MPLS has come a long way since its original goal to allow core routers to switch packets faster using a simplified header. MPLS is now a foundation of IP-based networks, providing value-added services such as traffic engineering and VPN services. The success and familiarity of MPLS in the core is driving service providers to deploy MPLS beyond the core network and into access, aggregation, and backhaul networks to support broadband, business, and mobility services. With active development in standards bodies, MPLS is also emerging as an industry standard to enable connection-oriented packet transport with MPLS-TP.
However, the original killer MPLS application – the provider-based L3 VPN service – still remains the most widely deployed MPLS service, and is still showing strong growth. Deployment of other MPLS-based VPN services, such as L2 VPNs and Multicast VPNs, are also rapidly growing.
To verify all elements of MPLS VPN services, it is critical that test systems emulate a large MPLS network with up to hundreds and thousands of PE (and CE) routers. Additionally, the ability to perform dynamic MPLS label changes in real time with millisecond accuracy is extremely important for failover and convergence testing.
MPLS-TP has gained significant momentum across the industry as the next “big” thing in mobile backhaul and transport network. There are three must-have features for a quality MPLS-TP implementation. Service providers will do well to ensure their test solutions not simply claim support of MPLS-TP, but actually support all three key features:
- Support of static LSP/PW
- Comprehensive OAM
- Automatic protection switching (ASP) with sub-50ms convergence time
In addition, a comprehensive solution will test MPLS, MPLS VPN, and MPLS-TP technologies, including support for:
- LDP
- mLDP
- RSVP-TE
- RSVP-TE P2MP
- L3 MPLS VPN
- 6VPE
- L2 MPLS VPN – VPWS
- L2 MPLS VPN – VPLS (LDP)
- L2 MPLS VPN – VPLS (BGP)
- L2 MPLS VPN – VPLS (LDP) and BGP auto-discovery
- 6PE
- Multicast VPN – Draft-Rosen (IPv4)
- Multicast VPN – Draft-Rosen (IPv6)
- Next-generation multicast VPN with RSVP-TE P2MP
- Next-generation multicast VPN with mLDP
- Dynamic MPLS label traffic binding
- MPLS-OAM, LSP BFD, VCCV Ping, and VCCV-BFD
- MPLS-TP static LSP/PW
- MPLS-TP OAM
- MPLS-TP APS with <50ms convergence
Ixia’s IxNetwork not only offers all of this functionality, but has been proven in public tests with ISOCORE and EANTC, and at the MPLS-TP 2011 event. Supporting all three key MPLS-TP features described above, IxNetwork supports manual and triggered APS with the ability to measure < 50ms convergence time per LSP or per PW. It simulates PEs that support multiple VPN services simultaneously, such as L3 VPNs, L2 VPNs, and Multicast VPNs. IxNetwork wizards ensure that a user need not resort to complicated scripting in order to emulate complex, multi-protocol VPN scenarios.
For more information:
- Light Reading TV interviews Ixia’s Tara Van Unen about the industry rollout of MPLS-TP and 100GE technologies
- Video testimonial: IxNetwork selected to test VPN scalability of Cisco ASR-9000
- Ixia’s new Advanced MPLS Black Book and MPLS-TP Black Book
- MPLS Learning Resources blog article
- Ixia MPLS-TP test solution
- Light Reading MPLS-TP Briefing Center
