This tutorial session will provide an in-depth technical overview of Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS), as defined in draft-ietf-ppvpn-vpls-ldp-00. It will discuss issues such as signaling, full-mesh creation, MAC learning, replication, forwarding to known and unknown addresses, loop avoidance, scaling (including Inter-provider operations) and resilience. It will also examine deployment scenarios using various access technologies and CPE. This session is ideal for those requiring a deeper technical understanding of the issues associated with delivering multi-point Ethernet services over MPLS and how VPLS provides a viable solution for both Metro and long-haul requirements.

Mr. Khandekar is Director of Product Management with TiMetra Networks (now Alcatel), the leader in Service Routers for IP/MPLS networks. Mr. Khandekar has over 13 years experience in the communications and networking industry and is an active participant in the IETF’s work on Layer-2 VPNs, co-authoring multiple drafts within the PPVPN and PWE3 working groups. He is also active in MPLS interoperability testing by the MPLS/Frame Relay Alliance and Isocore and is a regular speaker and panelist at technical conferences world-wide. Prior to TiMetra, Mr. Khandekar was a Product Line Manager with Nortel Networks, focused on building scalable L3 switching products. Mr. Khandekar came to Nortel through the acquisition of Bay Networks, where he was a Principal Consulting Engineer with Fortune 100 companies. Mr. Khandekar received his BSME from MSU, India and his MS in Computer Science from NJIT.