A Report on MPLSInteroperability

The MPLS/FR Alliance
An industry-wide association ofnetworking and telecommunicationcompanies focused on advancing thedeployment of multi-vendor MultiService Label-switching networks andassociated applications.

2MPLS Interoperability & Scalability Showcase
MPLS World Congress, Paris, February 2003
• Organized by:
MPLS Forum Interoperability
Committee & European Advanced
Network Test Center (EANTC)• in cooperation with:ETSI Interoperability Service• hosted by:Upperside3

The Event• Areas Covered:
9 Layer 3 VPN scalability and interoperability
9 Layer 2 Transport scalability and interoperability
9 Fast Reroute interoperability• Protocols Covered:
9 RSVP-TE
9 LDP (also tunneled in RSVP-TE)
9 MP-iBGP
9 RSVP-TE tunnels protected by Fast Rerouting[OSPF-TE used as routing protocol]

4

The Participants

5

The Test Plan
• Based on experiences of the interop
event at Supercom, June 2002
9 Extended the test plan to cover new new areas• BGP/MPLS VPN + scalability• Ethernet/VLAN over MPLS + scalability• Detour and Facility backup (Reroute)• Designed by the Interoperability
Working Group of the MPLS Forum

6Building the Network• Testing was started in protocol-specificgroups of 2 or 3 vendors.
• Once one-on-one interoperability
issues were resolved, the groups wereconnected to construct the network.
• Scalability tests started already insmall groups.

7

Network Evolution

8

What is Scalability?
• Goals
9 Define a typical service provider scenario.
9 Have a realistic number of VPNs and routes per
VPN at each PE.
9 Tunnel VPN traffic through the backbone(LDP over RSVP-TE)• Non-Goals
9 Performance Tests• Achieve the maximum number of VPNs/routes

9VPN Scalability - a first!
• BGP/MPLS VPNs
9 255 VPNs
9 1000 routes per VPN in 10 VPNs, plus
10 routes per VPN in 245 VPNs
9 Distribution considered for HQ and remote sites• Ethernet VLAN “Martini” Transporttunnels
9 200 of 802.1q “pseudo-wires” per PE

10VPN Scalability Test Scenarios

11Fast Reroute Interoperability• IETF’s Fast Reroute draft• Two options
9 Facility (Bypass)
9 Detour• Reroute to backup LSP due to primary
failure¾Used TDM over IP application andload generators to verify the fast
reroute time is indeed
sub 50 ms
12Fast Reroute Test Topology

13

The Final Network
Final Network

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Test Results

15

Protocol Issues• There were issues with RSVP-TE
signaling and OSPF-TE
9 All devices need to provide support for OSPF-TE.

• There were issues with LDP signaling.
9 There should be agreement to the label ranges thatare used over Ethernet links.
9 There should be agreement on the label range oneach device vs. label range per interface.

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Fast Reroute Issues• Detour Backup
9 Current Fast Reroute draft has norecommendation for backward compatibility ofclass types in FRR object (between different draftversions)• Facility Backup
9 Merge Point LSRs not aware that they are on aprotected path in case of interface-specific label
space, hence doesn’t merge paths till failure – thisis a possible signaling issue?
17Summary of the event
9 Presented that MPLS VPN technology isinteroperable and scalable
9 Demonstrated the two fast reroute modes in acommon backbone
9 Verified the fast reroute times (below 50ms onPOS).

Provided further reassurance in
MPLS networking technology

18Supercomm, Atlanta, June 2003

Enabling a Multi-Service Future:
From Vision to Value• Organized by:
MPLS Forum Interoperability Committee• Staged by:Interoperability Laboratory, University of
New Hampshire (IOL-UNH)
19

SUPERDemo 2003
• Focus on demonstrating multivendor
interoperability in the following areas:
9 Frame Relay over MPLS
9 ATM over MPLS
9 Ethernet/VLAN over MPLS
9 BGP/MPLS VPN
9 Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS)
9 MPLS Fast Reroute (FRR)• New interoperable, scalable Services
while offering Service Guarantee
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19 Participating Products• Alcatel 7670 Routing Switch •Platform (RSP)•• Alcatel 7770 Optical•
Broadband Exchange (OBX)•• Agilent RT900•• Agilent Network Ananlyzer• Cisco GSR 12404•• Cisco GSR 12406•• Ixia 400Tand 1600T•• Juniper M40e
• Juniper ERX 1440•
21

Laurel ST200
Marconi BXR-48000
Marconi ASX-4000
Nortel Passport 15000
Nortel Shasta 5000 Broadband
Service Node (BSN)RAD IPmux
Riverstone RS 8000
TiMetra SR-Series Service
RouterVivace Viva1050

Test Scenarios• Fast Reroute was tested in the Core
• Three MPLS service scenarios tested in isolationand then implemented across a core MPLS
network:• Layer 2 point to point Transport services:
9 ATM (Cell and AAL5 modes)
9 Frame Relay (Transport mode)
9 Ethernet (Port and VLAN modes)• Virtual Private LAN service (VPLS)• BGP/MPLS VPN service
22Test Plan Preparation
••
•••
•
••
•

Agilent Technologies
Avici Systems
European Advanced Network Testing Center (EANTC)
Laurel Networks
Metanoia
Netplane Systems
Tenor Networks
TiMetraUniversity of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab
23

Core Participants• Alcatel 7770 OBX• Cisco GSR 12406• Juniper M40e
• Marconi ASX-4000• Marconi BXR-48000

24Fast Reroute
Detour Fast Reroute

Bypass Fast Reroute• Alcatel 7770 OBX• Juniper M40e
• Marconi BXR-48000• Cisco 12404• Alcatel 7770 OBX• Cisco 12406

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Transport Services
ServiceParticipant List

FR over MPLS

Agilent RT900, Cisco GSR 12404, Ixia 400T,
Juniper ERX 1440, Laurel Networks ST200,Vivace Viva1050

ATM over MPLS

Agilent RT900, Cisco GSR 12404, Ixia 400T,Juniper M40e, Laurel ST200, Vivace Viva1050

Ethernet VLAN overMPLS

Agilent RT900, Cisco GSR 12404, Ixia 400T,Juniper Networks M40e, Juniper ERX 1440,Laurel ST200, Riverstone RS 8000, Vivace
Viva1050

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VPN ServicesServiceParticipant List

BGP/MPLS VPN

Alcatel 7770, Alcatel 7670, Agilent RT900,
Cisco GSR 12404, Ixia 400T, Juniper M40e,Juniper ERX 1440, Laurel ST200,
Nortel Passport 15000, Nortel Shasta 5000 BSN,
Riverstone RS 8000

VPLS

Agilent RT900,
Ixia 400T,
Riverstone RS8000,
Timetra SR-Series Service Router27

Scalability Results
Service Type

Scalability Number
achieved per PE

Participatingcompanies

BGP/MPLS VPN

250

11

FR over MPLS
Transport

500

6

ATM over MPLS
Transport

500

6Ethernet/VLAN over
MPLS Transport

700

8VPLS

1428

Traffic Generators• Agilent RT900• Ixia 400 & 1600T• RAD IPmux

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The Results• Interoperability achieved!
• Scalability achieved!
• Resiliency tested!
• A few issues were identified –read the white paper

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31

Summary

The multi-service future is a reality,
Fulfilling the promise of MPLS
All white papers available at:
http://www.mplsforum.org/tech/library.shtml

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Upcoming Events!
• MPLS World Congress 2004, Paris, France
February 10-13, 2004
9Topic: Quality of Service from MPLS
9Hot Stage in late January, at EANTC, Berlin• ICBN (International Conference onBroadband Networking) 2004, Kobe, Japan
April 7-9, 2004
9Topic: To be decided (relevant to Japaneseand Asian service providers)33Thank You!
http://www.mplsforum.org