Data Connection Publishes White Paper on MPLS Virtual Private Networks.

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2001

The White Paper Reviews the Requirements Placed On a Base

Technology for VPNs, how MPLS Meets These Requirements, and the

State of the Ongoing Standardization Efforts Within the IETF 

Data Connection Limited (DCL) today announced publication of a White Paper analysing how Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) can address the requirements of a Virtual Private Network (VPN), the alternative solutions that may be implemented and how the standardisation process is proceeding.

VPNs are a key enabling technology in the Internet, providing users with connectivity and privacy. MPLS offers some important improvements in provisioning and management of VPNs. Traffic Engineering signaling protocols (RSVP and CR-LDP) can be used to establish MPLS tunnels or trunks across the Internet between VPN access sites giving dedicated bandwidth and private connectivity for the VPN users. BGP-4 or LDP can be used to distribute MPLS labels for the addresses within each VPN segment.

There is, however, no definitive description of a single way to use MPLS to set up a VPN. This White Paper introduces and contrasts the various approaches.

A number of topics are covered, including:

--The applicability of MPLS in different VPN types

--VPN Peer and Route discovery

--VPN Multiplexing and Class of Service

--Nested label distribution

--Security

--Different implementation models

--The standardisation effort.

"MPLS VPNs is an extremely important topic for many of our customers. Following our very popular White Paper comparing RSVP and CR-LDP, we have produced another objective paper to help customers with their decision-making." said Ben Miller, Business Unit Manager for Data Connection's ATM and MPLS Group.

The White Paper can be downloaded free from http://www.dataconnection.com .

About MPLS

MPLS offers highly scalable mechanisms for VPNs, packet-based traffic engineering, optical provisioning and service differentiation. It also enables service providers to converge voice, video and data traffic across networks with Quality of Service (QoS) levels appropriate to each. Data packets in MPLS are each associated with a label and are then forwarded through the network based entirely on incoming interface and the label value, which can be swapped at each hop. The label associated with the packet can be based upon any number of different criteria, not just the destination address, which enables MPLS to support VPNs, Traffic Engineering and even Optical Provisioning.

One of the key services that ISPs want to offer is VPN function. MPLS provides an elegant solution to this as described above.

About DC-MPLS

DCL's DC-MPLS family of highly portable MPLS products provides OEMs with a flexible source code solution with the same high quality architecture and support for which DCL's other communications software products are renowned. DC-MPLS is suitable for use in a wide range of IP switching and routing devices including Label Switch Routers (LSRs) and Label Edge Routers (LERs). Support is provided for a range of label distribution methods including Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), Constraint-based Routed Label Distribution Protocol (CR-LDP) and Label Distribution Protocol (LDP). The rich feature set gives DC-MPLS the performance, scalability and reliability required for the most demanding MPLS applications.

About Data Connection Limited (DCL)

Data Connection Limited (DCL) is the leading independent developer and supplier of ATM, MPLS, Conferencing, Internet Telephony, Unified Messaging, Directory, SNA and SS7 portable products. Customers include 3Com, Cabletron, Cisco, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, IBM Corp., Lucent, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, NCR, SGI and Sun. Data Connection is headquartered in London UK, with US offices in Reston, VA. It was founded in 1981 and is privately held. During each of the past 18 years its profits have exceeded 20% of revenue. Last year sales exceeded $30M, of which 90% were outside the UK, mostly in the US, leading to the company's second Queen's Award for outstanding export performance.