This tutorial discusses some of the scaling considerations in MPLS deployments, concentrating on the tradeoffs between the cost and benefit of creating extra state in the network. In particular, the tutorial will look at how the amount of state (for example LSPs and forwarding state) is affected by different MPLS signaling protocols, features deployed, and network design choices. Furthermore, the cost of this state in terms of both platform resources and operations/management overhead is evaluated (for example, when is it necessary to upgrade a platform or add a new device in the network, or how difficult is it to configure and troubleshoot a particular deployment?).
The material presented is vendor-independent. The tutorial is targeted for network engineers and service providers who want to gain a deeper understanding of MPLS networks. Attendees should have a basic understanding of MPLS and BGP/MPLS VPNs.
About the Presenter
Ina Minei is a network protocols engineer at Juniper Networks, where she
focuses on MPLS protocols and applications. She is an active participant
in industry fora and conferences and has co-filed several patents in the
area of IP and MPLS. She is co-author of the new book, MPLS-Enabled
Applications, to be published by Wiley UK in October 2005. The book
provides an overview of current MPLS topics, and contains several
discussions on scaling issues that arise in MPLS networks.