• Expands to Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)
  • A protocol-agnostic routing technique
  • speeds up and shapes traffic flows across wide area networks.
  • mostly forwards data packets at Layer 2 or switching level instead of Layer3 or routing level.
  • MPLS was created in late 1990s alternative to IP routing
  • Don’t need to perform header analysis for each data packet
  • The first router to receive a packet determines the packet’s entire route upfront or forwarding equivalence class (FEC)
  • This is quickly conveyed to subsequent routers using a label in the packet header.
  • Label is a four-byte/32-bit identifier listing packet’s predetermined forwarding path in MPLS network.
  • Label, also has details on QoS, or a priority level.
  • MPLS offers
    • scalability
    • performance
    • better bandwidth utilization
    • reduced network congestion
    • a better end-user experience.
  • MPLS does not provide encryption, as it is a virtual private network and partitioned off from Internet.
  • Not vulnerable to denial of service attacks
  • It is expensive than sending traffic over the public Internet.
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