MPLS
MPLS is the forwarding substrate of carrier networks, MPLS VPNs, and traditional WAN services. Understanding FEC, LDP, and LSP concepts is essential for service provider or enterprise WAN networking.
What It Defines
Multiprotocol Label Switching adds a 32-bit label between L2 and L3 headers, enabling label-based forwarding along Label Switched Paths (LSPs). LDP and RSVP-TE distribute labels. MPLS enables traffic engineering (RSVP-TE), VPN services (L3VPN via RFC 4364, L2VPN/VPLS), and QoS. The label stack enables VPN, pseudowires, and segment routing.
Canonical (Normative)
Related References
The canonical publication point for finalized RFCs. If a protocol is standardized as an RFC, the RFC Editor text is the normative final reference. Published by the IETF, IRTF, IAB, and independent stream.
Related Specs
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