Module Summary

• MPLS is a switching mechanism that uses labels to forward packets.

• MPLS consists of two major components: control plane and data
plane. The control plane exchanges routing information and labels,
while the data plane forwards packets or cells.
• Every LSR assigns a label for every destination in the IP routing
table. Although labels are locally significant, they have to be
advertised to directly reachable peers. Packets are forwarded using
labels from the LFIB table rather than the IP routing table.
• MPLS configuration tasks include configuring IP CEF, tag switching,
and setting MTU size.
• MPLS VPN architecture combines the best features of the overlay
and peer-to-peer VPN models. PE routers forward packets across
the MPLS VPN backbone using label stacking.