So your boss has heard of MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) and everyone is excited about the possibilities it supports for your company and the data network. The positive aspects of your reliability, performance and cost of your network seem uninteresting. But ... you do not know how to transfer from the existing traditional WAN (Wide Area Network) configuration to MPLS.
It is up to you to investigate that moving your company's network from the T1 WAN point-to-point architecture into the MPLS architecture makes sense in business.
The easy answer here is yes. This, in most cases, of course.
But why? And more importantly ... How do you make the transition?
Considering changing your architecture from Point to Point to the MPLS network, I suggest starting with business requirements and linking network requirements to business needs. This way, you will have clear business results for comparison when you begin to engage in a discussion of costs and benefits when developing your business case for investment.
In order to understand what TCO will do, you need a solid total cost of ownership model. In addition, I propose to develop a clear idea of the costs of doing nothing, as well as potential savings or new revenue opportunities for your business so that you can develop a net present value (NPV) for your network options.
I also recommend watching the interfaces you want to support on the network. MPLS allows you to have a common protocol across all your networks, and you can effectively install MPLS Cross Connect on your network. It will depend on how your local service providers provide you with MPLS services, if any. Thus, you will most likely need to purchase either a starting point, or point to the transfer services on a multitude of points from your provider. We see that many enterprises and service providers are heading to Ethernet ubiquity as a service interface, and then offer several services over the ethernet interface.
VoIP works well on an MPLS network, but it depends on the services you buy from your service provider. When you look at MPLS, I assume that you are looking at buying direct transfer services, and then you will use MPLS to aggregate the traffic into your WAN connections. Here the business-to-business will be managed by arbitration capabilities, so capture as much traffic as possible into your network and apply QoS on the edge.
From a QoS point of view, make sure that you can also take measures to protect against traffic that enters your WAN traffic. I recommend using hierarchical QoS, as this will allow you to dynamically allocate bandwidth in your WAN connections.
As you can tell, there are many questions and issues that need to be resolved, so I suggest working closely with some trusted partners and moving towards business drivers based on income and business opportunities.
We worked with many clients who switched to MPLS from old school to full stop. There are several reasons why our customers did this, but let me assure you that reason # 1 was worth it. A good competitive airline will offer an MPLS solution, which is sometimes less expensive than the old point-type solution ..... with more or more functionality.
But there are some factors:
1. If a point to points crosses a state or borders of an armor ..... or is sufficiently divided by miles ... you should use reasonable savings.
2. If you get a carrier that links MPLS with an Integrated Access solution, you will save a lot of money (a combination of voice, Internet and MPLS delivered on the same T1 with quality of service).
Here are some additional points that may help you.
1. Is it redundant? Yes, depending on how you design your network (we can help you, of course), sites can interact with each other over your global network for disaster recovery / redundancy. Unlike traditional point-to-point architecture, where you can be as strong as this single reference. We helped a huge national company with the transition from point to point and Frame Relay to MPLS. The big reason was that on many sites almost every day there was a stoppage. The network was designed with redundancy as the primary driver.
2. Does it work? It depends on who you ask. Are you talking to the seller? He will say yes. Let me give you the opinion of my "consultant". It works ALMOST, but there are many benefits for MPLS that usually motivate a client to change. For example, if you have quality of service (QoS) applications running on your global network, you should consider MPLS. MPLS is a private network technology similar to the Frame Relay concept in which it is shipped in the cloud. The main difference from MPLS is that you can purchase quality of service for applications on your global network. During the service process, the operator (or your agent winks) will interview you to determine which applications are important to your business, and then build a QoS template to service these applications on your global network. These applications will receive priority over all other traffic during maximum load. MPLS is the most expensive solution between Frame Relay, VPN and MPLS .... but this is the only technology that will support QoS!
But let me send the seller and remember one thing. In MPLS, we use the operator’s personal network, which is infinitely better than creating our own VPN. But due to some “overhead” and the belief that all carriers are overly signed, I am convinced that this is FULLY just as good.
So, if it was almost so good, it would be worth migrating, if you could enjoy savings and excess volume? May be. But this is what makes MPLS a hot ticket now.
3. Does it work well with VOIP? Of course. You can get QoS, as I said above.
MPLS is an IP-based framing technology (at OSI 3 level), which in essence unites your WAN (this is redundancy, which you are talking about above). MPLS has a QoS or Quality of Service feature. This feature allows both your CPE router and your operator’s network to prioritize data based on your settings or preferences (carrier QoS support can be wide) and gives you more “bang for your dollar” with the bandwidth you choose for local cycle going to every office. MPLS is designed for VoIP, for example RC Cola, for Moonpies. Since the true “quality of service” of VoIP requires pre-testing on a network of telecom operators, you (or your provider) can mark high-priority VoIP traffic in order to easily respond to jitter and delay sensitivity inherent in the service.
Another huge advantage you have is that you can add locations with a simple update of the routing table and maintain a fully folded architecture, where with goals from point to point you would have to add a separate scheme for each location you want to connect. making MPLS more and more cost effective the more places you add.
Finally, MPLS allows you (or your carrier) to configure network objects (such as servers, VPN concentrators, and network firewalls) as nodes of your MPLS network. For example, with a network-based network firewall properly deployed, you can provide all your locations with an Internet connection through your MPLS network that does not rely on a single location to aggregate traffic. Some operators even offer redundant firewalls, which means that your redundant Internet connections are fully integrated, giving you more opportunities to improve performance in the event of a single failure in your network.
What do you need to consider? In my experience, the biggest things to keep in mind are:
- Stay away from Frame / ATM networks that support MPLS with fixed access speeds (CAR), this fixed access speed is often less bandwidth than your local bandwidth, which can degrade the quality and quantity of bandwidth in your carrier’s network (always in fine print).
- QoS on "Edge" and through "Core" - choose a carrier with both.
- recognition of QoS in the network of telecom operators - some operators will allow customers to mark packets with priority, but will not recognize and maintain this priority, do not fall into this trap.
- SLA guarantees - be sure to select a carrier that provides acceptable service level agreements for the type of service you plan to use in your network
“Customer service and a specialized sales representative — you need someone you can contact, questions you can trust — this is the most difficult thing.
For free help in developing the correct MPLS configuration for your network .... and finding the most cost-effective provider ..... I suggest you use the resources listed or discussed in Broadband Nation.
