UUNET SA switches to MPLS network

UUNET SA has successfully completed the deployment of Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) across the entire core backbone of its network. The implementation of MPLS will allow UUNET SA to better utilise and manage its bandwidth to provide more efficient Internet access to its user base and allow for the evolution of a host of new services and products.

"MPLS is an emerging Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard based on Cisco Systems` proprietary tag switching technology," says Edwin Thompson, technical director at UUNET SA. "MPLS represents an innovative approach that utilises a label-based forwarding paradigm to speed up network traffic flow and simplify the management of the network - by indicating both route and service attributes for a specific IP packet or flow."

The routers within the core network read these MPLS labels and forward (switch) the packets based on the label. Thus, processor-intensive analysis, classification, and filtering happen only once. Another feature of MPLS, which will be exploited by UUNET SA, is that it enables a traffic engineering mechanism. Traffic engineering (TE) refers to the process of selecting the paths chosen by data traffic in order to balance the traffic load on the various links, routers, and switches in the network.

"Through the use of MPLS Traffic Engineering, UUNET SA will have the ability to control specific routes across its backbone network to reduce congestion and improve the cost efficiency of carrying IP traffic," adds Thompson. UUNET SA will be able to offer differentiated quality of services for IP traffic flows based on customer requirements, cost of service and IP application quality of service requirements.

A further benefit of MPLS is the ability to enable the usage of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Currently, UUNET SA will not be enabling MPLS VPN services immediately, but will do so towards the middle of the year.

For the first time, a service provider, through the use of MPLS, can easily deploy and manage multiple VPN services across one very large physical network without the manual labour of configuring full logical point-to-point meshes for each customer`s VPNs (as is required with frame relay or ATM VPNs). Rather, MPLS makes use of information in IP addresses for building any-to-any linkages in a connectionless network (a network in which no prior action is necessary to establish communication between hosts).