LAYER 3 MPLS TERMINATION

[ciscors]

Guys, I have a customer who's getting a L3 MPLS service from one of the major providers soon. They won't be doing any VRF tags as it's L3 MPLS

Where would one typically terminate these connections? It's an ethernet hand-off so should I simply terminate it into the internal LAN 4500 switch? Do I really need a router to terminate it to? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to either?

Thank you

[mheusing]

Hi,

A MPLS L3 solution looks to the customer like one big IPv4 router. From this point of view one can rephrase your question: What should I connect to a router? does it have to be another router or can it be a Cat4500?

Well, unless there are specific requirements/features which cannot be achieved with a Cat4500, but only with a 3800 or the like, you should be fine with the LAN switch.

Things you might or might not have to consider: difference in QoS capabilities, security features like FW feature set, NAT etc.

In brief: you will be fine connecting with your Cat4500 unless you need a feature it does not support. The MPLS service is not imposing such requirements towards your equipment.

Hope this helps! Please use the rating system.

Regards, Martin

[ciscors]

Do most of these services providers who provide L3 MPLS also allow QOS tags to flow through the network? They are planning to deploy VOIP in the future so if this is the case, I should probably forego the 4500 switch and terminate into a 3800 ISR

[Collin Clark]

They do and if you ask your sales rep they can give you a bunch of options. I prefer to keep a boundary between the carrier and my network for reasons Martin hit on. You'll probably have to do BGP and you'll have to make sure you have the right IOS, enough memory, etc.