- Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
- MPLS Embedded Management�LSP Ping/Traceroute and AToM VCCV
- MPLS EM�MPLS LSP Multipath Tree Trace
- MPLS Enhancements to Interfaces MIB
- MPLS Label Distribution Protocol MIB
- MPLS Label Distribution Protocol MIB Version 8 Upgrade
- MPLS LSP Ping/Traceroute for LDP/TE, and LSP Ping for VCCV
- MPLS Traffic Engineering�Fast Reroute MIB
- MPLS Traffic Engineering MIB
- MPLS VPN�MIB Support
- Finding Feature Information
- Contents
- Prerequisites for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
- Restrictions for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
- Information About Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
- The Function of a Pseudowire in the PWE3 MIBs
- PWE3 MIBs Architecture
- Components and Functions of the PWE3 MIBs
- Tables in the PW-MIB
- Tables in the PW-MPLS-MIB
- Tables in the PW-ENET-MIB
- Tables in the PW-FR-MIB
- Tables in the PW-ATM-MIB
- Objects in the PWE3 MIBs
- Scalar Objects in the PWE3 MIBs
- Notifications in the PWE3 MIBs
- Benefits of the PWE3 MIBs
- How to Configure Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
The Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services feature provides Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support within an Any Transport over Multiprotocol Label Switching (AToM) infrastructure emulating Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM services over packet switched networks (PSNs). The Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge (PWE3) MIBs are the following:
•CISCO-IETF-PW-MIB (PW-MIB)
•CISCO-IETF-PW-MPLS-MIB (PW-MPLS-MIB)
•CISCO-IETF-PW-ENET-MIB (PW-ENET-MIB)
•CISCO-IETF-PW-FR-MIB (PW-FR-MIB)
•CISCO-IETF-PW-ATM-MIB (PW-ATM-MIB)
Finding Feature Information
For the latest feature information and caveats, see 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 for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services" section.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco IOS XE software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Contents
•Prerequisites for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
•Restrictions for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
•Information About Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
•How to Configure Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
Prerequisites for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
•SNMP must be enabled on the label switch routers (LSRs).
•MPLS must be enabled on the LSRs.
•Pseudowires must be configured with Ethernet, Frame Relay, or ATM access circuits. (For more detailed information, see the "Any Transport over MPLS" module.
Restrictions for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
The PWE3 MIBs are limited to read-only (RO) permission for MIB objects except for the cpwVcUp and cpwVcDown notification enable object, cpwVcUpDownNotifEnable, which has been extended to be writable by the SNMP agent.
•The following tables in the PW-MIB are not supported:
–cpwVcPerfCurrentTable
–cpwVcPerfIntervalTable
•The following objects in the PW-MPLS-MIB are not supported:
–cpwVcMplsOutboundIndexNext
–cpwVcMplsInboundIndexNext
•The following tables in the PW-ENET-MIB are not supported:
–cpwVcEnetMplsPriMappingTable
–cpwVcEnetStatsTable
•The following table in the PW-FR-MIB is not supported:
–cpwVcFrPMTable
•The PW-ATM-MIB does not support a high-capacity cell counter per virtual path (VP) or cells per port.
•The PW-ATM-MIB virtual path identifier (VPI)/virtual channel identifier (VCI) value for port mode cell relay is 0.
•The PW-ATM-MIB VP cell relay VCI value is 0.
•The PW-ATM-MIB VP does not support ATM adaptation layer 5 (AAL5); therefore, all packet counters are invalid.
Note This feature is not supported over Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM in all releases. See the "Feature Information for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services" section for more detailed information.
Information About Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
To configure the Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services feature, you should understand the following concepts:
•The Function of a Pseudowire in the PWE3 MIBs
•Components and Functions of the PWE3 MIBs
•Scalar Objects in the PWE3 MIBs
•Notifications in the PWE3 MIBs
The Function of a Pseudowire in the PWE3 MIBs
A pseudowire is a point-to-point connection between pairs of provider edge (PE) routers (as shown in Figure 1). Its primary function is to emulate services like Ethernet over an underlying core MPLS network through encapsulation into a common MPLS format. By encapsulating services into a common MPLS format, a pseudowire allows carriers to converge their services to an MPLS network.
Figure 1 Sample Pseudowire Topology
PWE3 MIBs Architecture
The PWE3 MIBs architecture shown in Figure 2 categorizes three groups of MIBs that, when used together, provide the complete emulated service; the native transport, which carries the service across the core network; and the relationship between the two.
Figure 2 PWE3 MIBs Architecture
The architecture is modular in that once deployed, new emulated service MIB modules or additional transport MIB modules "plug in" to or extend the existing infrastructure rather than require a new and unique one. This allows you to build management applications without the concern of a new service requiring the deployment of a completely different management strategy. Because the architecture is a generalized association mechanism between existing service and transport MIB modules, native MIB modules work in the absence of the associated PWE3-specific MIBs. The advantage is that if a PWE3-specific MIB has not yet been deployed in Cisco IOS XE software, which associates a service or transport with pseudowires, these MIB modules can still be queried. However, the only drawback is that the associations with the pseudowires are absent.
Components and Functions of the PWE3 MIBs
The PWE3 MIBs have the following components and functions:
•PW-MIB (the pseudowire MIB)
This MIB binds the PW-MPLS-MIB and the PW-ENET-MIB together, and provides status of the pseudowire emulation and statistics and configuration information. The PW-MIB also defines the notifications for pseudowire fault and event monitoring.
•PW-MPLS-MIB (the pseudowire MPLS-MIB)
This MIB contains managed objects that can be used by a network manager to monitor pseudowire emulation MPLS services, such as MPLS-traffic engineering (TE)-PSN and MPLS-non-TE-PSN.
This MIB shows the following:
–Cross-connect (XC) indexes for virtual circuits (VCs) that are Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)-signaled and have a preferred path that is not set to an MPLS TE tunnel.
–Tunnel indexes for VCs with a preferred path set to a TE tunnel and an output interface that is a TE tunnel.
•PW-ENET-MIB (the pseudowire Ethernet services MIB)
This MIB contains managed objects that can be used by a network manager to monitor pseudowire emulation Ethernet services.
•PW-FR-MIB (the pseudowire Frame Relay services MIB)
This MIB contains managed objects that can be used by a network manager to monitor pseudowire emulation Frame Relay services.
This MIB uses a Frame Relay over pseudowire (FRoPW) connection that consists of two segments: the Frame Relay segment and the pseudowire segment. The PW-FR-MIB provides hooks to those segments. The PW MIB contains information about the pseudowire segment, and the PW-FR-MIB contains information about the Frame Relay segment.
The PW-FR-MIB is defined at the Pseudowire Service Emulation Layer and resides on top of the generic PW-MIB as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, the PW-FR-MIB is highly dependent on the existence and the service provided by the PW-MIB. In addition, an existing PW-FR connection entry must associate with an existing VC entry in the PW-MIB.
The PW-FR-MIB and the generic PW-MIB are logically tied by the PW VC Index, which is an internal index defined to support the PW-MIB. Each PW VC index uniquely maps into an existing VC entry in the PW-MIB and the PW-FR-MIB.
•PW-ATM-MIB (the pseudowire ATM services MIB)
This MIB contains managed objects that can be used by a network manager to monitor pseudowire emulation ATM services.
This MIB uses an ATM over pseudowire (ATMoPW) connection that consists of two segments: the ATM segment and the pseudowire segment. The PW-ATM-MIB provides hooks to those segments. The PW MIB contains information about the pseudowire segment, and the PW-ATM-MIB contains information about the ATM segment called the attachment circuit.
The PW-ATM-MIB is defined at the Pseudowire Service Emulation Layer and resides on top of the generic PW-MIB as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, the PW-ATM-MIB is highly dependent on the existence and the service provided by the PW-MIB. In addition, an existing PW-ATM connection entry must associate with an existing VC entry in the PW-MIB.
The PW-ATM-MIB and the generic PW-MIB are logically tied by the PW VC Index, which is an internal index defined to support the PW-MIB. Each PW VC index uniquely maps into an existing VC entry in the PW-MIB and the PW-ATM-MIB.
Tables in the PW-MIB
The PW-MIB consists of the following tables:
•cpwVcTable (Table 1)—Contains high-level generic parameters related to VC creation. This table is implemented as read only and is indexed by the cpwVcIndex, which uniquely identifies a singular connection. A row in this table represents an emulated virtual connection. This table is used for all VC types.
•cpwVcPerfTotalTable (Table 2)—Provides per-VC performance information from the VC start time. This table is indexed by the cpwVcIndex.
•cpwVcIdMappingTable (Table 3)—Provides reverse mapping of the existing VCs based on VC type and VC ID ordering. This table is typically useful for element manager software (EMS) ordered query of existing VCs. This table is indexed by cpwVcIdMappingVcType, cpwVcIdMappingVcID, cpwVcIdMappingPeerAddrType, and cpwVcIdMappingPeerAddr. This table is implemented as read only.
•cpwVcPeerMappingTable (Table 4)—Provides reverse mapping of the existing VCs based on VC type and VC ID ordering. This table is typically useful for EMS ordered query of existing VCs. This table is indexed by cpwVcPeerMappingPeerAddrType, cpwVcPeerMappingPeerAddr, cpwVcPeerMappingVcType, and cpwVcPeerMappingVcID. This table is implemented as read only.
cpwVcTable
Table 1 lists the cpwVcTable objects and their descriptions.
cpwVcPerfTotalTable
Table 2 lists the cpwVcPerfTotalTable objects and their descriptions.
cpwVcIdMappingTable
Table 3 lists the cpwVcIdMappingTable objects and their descriptions.
cpwVcPeerMappingTable
Table 4 lists the cpwVcPeerMappingTable objects and their descriptions.
Tables in the PW-MPLS-MIB
The PW-MPLS-MIB consists of the following tables:
•cpwVcMplsTable (Table 5)—Specifies information for the VC to be carried over an MPLS PSN. This table is indexed on cpwVcIndex.
•cpwVcMplsOutboundTable (Table 6)—Associates VCs using an MPLS PSN with the outbound MPLS tunnels toward the PSN or the physical interface in the case of the VC only. A row in this table represents a link between PW VCs that require MPLS tunnels and an MPLS tunnel toward the PSN. This table is indexed by the cpwVcIndex and an additional index that is not supported; consequently, its value is 1. The operator creates at least one entry in this table for each PW VC that requires an MPLS PSN. The VC-only case and the cpwVcMplsOutboundIndex is not supported.
•cpwVcMplsInboundTable (Table 7)—Associates VCs using an MPLS PSN with the inbound MPLS tunnels for packets coming from the PSN, if such association is desired mainly for security reasons. A row in this table represents a link between PW VCs that require MPLS tunnels and an MPLS tunnel for packets arriving from the PSN. This table is indexed by the set of indexes used to identify the VC, cpwVcIndex, and an additional index that is not supported; consequently, its value is 1. An entry is created in this table either automatically by the local agent or manually by the operator when strict mode is required. This table points to the appropriate MPLS MIB. For MPLS-TE, the four variables relevant to the indexing of an MPLS TE tunnel are set. The VC-only case and the cpwVcMplsInboundIndex are not supported.
•cpwVcMplsNonTeMappingTable (Table 8)—Maps an inbound or outbound tunnel to a VC in non-TE applications. A row in this table represents the association between a PW VC and its non-TE MPLS outer tunnel. An application can use this table to retrieve the PW carried over a specific non-TE MPLS outer tunnel quickly. This table is indexed by the xconnect index for the MPLS non-TE tunnel and the direction of the VC in the specific entry. The same table is used in both inbound and outbound directions, but in a different row for each direction. If the inbound association is not known, no rows should exist for it. Rows are created by the local agent when all the association data is available for display.
•cpwVcMplsTeMappingTable (Table 9)—Maps an inbound or outbound tunnel to a VC in MPLS-TE applications. A row in this table represents the association between a PW VC and its MPLS-TE outer tunnel. An application can use this table to retrieve the PW carried over a specific TE MPLS outer tunnel quickly. This table is indexed by the four indexes of a TE tunnel, the direction of the VC specific entry, and the VcIndex. The same table is used in both inbound and outbound directions, but a different row for each direction. If the inbound association is not known, no rows should exist for it. Rows are created by the local agent when all the association data is available for display. This table shows mappings between pseudowires and the xconnect index for non-TE outer tunnel or index.
cpwVcMplsTable
Table 5 lists the cpwVcMplsTable objects and their descriptions.
cpwVcMplsOutboundTable
Table 6 lists the cpwVcMplsOutboundTable objects and their descriptions.
cpwVcMplsInboundTable
Table 7 lists the cpwVcMplsInboundTable objects and their descriptions.
cpwVcMplsNonTeMappingTable
Table 8 lists the cpwVcMplsNonTeMappingTable objects and their descriptions.
cpwVcMplsTeMappingTable
Table 9 lists the cpwVcMplsTeMappingTable objects and their descriptions.
Tables in the PW-ENET-MIB
The PW-ENET-MIB consists of the following table:
•cpwVcEnetTable (Table 10)—Provides Ethernet port mapping and VLAN configuration for each Ethernet emulated virtual connection. This table is indexed on cpwVcIndex, which uniquely identifies a singular connection. The second level index for this table is cpwVcEnetPwVlan, which indicates VLANs on this VC. This table is used only for Ethernet VC types—ethernetVLAN, ethernet, or ethernet virtual private LAN service (VPLS), and is implemented as read-only.
cpwVcEnetTable
Table 10 lists the cpwVcEnetTable objects and their descriptions.
Tables in the PW-FR-MIB
The PW-FR-MIB consists of the following table:
•cpwVcFrTable (Table 11)—Contains entries that represent an FRoPW connection operating in one-to-one mapping mode in which there is a one-to-one correspondence between a Frame Relay VC and a pair of unidirectional pseudowires.
cpwVcFrTable
Table 11 lists the cpwVcFrTable objects and their descriptions.
Tables in the PW-ATM-MIB
The PW-ATM-MIB consists of the following tables:
•cpwVcAtmTable (Table 12)—Specifies information for an ATM VC to be carried over the PSN.
•cpwVcAtmPerfTable (Table 13)—Specifies performance-related attributes for an ATM VC.
cpwVcAtmTable
Table 12 lists the cpwVcAtmTable objects and their descriptions.
cpwVcAtmPerfTable
Table 13 lists the cpwVcAtmPerfTable objects and their descriptions.
Objects in the PWE3 MIBs
The PWE3 MIBs represent an ASN.1 notation reflecting specific components of the pseudowire services. The MIBs enable a network management application using SNMP to get this information for display. The MIBs support the standard GETNEXT and GETBULK functionality, but do not support configuration capabilities (via SET) in the current implementation.
Scalar Objects in the PWE3 MIBs
The PWE3 MIBs contain the following supported scalar object:
•cpwVcUpDownNotifEnable—This object reflects the configuration of the cpwVcUp and cpwVcDown notifications. If either of the notifications is configured via the command-line interface (CLI), then this object has a value of true(1). If this object is set via SNMP to true(1), then it enables the emission of both the cpwVcUp and cpwVcDown notifications; if the object is set via SNMP to false(2), these notifications are not emitted.
Note cpwVcUpDownNotifEnable can be set only if RW is configured for the snmp-server community string [view view-name] [ro | rw] [ipv6 nacl] [access-list-number] command.
The PWE3 MIBs contain the following unsupported scalar objects:
•cpwVcIndexNext—Indicates the next cpwVcIndex value to use when you add rows to the cpwVcTable.
•cpwVcNotifRate—Indicates the rate at which cpwVcUp/Down notifications can be issued from the device.
•cpwVcMplsOutboundIndexNext—Contains an appropriate value to be used for cpwVcMplsOutboundIndex when you create entries in the cpwVcMplsOutboundTable. The value 0 indicates that no unassigned entries are available. To obtain the cpwVcMplsOutboundIndex value for a new entry, the manager issues a management protocol retrieval operation to obtain the current value of this object. After each retrieval, the software agent should modify the value to the next unassigned index; however, the software agent must not assume such retrieval will be done for each row created.
•cpwVcMplsInboundIndexNext—Contains an appropriate value to be used for cpwVcMplsInboundIndex when you create entries in the cpwVcMplsInboundTable. The value 0 indicates that no unassigned entries are available. To obtain the cpwVcMplsInboundIndex value for a new entry, the manager issues a management protocol retrieval operation to obtain the current value of this object. After each retrieval, the software agent should modify the value to the next unassigned index; however, the agent must not assume such retrieval will be done for each row created.
Notifications in the PWE3 MIBs
The cpwVcUp and cpwVcDown notifications in the PW-MIB indicate when the operStatus values for a range of PW VCs have changed state.
The definition of these objects in the PW-MIB indicates that events of the same type, either up or down, must be able to be correlated into ranges. The implementation of these notifications does not do any of this correlation. A notification is generated for each individual VC that has an operational state change if that notification is enabled. A notification does not signal an operational state change for a group of VCs as described in the MIB.
Benefits of the PWE3 MIBs
The PWE3 MIBs provide the ability to manage pseudowire emulation edge-to-edge by providing MPLS-related information about the service and a mechanism to monitor the Ethernet, Frame Relay, or ATM access circuits.
How to Configure Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
This section contains the following procedures:
•Enabling the SNMP Agent for the PWE3 MIBs (required)
•Configuring the Pseudowire Class (required)
Enabling the SNMP Agent for the PWE3 MIBs
Perform this task to enable the SNMP agent.
SUMMARY STEPS
1. enable
2. show running-config [interface | map-class]
3. configure terminal
4. snmp-server community string [view view-name] [ro | rw] [ipv6 nacl] [access-list-number]
5. end
6. write memory
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring the Pseudowire Class
The successful transmission of the Layer 2 frames between PE routers is due to the configuration of the PE routers. You configure the connection, called a pseudowire, between the routers.
Note In simple configurations, this task is optional. You do not need to specify a pseudowire class if you specify the tunneling method as part of the xconnect command.
The pseudowire-class configuration group specifies the following characteristics of the tunneling mechanism:
•Encapsulation type
•Control protocol
•Payload-specific options
You must specify the encapsulation mpls command as part of the pseudowire class or as part of the xconnect command for the AToM VCs to work properly. If you omit the encapsulation mpls command as part of the xconnect command, you receive the following error:
% Incomplete command.
Once you specify the encapsulation mpls command, you cannot remove it using the no encapsulation mpls command. Nor can you change the command's setting using the encapsulation l2tpv3 command. Those methods result in the following error message:
Encapsulation changes are not allowed on an existing pw-class.
To remove the command, you must delete the pseudowire with the no pseudowire-class command. To change the type of encapsulation, remove the pseudowire with the no pseudowire-class command and reestablish the pseudowire and specify the new encapsulation type.
Note There are many options that you can configure. For detailed information, see the "Any Transport over MPLS" module.
SUMMARY STEPS
1. enable
2. configure terminal
3. pseudowire-class name
4. encapsulation mpls
DETAILED STEPS
What to Do Next
Perform a MIB walk using your SNMP management tool on cpwVcMIB, cpwVcMplsMIB, cpwVcEnetMIB, cpwVcFrMIB, and cpwVcAtmMIB to verify that the PW-MIB, the PW-MPLS-MIB, the PW-ENET-MIB, the PW-FR-MIB, and the PW-ATM-MIB objects, respectively, are populated correctly.
Note SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c are supported.
Configuration Examples for the Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
This section provides the following configuration example:
PWE3 MIBs: Example
In the following example, the configuration permits any SNMP manager to access all objects with read-only permissions using the community string public.
Router# configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)# snmp-server community public ro
Note There is no explicit way to configure the PWE3 MIBs. However, for information on AToM configuration tasks and examples, see the "Any Transport over MPLS" module.
There are notifications specific to the PWE3 MIBs. For detailed information on the commands used to configure them, see the "Additional References" section.
Additional References
The following sections provide references related to the Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services feature.
Related Documents
|
|
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Description of commands associated with MPLS and MPLS applications |
|
AToM and MPLS |
"Any Transport over MPLS" module |
Pseudowire-related Internet drafts |
•An Architecture for Multi-Segment Pseudo Wire Emulation Edge-to-Edge, Internet draft, December 2007 [draft-ietf-pwe3-ms-arch-03.txt] •Definitions for Textual Conventions and OBJECT-IDENTITIES for Pseudo-Wires Management, Internet draft, August 10, 2007 [draft-ietf-pwe3-pw-tc-mib-09.txt] •Ethernet Pseudo Wire (PW) Management Information Base, Internet draft, August 30, 2007 [draft-pwe3-enet-mib-10.txt] •Managed Objects for ATM over Packet Switched Network (PSN), Internet draft, August 8, 2007 [draft-ietf-pwe3-pw-atm-mib-02.txt] •Pseudo Wire (PW) Management Information Base, Internet draft, •Pseudo Wire (PW) over MPLS PSN Management Information Base, Internet draft, August 11, 2007 [draft-ietf-pwe3-pw-mpls-mib-11.txt] Note For information on using SNMP MIB features, see the appropriate documentation for your network management system. |
Standards
|
|
---|---|
No new or modified standards are supported by this feature, and support for existing standards has not been modified by this feature. |
— |
MIBs
|
|
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SNMP-VACM-MIB |
To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS XE software releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL: |
RFCs
Technical Assistance
Feature Information for Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge MIBs for Ethernet, Frame Relay, and ATM Services
Table 14 lists the release history for this feature and provides links to specific configuration information.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and software image support. Cisco Feature Navigator enables you to determine which Cisco IOS XE software images support a specific software release, feature set, or platform. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Note Table 14 lists only the Cisco IOS XE software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given Cisco IOS XE software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that Cisco IOS XE software release train also support that feature.
Glossary
AAL—ATM adaptation layer. AAL defines the conversion of user information into cells. AAL1 and AAL2 handle isochronous traffic, such as voice and video; AAL3/4 and AAL5 pertain to data communications through the segmentation and reassembly of packets.
ATM—asynchronous transfer mode. A cell-based data transfer technique in which channel demand determines packet allocation. This is an international standard for cell relay in which multiple service types (such as voice, video, or data) are conveyed in fixed-length (53-byte) cells. Fixed-length cells allow cell processing to occur in hardware, thereby reducing transit delays. ATM is designed to take advantage of high-speed transmission media such as E3, SONET, and T3.
CE router—customer edge router. A router that is part of a customer network and that interfaces to a provider edge (PE) router.
DLCI—data-link connection identifier. A unique number assigned to a PVC endpoint in a Frame Relay network. Identifies a particular PVC endpoint within an access channel in a Frame Relay network and has local significance only to that channel.
encapsulation—Wrapping of data in a particular protocol header. For example, Ethernet data is wrapped in a specific Ethernet header before network transit. Also, when bridging occurs in dissimilar networks, the entire frame from one network is simply placed in the header used by the data link layer protocol of the other network.
EoMPLS—Ethernet over multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). A tunneling mechanism that allows a service provider to tunnel customer Layer 2 traffic through a Layer 3 MPLS network. EoMPLS is a point-to-point solution only. EoMPLS is also known as Layer 2 tunneling.
Frame Relay—The industry standard, switched data link layer protocol that handles multiple virtual circuits using High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC) encapsulation between connected devices. Frame Relay is more efficient than X.25, the protocol for which it is generally considered a replacement.
IETF—internet engineering task force. A task force (consisting of more than 80 working groups) that is developing standards for the Internet and the IP suite of protocols.
LDP—label distribution protocol. The protocol that supports MPLS hop-by-hop forwarding and the distribution of bindings between labels and network prefixes. The Cisco proprietary version of this protocol is the Tag Distribution Protocol (TDP).
LSP—label switched path. A configured connection between two label switch routers (LSRs) in which label-switching techniques are used for packet forwarding; also a specific path through an MPLS network.
LSR—label switch router. A Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) node that can forward native Layer 3 packets. The LSR forwards a packet based on the value of a label attached to the packet.
MIB—management information base. A database of network management information that is used and maintained by a network management protocol such as simple network management protocol (SNMP). The value of a MIB object can be changed or retrieved by using SNMP commands, usually through a network management system. MIB objects are organized in a tree structure that includes public (standard) and private (proprietary) branches.
MPLS—multiprotocol label switching. A switching method for the forwarding of IP traffic through the use of a label. This label instructs the routers and the switches in the network where to forward the packets based on preestablished IP routing information.
MTU—maximum transmission unit. Maximum packet size, in bytes, that a particular interface can handle.
NMS—network management system. System responsible for managing at least part of a network. An NMS is generally a reasonably powerful and well-equipped computer, such as an engineering workstation. An NMS communicates with agents to help keep track of network statistics and resources.
notification—A message sent by a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agent to a network management station, console, or terminal to indicate that a significant network event has occurred. See also trap.
OSPF—Open Shortest Path First. A link-state hierarchical Interior Gateway Protocol routing algorithm, derived from the IS-IS protocol. OSPF features include least-cost routing, multipath routing, and load balancing.
PE router—provider edge router. A router that is part of a service provider's network and is connected to a customer edge (CE) router.
primary tunnel—A tunnel whose label-switched path (LSP) may be fast rerouted if there is a failure. Backup tunnels cannot be primary tunnels.
pseudowire—PW. A mechanism that carries the elements of an emulated service from one provider edge (PE) to one or more PEs over a packet switched network (PSN).
SNMP—simple network management protocol. A management protocol used almost exclusively in TCP/IP networks. SNMP provides a means for monitoring and controlling network devices, and for managing configurations, statistics collection, performance, and security.
trap—A message sent by an SNMP agent to a network management station, console, or terminal, indicating that a significant event occurred. Traps are less reliable than notification requests because the receiver does not send an acknowledgment when it receives a trap. The sender cannot determine if the trap was received.
tunnel—A secure communication path between two peers, such as routers.
VC—virtual circuit. A logical circuit created to ensure reliable communication between two network devices. A virtual circuit can be either permanent (PVC) or switched (SVC).