MPLS - Frame Relay

[shaggy100]

Morning all

Our comms provider is proposing that we move from FrameRelay to MPLS....I have googled MPLS and am reading furiously, but wondered if any of our more senior members could provide a explanation as to what the benefits of MPLS are? Allegedly it will cut our comms bill by 2 thirds and increase our bandwidth but surely there must be some kind of drawback??? any info would be very much appreciated....

Thanks peeps

[thehorse13]

MPLS is a newer, more efficient switching technology which operates (for the most part) on layer 2 of the OSI model. MPLS builds routing info into the packets which allow routers to operate more efficiently because they don't have to perform a lookup. MPLS is delivered in a fashion similar to frame relay, but without the concept of permanent virtual circuits, which are network paths that must be defined in advance. With MPLS, packets are routable, able to be shuttled from one port in the network to any other at will.


Your frame sites most likely have a permanent virtual circuit (PVC), which means that the customer sees a continous, dedicated connection without having to pay for a full-time leased line, while the service provider figures out the route each frame travels to its destination and can charge based on usage.

In my opinion, going to MPLS from Frame Relay really doesn't have much of a disadvantage unless you pick the wrong carrier. Also, be careful with your managed service agreement. Here is where you will be fux0red if anyplace.

[shaggy100]

Thanks horse....details on the net are sketchy but do you know whether MPLS is ratified yet??

Also, am I right when I say that MPLS chooses the most efficient route for your critical applications rather than the static routes that the PVC's designate??

Thanks

[w-mellon]

I don't think mpls is qos aware on it's own - provider will still need to traffic engineer this with you. mpls has several standards -rfc's - already at the ieft.

[RoadClosed]

What is their justification for going that route, outside of sales in someone's pocket? Make sure you are not going to be their test bed unless you are willing to accept some risk on new technology. If someone came to me and wanted my frame relays changed I would say... why?

[shaggy100]

Basically our comms provider have come to us saying pay a third of what your paying and have 2mbps instead of 1mb....I'm cautious because this comms provider basically tried us a guinea pig for VOIP when we first installed frame....needless to say it was a disaster and we ended up just with data over frame and voice over normal pstn....obviously our costs rose because of the voice over PSTN but we battered them down so we were paying the same at the start....

What I'm wary of after reading up about it and speaking to the community here is that this isn't tried and tested and I've told my directors as much....but am I being too cautious??

edit!
They also havent spoke about Service management yet....which would involve surely changing the older Cisco(non-MPLS) routers for Label switching routers??

[RoadClosed]

That's what i am saying, I've been bitten a few times myself. Live and learn. It doesn't matter how much data you can push through, or how much you save a month if your telling your users "Sorry" they are working on it enought times. The technology is appealing though.... who wouldnt want 2mb for the price (less) than 1mb? If your maxed now, perhaps the risk will balance itself. I would be tempted to say, next year.

[thehorse13]

I don't think mpls is qos aware on it's own - provider will still need to traffic engineer this with you. mpls has several standards -rfc's - already at the ieft.

Yeah, you'll need to use a QoS mechanism such as DiffServ, IntServ etc..

[w-mellon]

You mentioned a past attempt at voip - if you don't mind i'm curious as to who's voip equipment was deployed that didn't work over the frame and when?

[shaggy100]

Initially it was Motorola kit....complete failiure...2 months of utter chaos.....after this happened, we moved to Cisco kit...no problems since...but we have removed voice....our comms provider basically treated us as a test bed....they've been crawling ever since....this was exactly 3 years in May ago