Configuring Mce; Overview; Mpls L3Vpn Overview - HP 10500 SERIES Configuration Manual

Configuring MCE

The term "router" in this chapter refers to both routers and Layer 3 switches.
This chapter covers only MCE-related configuration. For information about routing protocols, see Layer
3—IP Services Configuration Guide.
The term "Layer 3 interface" in this chapter refers to route-mode (or Layer 3) Ethernet ports. You can set
an Ethernet port to operate in route mode by using the port link-mode route command (see Layer
2—LAN Switching Configuration Guide).

Overview

This section describes the basic MPLS L3VPN information that is important to understand the
Multi-VPN-Instance CE (MCE) feature, and the MCE specific information.

MPLS L3VPN overview

MPLS L3VPN is a type of PE-based L3VPN technology for service provider VPN solutions. It uses BGP to
advertise VPN routes and uses MPLS to forward VPN packets on service provider backbones.
MPLS L3VPN provides flexible networking modes, excellent scalability, and convenient support for MPLS
QoS and MPLS TE.
The MPLS L3VPN model consists of the following device types:
Customer edge (CE) device—A CE resides on a customer network and has one or more interfaces
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directly connected with service provider networks. It can be a router, a switch, or a host. It can
neither "sense" the existence of any VPN nor does it need to support MPLS.
• Provider edge (PE) device—A PE resides on a service provider network and connects one or more
CEs to the network. On an MPLS network, all VPN processing occurs on the PEs.
Provider (P) device—A P device is a core device on a service provider network. It is not directly
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connected with any CE. It only needs to be equipped with basic MPLS forwarding capability.
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