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MPLS |
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Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) provides a versatile set of tools to address a range of problems faced by network operators and customers.
Examples include;
- Traffic Management - MPLS forwards traffic within a network quickly and smoothly, avoiding points of congestion or link failures. This is necessary in large networks with geographically dispersed network nodes, typically found in older Telco networks.
- VPNs - MPLS operates at Layer 2 (not layer 3, i.e. IP), so is able to support multiple virtual private networks (VPN). It is not possible for a user to hack from the IP layer to the MPLS layer, which means that MPLS can be used to establish multiple secure ‘Private Internets’ for customers.
- Quality of Service (QoS) - MPLS can interpret different priorities that are assigned at network ingress, and forward traffic over routes that meet the application requirements, such as low-latency for business class voice, whereas email traffic may be forwarded over slower links As with Traffic Management, QoS is only relevant on access links and in meshed core networks.
Depending on the network topology, not all tools are required, so different network operators will each be using different aspects of MPLS. The latest ‘hub and spoke’ network implementations do not suffer from congestion in the way that older geographically-dispersed meshed networks do, and so have reduced need for the traffic shaping attributes of MPLS or QoS in the core.
MPLS is ideal for transporting IP traffic and is at the heart of most Private Internet services.
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