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Are you an expert in MPLS or BGP and tend to find a new chance to advance your networking career? Today, we will introduce top MPLS & BGP interview questions and answers for CCIE certified. You may get strong in the subject and can ready for your upcoming interview to face it.
MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) is an important networking technology used by many enterprises and service providers. As MPLS usage grows, it's becoming increasingly common for networking professionals to be asked MPLS-related questions during job interviews. Being able to discuss MPLS concepts and architectures at both a high level and a detailed technical level is important for landing networking roles, especially in service provider and large enterprise environments. Preparing answers for common MPLS interview questions is a great way to stand out and show expertise.
Some key MPLS interview questions may cover topics like:
- The basics of how MPLS works - the use of labels, LSRs, LERs, etc.
- The benefits of MPLS compared to traditional IP routing
- MPLS VPN concepts and operation
- How MPLS traffic engineering works
- Understanding MPLS signaling protocols like LDP and RSVP-TE
- How to configure and troubleshoot MPLS in Cisco or Juniper devices
- New applications of MPLS like MPLS Segment Routing
1. What’s the MPLS? What’re Benefits Of Using MPLS?
Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) offer a mechanism to process packets on the basis of labels. It is a data forwarding service that provides high-end network communications from one network node to the next on the basis of labels rather than routing table lookups. Routing table lookup for each packet makes communication sluggish but MPLS uses LFIB/forwarding table to process label from one node to another.
The main benefits of using MPLS are:
QoS integration: supports multiple levels of QoS, to manage latency, jitter and packet loss for various types of traffic (voice, video, email, bulk file transfers, etc.)
Fast convergence: label-based switching, no need to look up routing tables.
Scalability to IP VPNs
Low network congestion using MPLS TE
Reliable and secure
2. Describe Push, Swap, Pop Functions In MPLS And Also Explain Penultimate Hop Popping (PHP)?
Label switching is a discrete mechanism from IP forwarding; here LSR regulates what label function needs to be performed, such as Push, Pop, or Swap, to process a packet throughout the MPLS backbone using label switching.
Push: Add a label
Pop: Remove a label
Swap: Exchange/ replace a label
3. What Is Any Transport Over MPLS (atom)? Do We Require Vrf Or BGP-VPN To Form Atom Connectivity?
Any Transport over MPLS (AToM) enables service providers to deliver Layer 2 connectivity over an MPLS backbone to connect different clients’ sites with existing data link layer (Layer 2) networks. BGP-VPN or VRF is not required to configure AToM; to form AToM connectivity we do use connect (cross-connect) peering with unique VC-ID to distinguish multiple clients.
4. Describe The Roles Of Rd And Rt In MPLS L3vpn? Is It Possible To Assign A Same Rd To Multiple Customers?
Route distinguisher (RD) is used to distinguish identical routes in different VRFs, whereas the route target (RT) is used to share routes between them. Route target also specifies which prefixes get imported or exported on the PE router.
No, we can’t assign the same RD to multiple customers on a PE router because the main purpose of defining RD is limited to provide uniqueness in different VRFs.
5. How Can You Differentiate Vpnv4 And Ipv4 Address-family?
Address-family VPNv4 is used to transport VRF traffic, which is quite heavier (96 bits) than normal IPv4 packets, and address-family IPv4 is used to transport traditional 32-bit IPv4 packets. When we deploy L3VPN, we need VPNv4 peering between the PEs to take the VRF routes (labeled with RD, RT) to the corresponding destination PE router.
6. What Are Lib And Lfib? If We Disable Cef (on A Cisco Device) Will MPLS Work?
The difference between two is almost like RIB and FIB, as RIB uses FIB to forward traffic. Label Information Base (LIB) is a table where prefix to label bindings are built and stored in the control plane and can be seen with “show mpls LDP bindings.” Label Forwarding Information Base (LFIB) is another MPLS table used to forward label packets throughout the MPLS network and build in the data plane. To check LFIB, run “show mpls forwarding-table.” The lookups are in fact done in the LFIB, not the LIB.
If CEF is disabled, MPLS will not work, as it uses LFIB to forward labeled packets and LFIB built from the FIB table.
7. Name BGP Path Attributes To Control Incoming And Outgoing Traffic.
BGP has multiple paths of attributes to influencing traffic flow. In the most common practice, we do manipulate incoming traffic using AS-Path prepending and MED (multi-exit discriminator). And, to influence outgoing traffic, weight and local preference are the best choices.
8. My Bgp Is Showing 0.0.0.0 As Router-id; What Could Be The Possible Reason?
This happens when we configure BGP on a router that has non-IP interfaces, meaning that if a router’s interfaces are not configured with any IP address, then BGP cannot get the router-id. In that case, BGP assumes 0.0.0.0 as router-id.
9. If My BGP Neighbor Is Stuck In Idle Or Active State, What Should I Do?
If BGP peer is in idle state, then it could be due to physical connectivity failure or the neighbor is not defined properly with respective AS. In connect state, BGP tries to establish a TCP session over port number 179; if it fails to establish the connection, then it goes to an active state, where it tries again to establish a TCP connection. By using “debug IP BGP” and “debug IP TCP transactions” commands, we can learn the exact cause of TCP connection failure. Lack of the “update-source” or “ebgp-multihop” command can also be a reason for the neighbor active state.
10. Explain BGP recursive lookup and site of origin (SoO).
BGP recursive lookup involves the router looking up the BGP route and BGP next hop to reach a destination in the remote AS. Then the router will look up the route into IGP to reach the BGP next hop. This mechanism is known as BGP recursive lookup.
BGP site of origin (SoO) is a loop prevention technique in the MPLS backbone environment. BGP SoO is associated with a CE-neighbor; that’s why whenever the PE router advertises a prefix to a CE neighbor, it checks the SoO of the prefix with the SoO of the BGP neighbor to avoid loops.
11. What do you understand by BGP split-horizon rule?
This rule states, “Network prefixes learned from an iBGP peer will not be shared with another iBGP peer” to prevent routing loops. BGP uses the AS_PATH attribute to avoid routing loops, which means a route will not be accepted if the AS_PATH contains the same AS a number of the router where it is receiving. Route-reflector and confederation techniques are used to share iBGP learned networks with another iBGP neighbor.
MPLS Interview Questions and BGP Interview Questions
MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) and BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) are two of the most influential protocols used in networking today. Both protocols facilitate efficient data transmission over networks, making them essential for organizations relying heavily on digital networks like the internet or other digital communications services. Though both share some similarities, knowing their individual differences is vital for any network engineer or IT professional.
In this article, we'll look at some of the common MPLS interview questions and BGP interview questions you might face during an interview, along with their key features and any benefits or drawbacks they offer.
What Is MPLS?
MPLS is a protocol designed to allow data to be transferred quickly and efficiently between networks. It works by assigning labels for each packet of data so it can be identified and sent down specific paths within a network - which helps reduce congestion on high traffic networks while improving reliability, scalability and performance.
What Are Some Advantages Of MPLS?
MPLS can have several advantages for networks:
* Improved Performance - MPLS speeds data transmission by routing packets along optimized paths within your network, thus decreasing latency and improving overall performance.
* Greater reliability - Since packets are routed along predefined paths, congestion or packet loss due to traffic overload is reduced.
* Cost Savings - Because MPLS eliminates costly hardware such as routers and switches, using it can significantly lower costs associated with network setup and maintenance costs.
What Are the Drawbacks of MPLS?
Although MPLS provides many advantages, there can be some drawbacks to its use as well. These may include:
* Limited Scalability - While wireless mesh networking offers improved performance on smaller networks, larger ones may not gain as much from its use due to its inability to scale without additional hardware investments; this could lead to increasing costs over time.
* Configuration complexities - Setting up an efficient MP labelling system requires expert knowledge in networking concepts such as QoS classes or application types; incorrect setup may result in reduced performance or even complete system failure.
What Is BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)?
BGP is an increasingly popular protocol used in networking today; its primary use cases include interconnecting multiple autonomous systems on the internet and routing traffic among different service provider networks. BGP works by exchanging routing information among neighboring routers, giving each one more information when choosing optimal routes for data transmission across networks.
What Are Some Advantages Of Utilizing BGP?
Utilizing BGP provides several advantages: * Robustness - unlike traditional distance vector algorithms such as RIP that rely solely on them to make decisions, BGP uses path vector algorithms which allow routers to make intelligent decisions based on policy preferences or external factors - this makes BGP much more robust when handling large volumes of traffic than other routing protocols.
What Are The Disadvantages Of B GP?
While B GP offers many advantages, it does come with some downsides as well:
* Complexity- Configuring B GP requires a high level of technical expertise due to understanding the many aspects related to routebuilding policies and authentication methods.
* Security risks- Without built-in security mechanisms available within B GP itself, route security could become compromised with incorrect configuration parameters which could lead to traffic hijacking or spoofing attacks being launched against it.
* Performance- As routes are selected according to administrative policies rather than load balancing parameters alone, overall performance can suffer significantly.
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