mpls basic question

[dkblee]

hi! I've some queries about how mpls from the provider work. I understand that we'll be provided a router from the provider of the mpls line eg. AT&T, Orange, and etc, and the telco will be able to provide QOS from there. Here are my questions:

1) Do we normally have access to the telco router which is installed at our end?

2) Will we've our private ip range assigned to the telco's router just as the p2p lease line connection? eg. connect the telco router to one of my router interface with our private IPs assigned?

3) If i;m running ospf with area 0 in my routers, will the network from the telco routers being propagated vice versa?

Thx.

[dkblee]

hi! Anyone has any advise on this? Thx

[vmiller]

1. depends on the contract terms. you "may" get read permissions at best, and some snmp.

2. probably not. Again each carrier may have some implementation differences, Generally the meet point (link) is the carriers, you just hand them routes.

3. No, they will be running BGP VPN.

there are a number of good links out there that provide better detail. The netcraftsmen folks do a pretty effctive job.

http://www.netcraftsmen.net/resources/archived-articles/373-bgp-and-mpls-based-vpns.html

[dkblee]

hi! currently, the office is running on flat network with a vpn tunnel back to the hq through the internet line. If i would to replace the the vpn tunnel through internet with an MPLS line. Is it a must to have vlan configured internally within the branch office? If iwould to install a Peribit wan optimiser, is vlan a must? I try to minimize changes to the existint network and svr ip. pls advise.

Thx.

[vmiller]

I'm not sure I understand about having a vlan in the branch office. you could have a different subnet in the branch and MPLS would deliver it to the HQ no problem. If you have to keep the same vlan or some sort of flat addressing scheme then MPLS will not be a good choice.

I cant speak to using a peribit (no experience).

[Jon Marshall]

Like vmiller i am not sure what you mean by vlan ?

If you mean the same IP subnet is present in the branch and the HQ then MPLS L3 VPN wouldn to work. VPLS might be an option which extends a vlan across the MPLS network.

However i'm not sure you need to do this. Not familiar with Peribit but have experience with other WAN optimisation products and they do not require the same vlan to be both sites.

Jon

[dkblee]

hi! i meant only one network segment in the branch office (it's a small office with less tahn 20 staffs), the HQ will have network with multiple segments and vlans. So, if that's the case, is the mpls gd to go? If possible i will not want to introduce different segment in the small branch office. Thanks.

[Kishore Chennupati]

dkblee,

If the router is provided by the ISP then it's called a provider manager CE(customer edge) router. Now your WAN optimiser would plug into the LAN interface of that router. This WAN optimiser will then plug into your L2/L3 switch. If the whole site is going to use the link then you don't need any vlans. But if you want specific groups access this MPLS lnk then you need to create a vlan on the switch and then put in on the interface where the wan optimiser plugs into the switch.

You normally tell the ISP what your LAN subnet will be so they will configure the LAN interface to that subnet and then install it onsite.

Does this sort of answer your question?

HTH

Kishore

[dkblee]

hi! If different segments are used within the network instead of flat setup. the interface from the optimiser to the sw, is it a layer 3 interface or just one of the vlan will do?

As of " But if you want specific groups access this MPLS lnk then you need to create a vlan on the switch and then put in on the interface where the wan optimiser plugs into the switch." you mentioned, i don't quite get what you mean. Do you mean the vlan used between the connection from the optimizer to the switch are the only vlan that can be used by the user for mpls connection?