Junos® OS For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 16

Using Multi-Protocol Level Switching

In This Chapter

• Understanding how MPLS works and what it can do for you
• Configuring label-switched paths (LSPs)
• Routing LSPs
• Conserving bandwidth on LSPs

Routing protocols are about making your network functional. They allow you to send traffic across the network, and they even allow you to tune your network in some small measure to control how traffic is sent.

Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) builds on top of that foundation and really grants you a different level of control over how your network transports traffic. By converting your routed network to something closer to a switched network, MPLS offers transport efficiencies that simply aren't available in a traditional IP-routed network. These efficiencies are then augmented with traffic engineering functionality that makes MPLS still more effective. Combined, the switching and traffic engineering capabilities have made something that was once used only in service provider networks one of the emerging technologies in the enterprise.

This chapter attempts to demystify some of these powers, explaining in plain English both how MPLS operates and how you configure it in the Junos OS to get more out of your network.