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MPLS Cloud

Generally, geographically dispersed networks are connected through the MPLS VPN network of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The system introduces a concept called MPLS Cloud to simulate the MPLS functions by following the rules of forwarding labeled packets. In the system, an MPLS Cloud is taken as a device and uses a virtual routing table to calculate A-B paths across the MPLS.

Here is an example of MPLS VPN network, including the following types of elements:

  • Customer Edge (CE) — routers at the customer premises connected to the provider edge of a service provider IP/MPLS network. CE peers with the provider edge (PE) and exchanges routes with the corresponding VRF inside the provider edge (PE).
  • Provider Edge (PE) — routers in the provider's network connected to the customer edge (CE) routers located at customer sites. PE routers support VPN and MPLS label functionality. Within a single VPN, pairs of PE routers are connected through a virtual tunnel, typically a label-switched path (LSP).
  • Provider (P) — provider routers within the core of the provider's network are not connected to any routers at a customer site but are part of the tunnel between pairs of PE routers. Provider routers support LSP functionality as part of the tunnel support, but do not support VPN functionality.
    Information Note: Only the domain admin, power users, or users with the Device Management privilege can add, edit, and delete an MPLS Cloud.

Use Flow

Add an MPLS Cloud

Power users can define specific clouds in their domain. After they select a cloud type, the system automatically loads the parameters defined in the cloud type.

  1. Log in to the Domain Management page.
  2. On the Domain Management page, click Data Accuracy Resolution on the Start Page or click the start menu  and select Data Accuracy Resolution.
  3. On the Data Accuracy Resolution tab, select Cloud Manager on the left pane and click Add.
     
  4. Follow the steps below in the Cloud Definition dialog box to define an MPLS Cloud.
    1. Enter a name for the cloud.
    2. Keep the default Cloud Type MPLS L3 VPN.
    3. Enter a description of the MPLS cloud.
    4. Add MPLS edge devices to the MPLS Cloud in either of the following ways:

Dynamic Search

  1. Click Dynamic Search Interface.
  2. In the drop-down list, select By BGP AS (autonomous system) to add edge devices and interfaces based on BGP AS number and VRF.

    Information Tip: You can also select By Advanced Search in the pop-up dialog and use the Advanced Search function to find the edge devices and interfaces.
  3. Enter BGP AS number and VRF name.
    Information Tip: VRF establishes the correct connections if some devices have duplicated IP addresses. You can enter multiple VRF names and use semicolons (;) to separate them. Interfaces that have the matched VRF names will be searched out. If you don't want to use the VRF name as a condition to filter interfaces, leave it empty; if you want to search interfaces without VRF configured, enter 'global' (single quotes must be included).
    Information

    Tip: Through a specified BGP AS number, a device that meets all the following conditions will be added as a CE device:

    - The devices not only configured with EBGP Neighbor but also pointing to the defined AS number.

    - The non-loopback interface in the same network segment with EBGP Neighbor IP configured on the device.

    - The neighbor IP of CE devices does not exist in the domain.

  4. Click Search.
    Information Tip: To exclude specific devices from the search results, you can define more filter criteria.
    Information Tip: To automatically synchronize the list of edge devices and interfaces with your live network, you can select the Auto update searched device and interface check box.
  5. Review the search result, and click OK.

Manually Add

  1. Click Static Interface.
  2. In the pop-up dialog, specify the properties of the CE device.
    1. Click Browse to select the CE device.
    2. Select the interface of the CE device connected to the PE device.
    3. Enter the VRF name of the CE interface if it has been configured with a VRF.
    4. Enter the description of the CE interface.
    5. Enter the IP address of the PE interface that the CE interface connects to.
    6. Enter the name of the PE interface. The PE interface name can be any string, and you can name it based on your needs.
    7. Enter a VPN value for the CE device.
      Information Note: Assign the same VPN value to those CE devices in different sites that communicate with each other. When the system builds a routing table for an MPLS cloud, CE devices with the same VPN value will be added to one virtual routing table. If the VPN field is left empty, the system will determine that all CE devices in an MPLS cloud communicate with each other.
  3.  Add more CE devices to the MPLS Cloud by following step 2.
  4. Click OK.
  1.  (Optional) Click Exclude to select CE devices or interfaces that you want to exclude from the MPLS cloud.
  1. Click OK.
    Information Tip: To make the MPLS cloud participate in path calculation, go to the Additional Operations after Benchmark tab to build the topology and NCT. See Benchmark Task Settings for more details.

Build Topology and NCT Table for MPLS Cloud through a Benchmark

After creating an MPLS cloud, you must build the topology and NCT table (a virtual routing table used for path calculation) via a benchmark task.

To build the topology and NCT table for an MPLS Cloud, complete the following steps:

  1. Log into the Domain Management page.
  2. Click the start menu  and select Schedule Task.
  3. Edit a benchmark task and go to the Additional Operations after Benchmark tab.
  4. In the Update Virtual Cloud area, select the Recalculate Virtual Cloud NCT Table option.

  5. In the Build Topology area, select the IPv4 L3 topology option.
    Graphical user interface, text, application, email Description automatically generated

The system will build topology and NCTs for all MPLS clouds after the benchmark task is completed.

Calculate Paths across an MPLS Cloud

After building the NCT and topology, you can calculate paths across MPLS clouds. During the path calculation, the system looks up the virtual routing table to find the correct inbound and outbound traffic interfaces of the MPLS cloud.

Further operations:

Exporting MPLS Cloud

  1. Point to the target MPLS Cloud entry and click the icon to select Edit Cloud.
  2. In the pop-up dialog, click the icon to export the MPLS cloud.

Viewing the NCT of an MPLS Cloud

  1. Point to the target MPLS Cloud entry and click the icon to select View NCT Table.
  2. In the pop-up dialog, select a data source and a virtual routing table from the NCT drop-down list to view.

 

 

Best Practice: