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Routing & Switching · Intermediate

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)

A forwarding technology that switches packets using short labels instead of IP lookups, enabling VPNs, traffic engineering and fast reroute.

Definition

An MPLS label is inserted between the Layer 2 and Layer 3 headers. Label switch routers forward based on the top label, performing push, swap or pop operations. Labels are distributed by LDP, RSVP-TE, BGP or segment routing extensions to the IGP. MPLS is the foundation for L3VPN, L2VPN and SP traffic engineering.

Example

mpls ip on core interfaces enables LDP-based label switching.

Exam tip

MPLS's main benefit today is services (VPN, TE), not raw speed, since IP lookups are now fast in hardware.

Don't confuse it with

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