Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and feature information, see Bug Search Tool and the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the feature information table at the end of this module.

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In a network configured with the H-VPLS N-PE Redundancy feature, the user provider edge (U-PE) device is connected to two network provider edge (N-PE) devices. This feature provides a level of redundancy that can tolerate both link and device faults. If a failure occurs in the network that disables one N-PE device from transmitting data, the other N-PE device takes over.

For the H-VPLS Redundancy with MPLS Access feature based on pseudowire redundancy, the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network has pseudowires to the virtual private LAN service (VPLS) core network provider edge (N-PE) devices.

As shown in the figure below, one pseudowire transports data between the user provider edge (U-PE) device and its peer N-PE devices. When a failure occurs along the path of the U-PE device, the backup pseudowire and the redundant N-PE device become active and start transporting data.

Figure 1. H-VPLS N-PE Redundancy for MPLS Access Based on Pseudowire Redundancy

1.    enable


2.    configure terminal


3.    l2vpn vfi context name


4.    vpn id vpn id


5.    member ip-address encapsulation mpls


6.    exit


7.    bridge-domain bridge-id


8.    member vfi vfi-name


9.    member ip-address [vc-id] encapsulation mpls


10.    end

Device> enable

Device# configure terminal

Device(config)# l2vpn vfi context VPLS-10

Device(config-vfi)# vpn id 10

Device(config-vfi)# member 102.102.102.102 encapsulation mpls

Device(config-vfi)# exit

Device(config)# bridge-domain 10

Device(config-bdomain)# member vfi VPLS-10

Device(config-vfi)# member 105.105.105.105 10 encapsulation mpls

Device(config-bdomain)# end

1.    enable


2.    configure terminal


3.    interface type number


4.    service instance id ethernet


5.    encapsulation dot1q vlan-id


6.    exit


7.    exit


8.    l2vpn xconnect context context-name


9.    member gigabitethernet interface-number [service-instance id]


10.    member ip-address vc-id encapsulation mpls [group group-name [priority number]]


11.    end

Device> enable

Device# configure terminal

Device(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/1/0

Device(config-if)# service instance 10 ethernet

Device(config-if-srv)# encapsulation dot1q 10

Device(config-if-srv)# exit

Device(config-if)# exit

Device(config)# l2vpn xconnect context XC-10

Device(config-xconnect)# member GigabitEthernet0/1/0 service-instance 10

Device(config-xconnect)# member 101.101.101.101 10 encapsulation mpls group pwred priority 9

Device(config-xconnect)# member 102.102.102.102 10 encapsulation mpls group pwred priority 10

Device(config-xconnect)# end

CE device—customer edge device. A device that belongs to a customer network, which connects to a PE device to utilize MPLS VPN network services.

LAN—local-area network. High-speed, low-error data network covering a relatively small geographic area. LANs connect workstations, peripherals, terminals, and other devices in a single building or other geographically limited areas.

MPLS—Multiprotocol Label Switching. A packet-forwarding technology, used in the network core, that applies data link layer labels to tell switching nodes how to forward data, resulting in faster and more scalable forwarding than network layer routing normally can do.

MSTP—Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol. MSTP enables multiple VLANs to be mapped to the same spanning-tree instance, reducing the number of spanning-tree instances needed to support a large number of VLANs.

N-PE—network provider edge device. This device acts as a gateway between the MPLS core and edge domains.

PE device—provider edge device. The PE device is the entry point into the service provider network. The PE device is typically deployed on the edge of the network and is administered by the service provider.

pseudowire—A pseudowire is a virtual connection that, in the context of VPLS, connects two SVIs. It is a mechanism that carries the elements of an emulated service from one PE device to one or more PE devices over a packet switched network (PSN). A pseudowire is bidirectional and consists of a pair of unidirectional MPLS virtual circuits (VCs). A pseudowire can be used to connect a point-to-point circuit.

QinQ—An IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tunnel. A mechanism for constructing multipoint Layer 2 VPN using Ethernet switches.

redundancy—The duplication of devices, services, or connections so that, in the event of a failure, they can perform the work of those that failed.

router—A network layer device that uses one or more metrics to determine the optimal path along which network traffic should be forwarded. Routers forward packets from one network to another based on network layer information.

spanning tree—Loop-free subset of a network topology.

U-PE—user provider edge device. This device connects CE devices to the service.

VFI—virtual forwarding instance. A VFI is a collection of data structures used by the data plane, software-based or hardware-based, to forward packets to one or more VCs.

VLAN—Virtual LAN. Group of devices on one or more LANs that are configured (using management software) so that they can communicate as if they were attached to the same wire, when in fact they are located on a number of different LAN segments.

VPLS—Virtual Private LAN Service. VPLS describes an architecture that delivers Layer 2 service that emulates an Ethernet LAN across a wide-area network (WAN) and inherits the scaling characteristics of a LAN.

VPLS redundancy—Also called N-PE redundancy. Allows U-PEs to be dual-honed (to their N-PEs) in a loop-free topology with MPLS or QinQ as the access or aggregation domain.

VPN—Virtual Private Network. Allows IP traffic to travel securely over public TCP/IP networks and the Internet by encapsulating and encrypting all IP packets. VPN uses a tunnel to encrypt all information at the IP level.