MPLS stands for ‘multiprotocolswitching’; it’s a technique that can be used to ensure you’re making the most of your available bandwidth, and not ‘wasting’ bandwidth on unnecessary tasks. There’s a lot of technical and in-depth information around detailing what it is and how it works, but right now let’s strip everything back to basics and take a look at the simplest MPLS explanation.
You drive up to the car park of a large shopping centre you’ve never visited before. There are not only multiple entrances, but there’s also many different ways to get from where you are now to the shop that you want to go to. At each fork in the path that you come to, you need to check the signs and make a decision about which way to go in order to get to your destination in the quickest way.
Data does the same on an IP network. Data has a known final destination but it has no known route. Instead, it does what we would do in an unknown shopping centre; it reads the signs at every fork it comes to.
This slows the data down, meaning that you’re not getting the most from your available bandwidth. This is where MPLS can help; it essentially acts as a built-in map for data, reading the types of traffic, and directing using label switched paths LSP’s.
Multiprotocol Label Switching is a protocol routing technique used to transfer packets of data. MPLS Networks add labels to data when it passes through, the labels can also be changed or taken away completely. The labels are there to make sure the data goes where it needs to.
This technique makes sure that digital packets reach their destination as quickly and efficiently as possible. MPLS labelled Data was created in the ’90s to allow for more efficient data transfer & traffic flows compared to the traditional IP routing.
We use MPLS for various reason such as:
MPLS changes a routed network to something like a switched network. It’s a lot faster compared to the traditional Internet Protocol (IP) routing, hence the popularity. Instead of forwarding data packets on a hop-by-hop basis the data paths are founded for source-destination pairs. The paths that are created in MPLS are called label-switched paths (LSP).
It works by having an Ingress route at the beginning of a label-switched path, each LSP can only have one ingress router. IP packets are masked with an MPLS Network Layer 2 frame by the Ingress router (label switch router), that IP packet is then sent to the next router in the path using a mode ATM.
Next the IP packet enters the transit router, this router passed the IP packet to the last stage in the path. Each LSP can have anything from zero to 253 transit router in an LSP.
Finally, the IP packet is sent to the Egress router. The Egress router removes the MPLS Layer 2 mask to turn it back to a standard IP packet.
This packet is then forward to its destination IP address using details in the IP forwarding routing table. Once the packet reaches its destination the relevant parties can see it. There is one Egress router in an LSP, the Ingress router is a popular choice.
WAN and MPLS are two completely different things, MPLS is a protocol you use on a network. WAN stands for Wide area network, it’s just a way of letting your sites communicate.
There’re many ways of connecting your sites, one of the main ways in via a Point to Point Leased Line. MPLS is a protocol that controls the routing of data to allow for the quickest and efficient data transfers.
An MPLS can be used in conjunction with a WAN. An MPLS WAN (Network Protocols) is used to connect multiple offices all around the world. When WAN and MPLS are utilised together it allows efficient data transmission to all your sites. Scalability is also another factor, you can deploy MPLS WAN to over 1000 sites if needed, brilliant for global businesses.
MPLS WAN allows businesses to give control of routing to the service provider they are with. This subsequently means less WAN engineers needed within your business, saving money. It also allows you to effortlessly transfer any type of data. This WAN connectivity is considered one of the best compare to Ethernet WAN etc.
It is undecided if SD WAN will replace MPLS. SD-WAN is an overlay service whereas MPLS is an underlay service. So, to compare them is slightly unfair as they are completely different services.
Having said that, both technologies have their own set of pros and cons, after listing them you can decide which service is best for you.
SD WAN Pros:
SD WAN Cons:
MPLS Pros:
MPLS Cons:
The Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) protocol is the most effective means by which enterprise service providers and other businesses built wide area networks (wide area networks (WANs). The term VPLS is another form of wide area network like MPLS. The two-layer concept of MPLS is used to form a service which allows for fast QoS (Quality of Service) at the edge of an enterprise dedicated network resources. MPLS gives every WAN client the ability to connect to a WAN site, regardless of whether it is near or far from the client location.
MPLS is a service that allows networks to exchange quality traffic on their private topologies. Traffic that uses the standard MPLS header can be forward across site-local routing. The purpose of using mpls services for WANs is to improve enterprise companies’ ability to handle demand-driven traffic while reducing the amount of latency associated with older QoS (Quality of Service) applications.
The main benefits of adopting MPLS are: It improves WAN carriers’ ability to handle large packets of data. MPLS significantly reduces the amount of latency associated with QoS traffic on the enterprise network. MPLS services provide end-users with greater control over their traffic via greater control over which types of traffic they can send and which traffic they can receive. This provides end-users with more flexibility and better manageability over their networks.
There are three significant benefits of MPLS over traditional QoS (Quality of Service) technologies. First, MPLS offers a higher level of reliability and performance with QoS. It also provides a higher level of connectivity than QoS. Finally, it allows different service providers to segment traffic on different layers of the network. All three of these benefits lead to significant increases in the profitability of an enterprise using MPLS.
The advantages of MPLS include: It is an effective solution for large organisations when it comes to managing traffic. With MPLS, there is a greater degree of control that is provided to network users. It provides end-users with more control over their data and enables them to choose which content they wish to allow network access to. The use of MPLS can also be beneficial to businesses that have different application requirements or mission-critical traffic need to be handled. It is able to provide security and privacy services to protect business-critical traffic. MPLS can support accelerated application delivery because of the lower latency associated with the Wide Area Network.
VPLS on the other hand, is a service which offers Wide Area Network Service (WAN) over layer 2. It operates on a different principle than traditional Wide Area Network. MPLS uses the concept of layer 3 technology and VPLS uses layer 2.
Enterprises that need a fast solution for their WAN links may opt for MPLS. The cost of implementing MPLS in your organisation is not as costly as you might think as it doesn’t consume many resources and takes only a minimal amount of time to install. Moreover, the benefits that MPLS gives to enterprise companies are far more than what they get from a point-to-point connection. An MPLS edge router can become a full replacement for both Ethernet and private wan links, and exceptionally high internet traffic.
James Ward is CEO & Founder of Leased Line Comparison, a website founded in 2013 and has since helped over 10,000 customers. James gained his expertise in the leased line world by joining a telecoms company called Exponential-e back in 2011 which taught him everything he needed to know to set up this website today. James’ interests include horse racing, skiing, rugby, hiking, boxing and riding. He spends his time between family and friend, socialising and sport.
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