packets are forwarded based on labels. Labels usually correspond to IP destination networks (equal to traditional IP forwarding).

Labels can also correspond to other parameters, such as QoS or source address.
MPLS was designed to support forwarding of other protocols as well.

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-10

Basic MPLS Concepts (Cont.) Example

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-11

Basic MPLS Concepts (Cont.) Example

Only edge routers must perform a routing lookup.

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-12

Basic MPLS Concepts (Cont.) Example

Only edge routers must perform a routing lookup. Core routers switch packets based on simple label lookups and swap labels.
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-13

MPLS versus IP over ATM

Layer 2 devices are IP-aware and run a routing protocol.

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-14

MPLS Versus IP over ATM

Layer 2 devices are IP-aware and run a routing protocol. There is no need to manually establish virtual circuits.

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-15

MPLS Versus IP over ATM

Layer 2 devices are IP-aware and run a routing protocol. There is no need to manually establish virtual circuits. MPLS provides a virtual full-mesh topology.
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-16

Traffic Engineering with MPLS

Traffic can be forwarded based on other parameters (QoS, source, ...).

Load sharing across unequal paths can be achieved.

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-17

MPLS Architecture

MPLS has two major components:

Control plane: Exchanges Layer 3 routing information and labels Data plane: Forwards packets based on labels

Control plane contains complex mechanisms to exchange routing information, such as OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, and BGP, and to exchange labels, such as TDP, LDP, BGP, and RSVP. Data plane has a simple forwarding engine.
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-18

MPLS Architecture (Cont.)

Router functionality is divided into two major parts: control plane and data plane
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-19

MPLS Architecture (Cont.)

Router functionality is divided into two major parts: control plane and data plane
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-20

MPLS Architecture (Cont.)

Router functionality is divided into two major parts: control plane and data plane
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-21

MPLS Architecture (Cont.)

Router functionality is divided into two major parts: control plane and data plane
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-22

MPLS Architecture (Cont.)

Router functionality is divided into two major parts: control plane and data plane
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-23

MPLS Labels

MPLS technology is intended to be used anywhere regardless of Layer 1 media and Layer 2 protocol. MPLS uses a 32-bit label field that is inserted between Layer 2 and Layer 3 headers (frame-mode).

MPLS over ATM uses the ATM header as the label (cell-mode).

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-24

MPLS Labels (Cont.) Label Format

MPLS uses a 32-bit label field that contains the following information:
20-bit label 3-bit experimental field

1-bit bottom-of-stack indicator

8-bit TTL field

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-25

MPLS Labels (Cont.) Frame-Mode MPLS

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-26

MPLS Labels (Cont.) Frame-Mode MPLS

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-27

MPLS Labels (Cont.) Cell-Mode MPLS

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-28

MPLS Labels (Cont.) Cell-Mode MPLS

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-29

MPLS Labels (Cont.) Cell-Mode MPLS

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-30

Label Switch Routers

LSR primarily forwards labeled packets (label swapping). Edge LSR primarily labels IP packets and forwards them into the MPLS domain, or removes labels and forwards IP packets out of the MPLS domain.
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-31

Label Switch Routers (Cont.) ATM Label Switch Router

ATM LSR can forward only cells. ATM edge LSR segments packets into cells and forwards them into an MPLS ATM domain, or reassembles cells into packets and forwards them out of an MPLS ATM domain.
2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MPLS v2.01-32

Label Switch Routers (Cont.) Architecture of LSRs

LSRs, regardless of the type, perform these functions:

Exchange routing information Exchange labels Forward packets (LSRs and edge LSRs) or cells (ATM LSRs and ATM edge LSRs)

The first two functions are part of the control plane. The last function is part of the data plane.

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-33

Label Switch Routers (Cont.) Architecture of ATM LSRs (Cont.)

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-34

Label Switch Routers (Cont.) Architecture of Edge LSRs

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-35

Summary
A major drawback of traditional IP routing is that packets are always forwarded based on the destination address. MPLS forwards packets based on labels. MPLS can be implemented in ATM networks. MPLS allows traffic engineering to provide load balancing across unequal paths. Packets are forwarded using labels from the LFIB table rather than the IP routing table. Labels are inserted between the L2 and L3 headers in frame-mode networks and use the VPI/VCI field in cell-mode networks. All LSRs perform three functions:
Exchange routing information Exchange labels

Forward packets or cells (depending on type)

2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPLS v2.01-36