Networking Basics: What is MPLS?

The Quick Definition

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a protocol-independent routing technique to speed up and adjust traffic across a wide area network and a service provider network.

What is MPLS?

Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) is a way to connect sites together. If you choose to use a VoIP solution in a wide area network, you may merge MPLS. With the development of the network, the previous technology used in broadcast voice communication has become inefficient. Of course, the cloud becomes part of internal communication.

MPLS enables organizations to send voice over the Internet more efficiently without poor connectivity and packet loss. Let’s study its working principle in more detail.

Take Customer A as an example, customer A site has a switch and connects two PCs. They have connected to the IP phone and they want to bridge it from site A to site B with a distance of one thousand miles. They also connect the router and the switch to their computer. MPLS bridges the site with the cloud of the service router on the private router. In this way, they can build their own private connections through the cloud

The Benefits of MPLS for Business

1. Interface Independence

Suppose you have one site connected to the T1 line and another site connected to the fiber. Even Metro Ethernet connections-100 megabits per second or 1000 megabits per second to the cloud. In this case, there is a third site that can bridge over DSL (yes, indeed, some service routers support DSL.)

With MPLS, you can bridge all of these sites together. Think about the complete grid that all sites can connect. The cloud is you, and you can set it-just like a shared connection. It’s like a big switch. You can connect all of these sites, insert them into this giant switch, and they can all communicate. Any type of connection that can be connected to a service router is a great benefit.

2. Control of Communication

Before using MPLS, you must purchase a T1 line to connect to the site. If you want to add another site, you must link it from Site A to the T1 line to Site C. Site C must, however, go through Site A to Site B.

Now, you have a site that can communicate with many other sites. Suppliers and your internal engineers can build telecommunications networks in mesh mode. In contrast to old-fashioned settings, old-fashioned settings require routing between specific subnets before each communication packet reaches its destination.

You can basically say, "I want all of these people to connect." Or you can tell the service router, "well, I just hope this person can go here because he doesn’t need to talk to others.

Your network and provider can also use different speeds to connect to the mesh network. One location may use a slower T1 line (1.54 Mbps) and the other location may use an optical fiber connection. As a result, a seamless mesh network can work together-regardless of the speed of the underlying network.

3. Quality of Service

People usually gather their contacts together through the Internet. They have a connection at each site and use the VPN technology to connect to these sites.

The VPN adds additional header information-a a large number of headers are added for encryption to support the encryption of each packet transmitted between the sites. This is disadvantageous for IP voice (VoIP). Is it possible? Yes. Can you do it? Yes. Will you break the phone? Yes. How much? Depending on your service provider. So it actually becomes the voice over the IP over VPN.

However, when you use MPLS, you can use a specific tag to mark the packet. Some say they are TOS, and some say they are DSCP. The service router then converts them to an MPLS label. This provides a higher quality of service (QoS) that is used to determine the time required to transmit data and the number of bad packets that run across the network.

When using the VoIP process, the quality of service is an important index. In short, it measures your ability to talk to other recipients without causing packet loss, static, and downtime.

The Benefits of MPLS for the Service Provider

Service providers can now mark packets using MPLS tags. Imagine transporting things between two locations. What if the shipping company has to open the box and check the contents at every stop to figure out the route? This is not good for two reasons.

First, it violated your privacy. Second, if each package must be opened before the package is determined, the transit time will be longer.

Instead, you just need to put a label on the box, with a "That’s the destination." on it. When it is from Site A, Site B to Site C of FedEx or UPS, or any shipping company you are using, just check the label. No one needs to open the box before reaching the Destin.

When packets enter the cloud, service providers can paste MPLS tags on them. The label will tell them exactly where they are going. There is even something called an experimental bit, which is a way to convert quality service tags to that tag so that they can only be known by looking at layer 2 (the lowest layer in the OSI model where you can actually place the data). It is a label outside the box, so they can really send things through the cloud without having to look at layer 3 or layer 4 QoS data. Or open the package (if necessary).

MPLS replaces the old technology that relies on the routing table and the Frame Relay protocol. Typically used in a private network. This is also done by your Internet service provider. It is faster, more efficient, and is suitable for lower OSI model layers. If you plan to use any VoIP solution, you may use the MLPS technology.

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