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A guide to using and defining MPLS VPN services

• Analyze strengths and weaknesses of TDM and Layer 2 WAN services
• Understand the primary business and technical issues when evaluating IP/MPLS VPN offerings
• Describe the IP addressing, routing, load balancing, convergence, and services capabilities of the IP VPN
• Develop enterprise quality of service (QoS) policies and implementation guidelines
• Achieve scalable support for multicast services
• Learn the benefits and drawbacks of various security and encryption mechanisms
• Ensure proper use of services and plan for future growth with monitoring and reporting services
• Provide remote access, Internet access, and extranet connectivity to the VPN supported intranet
• Provide a clear and concise set of steps to plan and execute a network migration from existing ATM/Frame Relay/leased line networks to an IP VPN

IP/MPLS VPNs are compelling for many reasons. For enterprises, they enable right-sourcing of WAN services and yield generous operational cost savings. For service providers, they offer a higher level of service to customers and lower costs for service deployment.

Migration comes with challenges, however. Enterprises must understand key migration issues, what the realistic benefits are, and how to optimize new services. Providers must know what aspects of their services give value to enterprises and how they can provide the best value to customers.

Selecting MPLS VPN Services helps you analyze migration options, anticipate migration issues, and properly deploy IP/MPLS VPNs. Detailed configurations illustrate effective deployment while case studies present available migration options and walk you through the process of selecting the best option for your network. Part I addresses the business case for moving to an IP/MPLS VPN network, with a chapter devoted to the business and technical issues you should review when evaluating IP/MPLS VPN offerings from major providers. Part II includes detailed deployment guidelines for the technologies used in the IP/MPLS VPN.