MPLS Interview Questions

1. What is the difference between VPN and MPLS?

VPN is generally Virtual Private Network which could be configured by using GRE tunnels. In that if
you want a full mesh than administrator need to setup n*n-1 tunnels. But in case of MPLS VPN, by
default CPE works in full mesh form because of route target.

2. What is MPLS and why it is being so popular in short time?

MPLS is multi protocol label switching mechanism which uses the label to forward the traffic to the
next hop address. It is popular because it must be used for CPN (Converge Packet Network).

3. What is the protocol used by MPLS?

MPLS uses TDP or LDP.

4. MPLS works on which layer?

It works between layer 2 and layer 3.

5. What is the difference between P and PE router?

P router doesn’t have Customer network routes where in PE router is having customer network routes.
Another reason is P router doesn’t require MP-iBGP but for PE it is must.

6. Can I make my PE router as P?

To make your PE router as P, you need to remove the BGP configurations and after that it will not
participate with customer network.

7. Two routers are having 4 equal cost links, how many ldp sessions will be established?

One session

8. My LDP router id, OSPF router id and BGP router id is different, will it work to
forward the traffic of customers or not?

LDP router id and BGP router-id should be same if SP is using labels only for loopbacks. If labels are
generated for each and every route then no problem at all.

9. What is Penultimate Hop Popping and why it is required? Which router performs the
PHP function?
Second last router performs the Penultimate Hop Popping function to remove the top most label.

11. What are the different types of labels?

Implicit Null, Explicit Null, Aggregate Label etc.,

12. How to make customer route unique?

By adding route distinguisher

13. What is the difference between RD and RT?

RD is not an extended community where as RT is an extended community.

14. Can I assign a same RD to two different customers?

RD is unique and local to router.

15. Is RD travels in route update?

No

16. My customer is having three branches and all are attached to three different PEs, In
this case can I use the different vrf names?

Yes

17. What is downstream on demand?

Downstream router is the one which is responsible to advertise the label first to upstream router in
case of downstream on demand method is selected.
Upstream router is the one which advertise the labels to its downstream router after receiving label
bindings from it.

18. How to filter MPLS labels?

By using ACLs

19. What is the default range of MPLS labels in Cisco routers? How to extend that range?

16 – 100000 is default range

20. Without route reflector can I implement MPLS?

Yes, need to develop full mesh BGP

21. What is the difference between VPNv4 and IPv4 address family?

we always accept and forward ip packets to customers, for this we need to use ipv4 address-family.
When the customers packets are being received by PE they become labeled one and to forward labeled
packets to different PE/RR; address-family vpnv4 is required. In short we can say that ipv4 address-
family is being used for customers and vpnv4 address-family is used by SP core.

22. What is MP-iBGP? Can we use normal BGP in lieu of MP-iBGP?

No, MP-iBGP is used because of the support of multi protocol which normal BGP doesn’t support

24. What is CEF and without enabling CEF, can we make MPLS work?

 CEF is mandatory in Cisco routers for MPLS.

25. I am receiving end to end customer routes on various PE but not able to ping those
routes, what’s could be the problem?

LDP is not configured in the path.

 27. Default timers of LDP?

28. Does LDP require OSPF, IS-IS or BGP?

 IGP is required for IP Reachability

29. In neighbor discovery command, I am receiving only xmit, what does it mean?

 At another end MPLS IP is not configured.

30. What is transport address?

Route id is transport address

Advanced MPLS Interview Questions - Part 2

1. What group is responsible for creating MPLS standards?

The IETF's MPLS Working Group is charged with establishing core MPLS standards. Other IETF
working groups are charged with developing standards covering areas such as Generalized MPLS,
MPLS network management, Layer 2 encapsulation, L2 & L3 VPN services, and MPLS Traffic
Engineering.

In addition, industry groups such as the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), The Optical Ethernet
Forum, and the MFA Forum (MPLS/Frame/ATM) are working on other MPLS standards not related to
the areas of focus of the IETF.

2. What is the MFA Forum?

The MFA is the union of the MPLS Forum, Frame Relay Forum, and ATM Forum. The MFA is an
industry consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)
and its associated technologies.

3. What MPLS related mailing lists are there and what are they used for?

There following is a list of current MPLS-related mailing lists:

The IETF's MPLS Working Group mailing list, which can be joined
https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/mpls. This list is for discussion of MPLS standards
development. Note that several of the other IETF working groups also host mailing lists for discussion
of MPLS standards for specific applications.

The MPLS-OPS mailing list, which can be joined by visiting http://www.mplsrc.com/mplsops.shtml.

This list is for the discussion of issues related to the design, deployment and management of MPLS-
based networks

LINUXMPLS - A Yahoo-based group and mailing list for the discussion of MPLS implementations for
LINUX can be accessed at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linuxmpls

4. What is MPLS?

MPLS stands for "Multiprotocol Label Switching". In an MPLS network, incoming packets are assigned
a "label" by a "label edge router (LER)". Packets are forwarded along a "label switch path (LSP)" where
each "label switch router (LSR)" makes forwarding decisions based solely on the contents of the label.
At each hop, the LSR strips off the existing label and applies a new label which tells the next hop how to
forward the packet.

Label Switch Paths (LSPs) are established by network operators for a variety of purposes, such as to
guarantee a certain level of performance, to route around network congestion, or to create IP tunnels
for network-based virtual private networks. In many ways, LSPs are no different than circuit-switched
paths in ATM or Frame Relay networks, except that they are not dependent on a particular Layer 2
technology.

An LSP can be established that crosses multiple Layer 2 transports such as ATM, Frame Relay or
Ethernet. Thus, one of the true promises of MPLS is the ability to create end-to-end circuits, with
specific performance characteristics, across any type of transport medium, eliminating the need for
overlay networks or Layer 2 only control mechanisms.

To truly understand "What is MPLS", RFC 3031 - Multiprotocol Label Switching Architecture, is
required reading.

5. How did MPLS evolve?

MPLS evolved from numerous prior technologies including Cisco's "Tag Switching", IBM's "ARIS", and
Toshiba's "Cell-Switched Router". More information on each of these technologies can be found at
http://www.watersprings.org/links/mlr/.

The IETF's MPLS Working Group was formed in 1997.

6. What problems does MPLS solve?

The initial goal of label based switching was to bring the speed of Layer 2 switching to Layer 3. Label
based switching methods allow routers to make forwarding decisions based on the contents of a simple
label, rather than by performing a complex route lookup based on destination IP address. This initial
justification for technologies such as MPLS is no longer perceived as the main benefit, since Layer 3
switches (ASIC-based routers) are able to perform route lookups at sufficient speeds to support most
interface types.

However, MPLS brings many other benefits to IP-based networks, they include:

Traffic Engineering - the ability to set the path traffic will take through the network, and the ability
to set performance characteristics for a class of traffic

VPNs - using MPLS, service providers can create IP tunnels throughout their network, without the
need for encryption or end-user applications

Layer 2 Transport - New standards being defined by the IETF's PWE3 and PPVPN working groups
allow service providers to carry Layer 2 services including Ethernet, Frame Relay and ATM over an
IP/MPLS core

Elimination of Multiple Layers - Typically most carrier networks employ an overlay model where
SONET/SDH is deployed at Layer 1, ATM is used at Layer 2 and IP is used at Layer 3. Using MPLS,
carriers can migrate many of the functions of the SONET/SDH and ATM control plane to Layer 3,
thereby simplifying network management and network complexity. Eventually, carrier networks may
be able to migrate away from SONET/SDH and ATM all-together, which means elimination of ATM's
inherent "cell-tax" in carrying IP traffic.
7. What is the status of the MPLS standard?

Most MPLS standards are currently in the "Internet Draft" phase, though several have now moved into
the RFC-STD phase. See "MPLS Standards" for a complete listing of current ID's and RFC's. For more
information on the current status of various Internet Drafts, see the IETF's MPLS Working Group
home page at http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/mpls-charter.html

There's no such thing as a single MPLS "standard". Instead there a set of RFCs and IDs that together
allow the building of an MPLS system. For example, a typical IP router spec. sheet will list about 20
RFCs to which this router will comply. If you go to the IETF web site (http://www.ietf.org), then click
on "I-D Keyword Search", enter "MPLS" as your search term, and crank up the number of items to be
returned, (or visit http://www.mplsrc.com/standards.shtml) you'll find over 100 drafts currently
stored. These drafts have a lifetime of 6 months.

Some of these drafts have been adopted by the IETF WG for MPLS. The filename for these drafts is
prefixed by "draft-ietf-". Some of these drafts are now on the IETF Standards Track. This is indicated in
the first few lines of the document with the term "Category: Standards Track". You can read up on this
process in RFC 2600.

MPLS Components
8. What is a Label?

Section 3.1 of RFC 3031: "Multiprotocol Label Switching Architecture" defines a label as follows "A
label is a short, fixed length, locally significant identifier which is used to identify a FEC. The label
which is put on a particular packet represents the "Forwarding Equivalence Class" to which that packet
is assigned."

The MPLS Label is formatted as follows:

-20bits Label--3bits CoS--1bit Stack--8bits TTL-

The 32-bit MPLS label is located after the Layer 2 header and before the IP header. The MPLS label
contains the following fields:

The label field (20-bits) carries the actual value of the MPLS label.

The CoS field (3-bits) can affect the queuing and discard algorithms applied to the packet as it is
transmitted through the network.

The Stack (S) field (1-bit) supports a hierarchical label stack.

The TTL (time-to-live) field (8-bits) provides conventional IP TTL functionality. This is also called a
"Shim" header.

9. What is a Label Switch Path?

An LSP is a specific path traffic path through an MPLS network. An LSP is provisioned using Label
Distribution Protocols (LDPs) such as RSVP-TE or CR-LDP. Either of these protocols will establish a
path through an MPLS network and will reserve necessary resources to meet pre-defined service
requirements for the data path.

LSPs must be contrasted with traffic trunks. From RFC 2702: "Requirements for Traffic Engineering
Over MPLS," "A traffic trunk is an aggregation of traffic flows of the same class which are placed inside
a LSP. It is important, however, to emphasize that there is a fundamental distinction between a traffic
trunk and the path, and indeed the LSP, through which it traverses. In practice, the terms LSP and
traffic trunk are often used synonymously. The path through which a trunk traverses can be changed.
In this respect, traffic trunks are similar to virtual circuits in ATM and Frame Relay networks."

10. What is a Label Distribution Protocol?

A label distribution protocol (LDP) is a specification which lets a label switch router (LSR) distribute
labels to its LDP peers. When a LSR assigns a label to a forwarding equivalence class (FEC) it needs to
let its relevant peers know of this label and its meaning and LDP is used for this purpose. Since a set of
labels from the ingress LSR to the egress LSR in an MPLS domain defines a Label Switched Path (LSP)
and since labels are mapping of network layer routing to the data link layer switched paths, LDP helps
in establishing a LSP by using a set of procedures to distribute the labels among the LSR peers.

Label Switching Routers (LSRs) use labels to forward traffic. A fundamental step to Label Switching is
that LSRs agree on the what labels they should use to forward traffic. They come to this common
understanding by using the Label Distribution

Label Distribution Protocol is a major part of MPLS. Similar mechanisms for Label exchange existed in
vendor implementations like Ipsilonâs Flow Management Protocol (IFMP), IBMâs Aggregate Route-
based IP Switching (ARIS), and Ciscoâs Tag Distribution Protocol. LDP and labels are the foundation
of Label Switching.

LDP has the following basic characteristics:

It provides an LSR discovery mechanism to enable LSR peers to find each other and establish
communication
It defines four classes of messages: DISCOVERY, ADJACENCY, LABEL ADVERTISEMENT, and
NOTIFICATION messages
It runs over TCP to provide reliable delivery of messages (with the exception of DISCOVERY messages
LDP label distribution and assignment may be performed in several different modes:

Unsolicited downstream versus downstream-on-demand label assignment

Order versus independent LSP control
Liberal versus conservative label retention

11. What's the difference between CR-LDP and RSVP-TE

CR-LDP and RSVP-TE are both signaling mechanisms used to support Traffic Engineering across an
MPLS backbone. RSVP is a QoS signaling protocol that is an IETF standard and has existed for quite
some time. RSVP-TE extends RSVP to support label distribution and explicit routing while CR-LDP
proposed to extend LDP (designed for hop-by-hop label distribution to support QoS signaling and
explicit routing). MPLS Traffic Engineering tunnels are not limited to IP route selection procedures
and thus will spread network traffic more uniformly across the backbone taking advantage of all
available links. A signaling protocol is required to set up these explicit MPLS routes or tunnels.

There are many similarities between CR-LSP and RSVP-TE for constraint-based routing. The Explicit
Route Objects that are used are extremely similar. Both protocols use ordered Label Switched Path
(LSP) setup procedures. Both protocols include some QoS information in the signaling messages to
enable resource allocation and LSP establishment to take place automatically.
At the present time CD-LDP development has ended and RSVP-TE has emerged as the "winner" for
traffic engineering protocols.
12. What is a "Forwarding Equivalency Class"?

Forwarding Equivalency Class (FEC) is a set of packets which will be forwarded in the same manner
(e.g., over the same path with the same forwarding treatment). Typically packets belonging to the same
FEC will follow the same path in the MPLS domain. While assigning a packet to an FEC the ingress
LSR may look at the IP header and also some other information such as the interface on which this
packet arrived. The FEC to which a packet is assigned is identified by a label.

One example of an FEC is a set of unicast packets whose network layer destination address matches a
particular IP address prefix. A set of multicast packets with the same source and destination network
layer addresses is another example of an FEC. Yet another example is a set of unicast packets whose
destination addresses match a particular IP address prefix and whose Type of Service bits are the same

13. How are Label Switch Paths built?

A Label Switch Path (LSP) is a set of LSRs that packets belonging to a certain FEC travel in order to
reach their destination. Since MPLS allows hierarchy of labels known as label stack, it is possible to
have different LSPs at different levels of labels for a packet to reach its destination. So more formally, a
LSP of a packet with a label of level m is a set of LSRs that a packet p has to travel at level m to reach its
destination. Please refer to 3.15 of RFC 3031 - Multiprotocol Label Switching Architecture, for a very
formal and complete definition.

g. What is the relationship between MPLS and the Interior Routing Protocol

Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP), such as OSPF and IS-IS, are used to defined reachability and the
binding/mapping between FEC and next-hop address. MPLS learns routing information from IGP
(e.g., OSPF, IS-IS). Link-state Interior Gateway Protocol is typically already running on large
Corporations or Service Providers networks There are no changes required to IGP routing protocols to
support MPLS, MPLS-TE, MPLS QoS, or MPLS-BGP VPNs.

14. What other protocols does MPLS support besides IP?

By definition, Multiprotocol Label Switching supports multiple protocols. At the Network Layer MPLS
supports IPv6, IPv4, IPX and AppleTalk. At the Link Layer MPLS supports Ethernet, Token Ring,
FDDI, ATM, Frame Relay, and Point-to-Point Links. It can essentially work with any control protocol
other than IP and layer on top of any link layer protocol. In addition, development efforts have allowed
MPLS to not only work over any data link layer protocol, but also to natively carry a data link layer
protocol over IP, thus enabling services such as Ethernet over MPLS.

MPLS and ATM

15. What are the differences between MPLS and ATM?

MPLS brings the traffic engineering capabilities of ATM to packet-based network. It works by tagging
IP packets with "labels" that specify a route and priority. It combines the scalability and flexibility of
routing with performance and traffic management of layer 2 switching. It can run over nearly any
transport medium (ATM, FR, POS, Ethernet...) instead of being tied to a specific layer-2 encapsulation.
As it uses IP for its addressing, it uses common routing/signaling protocols (OSPF, IS-IS, RSVP...)

16. Does MPLS replace ATM?

MPLS was not designed to replace ATM but, the practical reality of the dominance of IP-based
protocols coupled with MPLS's inherent flexibility has led many service providers to migrate their ATM
networks to one based on MPLS.

MPLS can co-exist with ATM switches and eliminate complexity by mapping IP addressing and routing
information directly into ATM switching tables. The MPLS label-swapping paradigm is the same
mechanism that ATM switches use to forward ATM cells. For ATM-LSR the label swapping function is
performed by the ATM forwarding component. Label information is carried in the ATM Header,
specifically the VCI and VPI fields. MPLS provides the control component for IP on both the ATM
switches and routers. For ATM switches PNNI, ATM ARP Server, and NHRP Server are replaced with
MPLS for IP services. The ATM fowarding plane (i.e 53-byte cells) are preserved. PNNI may still used
on ATM switches to provide ATM services for non-MPLS ports. Therefore, an IP+ATM switch delivers
the best of both worlds; ATM for fast switching and IP protocols for IP services all in a single switch.

17. What is "Ships in the night"?

Some vendors support the running of MPLS and ATM in the same device. Generally speaking, these
two processes run separately. A change in an MPLS path has no bearing on ATM virtual circuits. This
practice is commonly referred to "ships in the night" since the two processes act alone. However, in
some cases, there is some interaction between the two processes. For example, some vendors support a
mechanism whereby a reservation of resources by a label switch path is detected by the ATM control
mechanism to avoid resource conflicts.

"Ships in the night" is used as a transitioning mechanism as networks migrate their ATM control planes
to MPLS. Networks initially preserve ATM for carrying time sensitive data traffic such as voice and
video, and for connecting to non-MPLS enabled nodes, while concurrently running MPLS to carry data.
Over time there will no longer be a need for separate ATM flows and therefore networks will only carry
MPLS label-based traffic.

MPLS Traffic Engineering

18. What does MPLS traffic engineering accomplish?

Traffic engineering refers to the process of selecting the paths chosen by data traffic in order to balance
the traffic load on the various links, routers, and switches in the network. Traffic engineering is most
important in networks where multiple parallel or alternate paths are available.

A major goal of Internet Traffic Engineering is to facilitate efficient and reliable network operations
while simultaneously optimizing network resource utilization and traffic performance.

The goal of TE is to compute a path from one given node to another (source routing), such that the path
does not violate the constraints (e.g. Bandwidth/administrative requirements...) and is optimal with
respect to some scalar metric. Once the path is computed, TE (a.k.a. Constraint based routing) is
responsible for establishing and maintaining forwarding state along such a path.

19. What are the components of MPLS-TE?

In order to support Traffic engineering, besides explicit routing (source routing), the following
components should be available:
Ability to compute a path at the source by taking into account all the constraints. To do so the source
need to have all the information either available locally or obtained from other routers in the network
(e.g. Network topology)

Ability to distribute the information about network topology and attributes associated with links
throughout the network once the path is computed, need a way to support forwarding along such a
path

Ability to reserve network resources and to modify link attributes (as the result of certain traffic taking
certain routes)

MPLS TE leverages several foundation technologies:

Constraint shortest path first algorithm used in path calculation. This is a modified version of the well
known SPF algorithm extended to constraints support

RSVP extension used to establish the forwarding state along the path, as well as to reserve resources
along the path

Link state IGPs with extension (OSPF with Opaque LSAs, IS-IS with Link State Packets TLV (type,
length, value)) keeping track of topology changes propagation

20. How does MPLS merge traffic flows?

MPLS allows the mapping from IP packet to forwarding equivalence class (FEC) to be performed only
once at the ingress to an MPLS domain. A FEC is a set of packets that can be handled equivalently for
the purpose of forwarding and thus is suitable for binding to a single label.

From a forwarding point of view, packets within the same subset are treated by the LSR in the same
way, even if the packets differ from each other with respect to the information in the network layer
header. The mapping between the information carried in the network layer header of the packets and
the entries in the forwarding table of the LSR is many to one. That is packets with different content of
their network layer headers could be mapped into the same FEC. (example of a FEC: set of unicast
packets whose network layer destination address match a particular IP address prefix...)

21. How are loops prevented in MPLS networks?

Before focusing on MPLS loops prevention, let's introduce briefly the different loops handling schemes.

Generally speaking, loop handling can be split into two categories:

Loop prevention: provides methods for avoiding loops before any packets are sent on the path - i.e.
Path Vector

Loop mitigation (survival+detection): minimize the negative effects of loopseven though short term
transient loops may be formed. - i.e. Time-To-Live (TTL). If the TTL reaches 0, then the packet is
discarded

Dynamic routing protocols which converge rapidly to non-looping paths

As far as loop mitigation is concerned, MPLS labeled packets may carry a TTL field that operates just
like the IP TTL to enable packets caught in transient loops to be discarded.
However, for certain medium such as ATM and Frame Relay, where TTL is not available, MPLS will use
buffer allocation as a form of loop mitigation. It is mainly used on ATM switches which have the ability
to limit the amount of switch buffer space that can be consumed by a single VC.

Another technique for non TTL segment is the hop count approach: hop count information is carried
within the Link Distribution Protocol messages [3]. It works like a TTL. Hop count will decrease by 1
for every successful label binding.

A third alternative adopted by MPLS is an optional loop detection technique called path vector. A path
vector contains a list of the LSRs that label distribution control message has traversed. Each LSR which
propagates a control packet (to either create or modify an LSP) adds its own identifier to the path
vector list. Loop is detected when an LSR receives a message with a path vector that contains its own
identifier. This technique is also used by the BGP routing protocol with its AS path attribute.

22. How does MPLS perform failure recovery?

When a link goes down it is important to reroute all trunks that were routed over this link. Since the
path taken by a trunk is determined by the LSR at the start of the MPLS path (head end), rerouting has
to be performed by the head end LSR. To perform rerouting, the head end LSR could rely either on the
information provided by IGP or by RSVP/CR-LDP.

However, several MPLS-specific resiliency features havebeen developed including Fast Re-Route,
RAPID, and Bidirectional Forwarding. See RFC 3469: "Framework for Multi-Protocol Label Switching
(MPLS)-based Recovery" for additional information.

23. What differences are there in running MPLS in OSPF versus IS-IS environments?

This is not an MPLS question but an IGP (Interior Gateway Protocol) question. MPLS extensions,
stated in IEFT RFC's, are supported for both OSPF and IS-IS. MPLS and BGP-VPN real-world
deployments have been on both protocols for some time now.

There is much debate over which IGP is best. This is usually centered around scalability. The street
word is that IS-IS is more scaleable than OSPF. That is, a single OSPF area can support 150 plus
routers and a single IS-IS area can support 500 plus routers. However, very large IS-IS and OSPF
networks have been deployed.

Ultimately, it is best to first understand the benefits and disadvantages of each protocol. Then use the
customer / network requirements to choice the IGP which best suites your needs.

24. Can there be two or more Autonomous Systems within the same MPLS domain?

This is possible only under very restricted circumstances. Consider the ASBRs of two adjacent ASes. If
either or both ASBRs summarize eBGP routes before distributing them into their IGP, or if there is any
other set-up where the IGP routes cover a set of FECs which differs from that of the eBGP routes (and
this would almost always be the case), then the ASBRs cannot forward traffic based on the top-level
label. A similar argument applies to TE tunnels. Some traffic usually will be either IP forwarded by the
ASBR, or forwarded based on a non-top-level label.

So there would usually be 2-3 MPLS forwarding domains if there were two ASes: one for each of the
two ASes, and possibly one for the link between the two ASBRs (in the case that labelled packets
instead of IP packets are forwarded between the two ASBRs).
Also, it's likely that the ASBRs could not be ATM-LSRs, as ATM-LSRs typically have limited or no
capability of manipulating label stacks or forwarding unlabelled IP traffic.

Another example (thanks to Robert Raszuk) is with the multi-provider application of BGP+MPLS
VPNs. As described earlier, there are usually no *top-level* LSPs established across the two (or more)
provider ASes involved, so it can be argued that:

The two ASes are separate administrative domains. However there are some LSPs established across
the two ASes, at a lower level in the label stack. So, it can be argued that

(1) and (2) are both true, which implies that different definitions of the boundary of the administrative
domains can exist with respect to different levels in the label stack. It is also (in hindsight) obvious that
different MPLS domain boundaries can exist with respect to different levels of the label stack.

MPLS VPNs
25. How does MPLS enable VPNs?

Since MPLS allows for the creation of "virtual circuits" or tunnels, across an IP network, it is logical
that service providers would look to use MPLS to provision Virtual Private Network services. Several
standards have been proposed to allow service providers to use MPLS to provision VPN services that
isolate a customers traffic across the provider's IP network and provide secure end-to-end connectivity
for customer sites.

It should be noted that using MPLS for VPNs simply provides traffic isolation, much like an ATM or
Frame Relay service. MPLS currently has no mechanism for packet encryption, so if customer
requirements included encryption, some other method, such as IPsec, would have to be employed. The
best way to think of MPLS VPNs is to consider them the equivalent of a Frame Relay or ATM virtual
circuit.

26. What alternatives are there for implementing VPNs over MPLS

There are multiple proposals for using MPLS to provision IP-based VPNs. One proposal (MPLS/BGP
VPNs) enabled MPLS-VPNs via extensions to Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). In this approach, BGP
propagates VPN-IPv4 information using the BGP multiprotocol extensions (MP-BGP) for handling
these extended addresses. It propagates reachability information (VPN-IPv4 addresses) among Edge
Label Switch Routers (Provider Edge router). The reachability information for a given VPN is
propagated only to other members of that VPN. The BGP multiprotocol extensions identify the valid
recipients for VPN routing information. All the members of the VPN learn routes to other members.

Another proposal for using MPLS to create IP-VPN's is based on the idea of maintaining separate
routing tables for various virtual private networks and does not involve BGP.

Most implementations of Layer 3 MPLS-VPNs are based on RFC-2547.

27. What is the "Martini Draft'?

The "Martini Draft" actually refers to set of Internet drafts co-authored by Luca Martini. These drafts
define how MPLS can be used to support Layer 2 transport services such as Ethernet, Frame Relay
and/or ATM. Martini drafts define Layer 2 encapsulation methods, as well as Layer 2 transport
signaling methods.

Many service providers wish to use MPLS to provision L2-based services to provide an easy migration
for the current L2 service customers, while the providers migrate their networks to MPLS. Service
providers can use standards such as Martini Draft to provide a myriad of services over their MPLS
networks, so customers can simply choose the technology that is best suited to their environment.

The Psuedo Wire Emulation Edge-to-Edge (PWE3) working group is currently developing standards
for Layer 2 encapsulation (including Draft-Martini and other supporting standards). Current working
group drafts can be located at www.mplsrc.com/standards.shtml under the sub-heading "Layer 2 VPNs
and Layer 2 Emulation."

28. What is a "Layer 2 VPN"

Layer 2 VPNs are an extension of the work being undertaken in the PWE3 working group. Layer 2
VPNs allow service providers to provision Layer 2 services such as Frame Relay, ATM and Ethernet
between customer locations over an IP/MPLS backbone. Service providers can thus provision Layer 2
services over their IP networks, removing the need to maintain separate IP and Frame Relay/ATM
network infrastructures. This allows service providers to simplify their networks and reduce operating
expenses.

The IETF's "Layer 2 Virtual Private Networks (l2vpn)" working group is currently defining standards
for provisioning Layer 2 VPN services. Current working group drafts can be located at
www.mplsrc.com/standards.shtml under the sub-heading "Layer 2 VPNs and Layer 2 Emulation."

29. What is a Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS)?

VPLS refers to a method for using MPLS to create virtual LAN services based on Ethernet. In this type
of service, all edge devices maintain MAC address tables for all reachable end nodes, much in the same
way as a LAN switch.

VPLS services enable enterprises to provide Ethernet reachability across geographic distances served
by MPLS services. Several alternatives for enabling VPLS services are in development by the L2VPN
working group. Please refer to drafts from that working group for additional information. Also see the
Juniper Network's White Paper "VPLS: Scalable Transparent LAN Services."

30. Are MPLS-VPNs secure?

Among many network security professionals, the term "VPN" implies "encrypted" tunnels across a
public network. Since MPLS-VPNs do not require encryption, there is often concern over the security
implications of using MPLS to tunnel non-encrypted traffic over a public IP network. There are a
couple of points to consider in this debate:

MPLS-VPN traffic is isolated by the use of tags, much in the same way ATM and Frame Relay PVCs are
kept isolated in a public ATM/Frame Relay network. This implies that security of MPLS-VPNs is
equivalent to that of Frame Relay or ATM public network services. Interception of any of these three
types of traffic would require access to the service provider network.

MPLS-VPNs do not prohibit security. If security is an issue, traffic can be encrypted before it is
encapsulated into MPLS by using a protocol such as IPSec or SSL.

The debate over MPLS security really comes down requirements of the customer. Customers
comfortable with carrying their traffic over public ATM or Frame Relay services should have the same
level of comfort with MPLS-VPN services. Customers requiring additional security should employ
encryption in addition to MPLS.

MPLS Quality of Service

31. What kinds of QoS protocols does MPLS support?

MPLS supports the same QoS capabilities as IP. These mechanisms are IP Precedence, Committed
Access Rate (CAR), Random Early Detection (RED), Weighted RED, Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ),
Class-based WFQ, and Priority Queuing. Proprietary and non-standard QoS mechanisms can also be
support but are not guaranteed to interoperate with other vendors.

Since MPLS also supports reservation of Layer 2 resources, MPLS can deliver finely grained quality of
service, much in the same manner as ATM and Frame Relay.

32. How do I integrate MPLS and DiffServ

DiffServ can support up to 64 classes while the MPLS shim label supports up to 8 classes. This shim
header has a 3-bit field defined ãfor experimental use. This poses a problem. This Exp field is only 3
bits long, whereas the Diff-Serv field is 6 bits. There are different scenarios to work around this
problem.

There are two alternatives that address this problem called Label-LSP and Exp-LSP models. But they
introduce complexity into the architecture. The diffserv model essentially defines the interpretation of
the TOS bits. As long as the IP precedence bits map to the Exp bits the same interpretation as the
diffserv model can be applied to these bits. In the case where additional bits are used in the diffserv
model, one can essentially use the label value to interpret the meaning of the remaining bits.
Recognizing that 3 bits are sufficient to identify the required number of classes, the remaining bits in
the diffserv model are used for identifying the drop priority and these drop priorities can be mapped
into an L-LSP in which case the label identifies the drop priority while the exp bits identify the Class
that the packet belongs to.

Many Service Provides have or will add just a few classes. This small enhancement will be hard enough
to provision, manage and sell. This would be an effective strategy to get to market quickly with a value-
added service.

The followings classes may be more appropriate for the initial deployment of MPLS QoS:

High-priority, low-latency "Premium" class (Gold Service)

Guaranteed-delivery "Mission-Critical" class (Silver Service)
Low-priority "Best-Effort" class (Bronze Service)

33. How do I integrate MPLS and ATM QoS ?

MPLS makes it possible to apply QoS across very large routed or switched networks because Service
Providers can designate sets of labels that have special meanings, such as service class. Traditional
ATM and Frame Relay networks implement CoS with point-to-point virtual circuits, but this is not
scalable for IP networks. Placing traffic flows at the edge into service classes enables providers to
engineer and manage classes throughout the network.

If service providers manage networks based on service classes, not point-to-point connections, they can
substantially reduce the amount of detail they must track and increase efficiency without losing
functionality. Compared to per-circuit management, MPLS-enabled CoS provides virtually all of the
benefit with far less complexity. Using MPLS to establish IP CoS has the added benefit of eliminating
per-VC configuration. The entire network is easier to provision and engineer.

Generalized MPLS
34. What is "Generalized MPLS" or "GMPLS"

From "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching Architecture" "Generalized MPLS extends MPLS to
encompass time-division (e.g. SONET ADMs), wavelength (optical lambdas) and spatial switching (e.g.
incoming port or fiber to outgoing port or fiber)."

GMPLS represents a natural extension of MPLS to allow MPLS to be used as the control mechanism for
configuring not only packet-based paths, but also paths in non-packet based devices such as optical
switches, TDM muxes, and SONET/ADMs.

35. What are the components of GMPLS?

GMPLS introduces a new protocol called the "Link Management Protocol" or LMP. LMP runs between
adjacent nodes and is responsible for establishing control channel connectivity as well as failure
detection. LMP also verifies connectivity between channels.

Additionally, the IETF's "Common Control and Measurement Plane" working group (ccamp) is
working on defining extensions to interior gateway routing protocols such as OSPF and IS-IS to enable
them to support GMPLS operation.

36. What are the features of GMPLS?

GMPLS supports several features including:

Link Bundling - the grouping of multiple, independent physical links into a single logical link

Link Hierarchy - the issuing of a suite of labels to support the various requirements of physical and
logical devices across a given path

Unnumbered Links - the ability to configure paths without requiring an IP address on every physical or
logical interface

Constraint Based Routing - the ability to automatically provision additional bandwidth, or change
forwarding behavior based on network conditions such as congestion or demands for additional
bandwidth

37. What are the "Peer" and "Overlay" models?

GMPLS supports two methods of operation, peer and overlay. In the peer model, all devices in a given
domain share the same control plane. This provides true integration between optical switches and
routers. Routers have visibility into the optical topology and routers peer with optical switches. In the
overlay model, the optical and routed (IP) layers are separated, with minimal interaction. Think of the
overlay model as the equivalent of today's ATM and IP networks, where there is no direct connection
between the ATM layer and the IP routing layer.

The peer model is inherently simpler and more scalable, but the overlay model provides fault isolation
and separate control mechanisms for the physical and routed network layers, which may be more
attractive to some network operators.

38. What is the "Optical Internetworking Forum"?

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is an open industry organization of equipment

manufacturers, telecom service providers and end users dedicated to promote the global development
of optical internetworking products and foster the development and deployment of interoperable
products and services for data switching and routing using optical networking technologies.

An Introduction to the Optical Internetworking Forum White Paper can be found at

http://www.oiforum.com/

Voice over MPLS

39. Can voice and video traffic be natively encapsulated into MPLS?

Yes. The MFA Alliance has released a bearer transport implementation agreement which can be viewed
at http://www.mfaforum.org/VoMPLS_IA.pdf.

MPLS Management
40. How are MPLS networks managed?

Currently, most MPLS implementations are managed using CLI. Tools such as WANDL's NPAT
simulator allow MPLS networks to be modeled prior to deployment.

Several companies in the operational support systems product space have introduced tools designed to
ease MPLS network management and automatically provision LSPs.

41. Are there any MPLS-specific MIBs?

Yes. Several internet drafts have proposed creating MPLS-specific MIBS.

42. Is there open source MPLS code to test MPLS?

Yes. Several open source implementations of MPLS currently exist.

MPLS Training
43. What shows and conferences provide information on MPLS?

Several conferences are devoted to, or include presentations on MPLS. These include:

"MPLScon" held each May in New York City

"MPLS World Congress" held each February in Paris
"MPLS 200x" held each fall in Washington D.C.

MPLS Interoperability Testing

44. Are there any labs that are performing MPLS interoperability testing?

Several groups and organizations conduct MPLS interoperability testing, including:

The University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab has set up a MPLS Consortium for vendors to
test the interoperability of their products and to support MPLS standards development. More
information is available on their web site at http://www.iol.unh.edu/consortiums/mplsServices/.
Isocore in Fairfax, VA conducts interoperability testing and hosts the "MPLS 200x" annual event each
fall in Washington D.C.

The MFA Forum has conducted several GMPLS interoperability testing events at conferences such as
SuperComm and Next Generation Networks.

EANTC AG is a vendor-neutral network test center located in Berlin, Germany and conducts
independent MPLS interoperability testing

Photonic Internet Lab is supported by the Government of Japan and provides testing and simulation
efforts for GMPLS development.

MPLS Interview Questions

Q) What is MPLS?

A: MPLS is a forwarding mechanism which allows the router to forwarding packets based upon labels instead of IP
Address.

Q) Why MPLS is called as Multi Protocol Label Switching?

A: MPLS is called as Multi Protocol because it supports all the protocols like Ethernet, Frame-Relay , X.25 and
forwards packets based upon Labels.

Q)Why MPLS is called as Layer 2.5 Technology ?

A: MPLS is called as Layer 2.5 Technology because the router inserts MPLS Header in between Layer 2 and Layer 3
Header.

Q) What are the applications of MPLS?

A: MPLS supports following applications,

– Unicast and multicast IP routing

– VPN
– TE
– QoS
– AToM

Q) What are the advantages of MPLS?

A: MPLS provides following advantages,

i) MPLS decreases the forwarding overhead on the core routers. 

ii) MPLS supports multiple useful applications such as VPN,TE,QOS.

iii) MPLS supports the forwarding of non-IP protocols, because MPLS technologies are applicable to any network layer
protocol. 

iv) BGP Free Core

Q) What is LDP?

A: LDP is a Labelling Protocol used to share label information with other routers and create label forwarding table.

Q) What is the port number used by LDP?

A: LDP runs on port number 646 ( UDP port number for discovery of LDP neighbors and TCP port for exchanging the
label  information.

Q) What are the prerequisites to run MPLS?

A: 1) IP CEF

     2)  IGP Protocol

     3) LDP router-id must be reachable

Q) What is penultimate hop popping?

A: Penultimate hop popping is a method of reducing label lookups on egress router. It is basically done by the one hop
before the egress router.

Q) What are the functions done by MPLS?

A) 1) PUSH ( Adding the Label)

      2) POP ( Removing the Label)

      3) SWAP ( Changing the Label)

Q) What is the difference between Per Platform Label Space and Per Interface Label Space?

A: Per Platform label space indicates the labels assigned based upon the destination network and Per Interface label
space indicates the labels assigned based upon the destination network and interface.

Q) Is summarization is recommended in MPLS?

A: No

Q) What is TTL Propagation in MPLS?

A: TTL Propagation is a method of copying the TTL value from IP Header to MPLS header.

Q) What is LDP IGP Synchronization?

A: LDP IGP Synchronization allows the router not to forward the packets on the link where ldp is down but IGP is
enabled.

Q) What is the difference between Implicit Null and Explicit Null?

A: --> Implicit Null ( Label 3) is used to indicate the other router to remove label before sending the packets ( PHP).

--> Explicit Null ( Label 0) is used for QOS and disables PHP behavior