Chapter 11 Configuring Vpls; In This Chapter - Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 6850-48 Network Configuration Manual

Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) is a class of virtual private network (VPN) service that allows the
connection of multiple sites in a single bridged domain over a provider-managed IP/MPLS network. The
customer sites in a VPLS instance appear to be on the same LAN, regardless of their location. VPLS uses
an Ethernet interface on the customer-facing (access) side which simplifies the LAN/WAN boundary and
allows for rapid and flexible service provisioning.
VPLS enables each customer to maintain control of their own routing strategies. All customer routers in
the VPLS service are part of the same subnet. This simplifies the IP addressing plan, especially when
compared to a mesh constructed from many separate point-to-point connections. The VPLS service
management is simplified since the service is not aware of nor participates in the IP addressing and rout-
ing.
A VPLS service provides connectivity between two or more Service Access Points (SAPs) on one router
(a local service) or on multiple routers (a distributed service). The connection appears to be a bridged
domain to the customer sites so protocols, including routing protocols, can traverse the VPLS service.
This implementation of VPLS is provided over an IP/MPLS network architecture, which is based on the
Label Distribution Protocol (LDP). This protocol consists of a set of procedures used by participating
Label Switching Routers (LSRs) to define Label Switched Paths (LSPs), also referred to as MPLS tunnels.
These tunnels provide the foundation necessary to provision VPLS.
This chapter documents the OmniSwitch implementation of VPLS. For information about how to config-
ure MPLS, see Chapter 10, "Configuring MPLS."

In This Chapter

This chapter describes the basic components of a service and how to configure services through the
Command Line Interface (CLI). CLI commands are used in the configuration examples; for more details
about the syntax of commands, see the OmniSwitch CLI Reference Guide.
This chapter provides an overview of VPLS and includes the following topics:
•
"VPLS Specifications" on page
•
"VPLS Defaults" on page
•
"Quick Steps for Configuring VPLS" on page
•
"VPLS Overview" on page
•
"Interaction With Other Features" on page
•
"Configuring VPLS Services" on page
•
"VPLS Configuration Example" on page
•
"Verifying the VPLS Configuration" on page
OmniSwitch AOS Release 6 Network Configuration Guide
11 Configuring VPLS
11-2.
11-3.
11-4.
11-7.
11-11.
11-15.
11-26.
11-32.
September 2009 page 11-1