Abstract:

Virtual Private Networking (VPN) services are emerging as a key area of expansion for both new and incumbent service providers, allowing them to offer advanced revenue-generating services over a shared infrastructure. Indeed, a recent research report published projects 800% growth in MPLS-based VPN services worldwide by the year 2006.

The goal is to develop a compact characterization of various VPN solutions offered, and analyze how, and to what extent, each meets certain carrier requirements, and the specific markets to which each applies. Key core routers requirements for offering completely interoperable MPLS based VPNs is also highlighted.

We start with a quick taxonomy of VPN solutions, highlighting their origins, and related differences. We factor in parameters such as deployment complexity, network management, scalability, provisioning ease, architectural differences, and engineering trade-offs. We then present parameters defining the core routers requirements for flawless MPLS based services deployments. Finally, we demonstrate how a completely interoperable solution and Multiprotocol support offered by a core router can reduce the time to market MPLS based VPN services for a service provider. We believe this work complements, and can be a valuable input to, some of the recent activity in the PPVPN WG of the IETF.

Rajiv Papneja holds MS, Electrical Engineering, Concentration-Communications and Networking, George Mason University, BS, Electrical Engineering, University of Pune, India. Recipient of the Dean Fellowship award, honor awarded by School of Information Technology and Engineering, George Mason University. Selected by the George Mason University for the Master's Honors Program at Oxford University, London. Received merit certificates in the National Mathematical Olympiad Contest, India. He has one patent pending in Wireless MPLS. Mr. Papneja has over 4 years of experience of research and industry experience in the field of emerging IP technologies including MPLS. Currently he is a part of Avici Systems, Development test group, where he is involved in testing customer specific network topologies for new IP features for MPLS, ISIS, OSPF, BGP. Prior to joining Avici Systems, Mr. Papneja was leading the MPLS Interoperability effort at Advanced Internet Lab, George Mason University and Isocore Corporation's Internetworking lab, where he devised various test plans for MPLS Interoperability Testing Suites, including RSVP-TE, LDP, OSPF, ISIS extensions, Traffic Engineering requirements for MPLS, ATM-LSRs, BGP-4/MPLS VPNs and Layer 2 transport. He has also been a technical program committee for MPLS 2001, which is one of the best MPLS related conference in the World. Also, he was in the organizing committee for MPLS 2000. He has also led various public Interop demo that followed the above mentioned two elite conference. He can be reached at rpapneja@avici.com

Vishal Sharma is President & Principal Consultant at Metanoia, Inc., where he specializes in technical consulting for telecom vendors and service providers, focusing on system and network architectures, detailed software/hardware architecture and design, product development, competitive analysis, and knowledge enhancement for Metanoia's clients. He has nine patents in process in: the design of high-speed switch architectures, switch/router scheduling, MPLS recovery, optical routing, and the IP control of SONET networks. He earned the B. Tech. degree from IIT Kanpur, and two MS degrees and the PhD degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Sharma has over ten years of diverse research and industry experience, having worked or consulted with UCSB, Motorola, the Multi-disciplinary Optical Switching Technology Center at UCSB, Tellabs, ACT Networks, Digital Instruments, Jasmine Networks, Mahi Networks, Cariden Technologies, Ciena Communications, and Cypress Semiconductor. He is a Senior Member (2001) of the IEEE, was Co-Chair for the Industry Watch Program for SPIE Opticomm 2002, and is a Chairman for the MPLS World Congress 2003 in Paris. He can be reached at v.sharma@ieee.org or via http://www.metanoia-inc.com.