MPLS or Frame Relay

[scott_mchale]

Guys,

New to networking and have been asked to propose a project on MPLS vs Frame relay in terms of performance. Which technology is better, in terms of performance, for small, medium, and large networks

Any help on this would be a great help

thanks

[mheusing]

Hi Scott,

A question: what do you mean by "performance"? There are various definitions and you could ask about parameters like throughput, delay, availability, cost, etc.

For a real product and some listing of advantages of MPLS over frame-relay have a look at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps6537/ps6557/prod_white_paper0900aecd803e55d7.pdf

Or have a look at

http://www.mpls-experts.com/mpls-frame-relay.html

Regards, Martin

[Joseph W. Doherty]

If for performance, you just mean moving bits, little difference. (Historically, MPLS roots were in providing very high speed packet forwarding, but with later hardware improvements, this advantage has diminished.) If you what to provide different levels of service or easily do full mesh routing, MPLS is the choice. (Martin's references provide further details.)