Virtual Private LAN Service ( VPLS) (Part 4)

Routed VPLS

This article is to demonstrate Alcatel-Lucent proprietary solution of Routed VPLS (R-VPLS). It allows a VPLS SAP interface to be configured with a Layer 3 IP address and make the interface route-able. This article will use figure 1 to demonstrate R-VPLS configuration.

Figure 1 shows that two servers (Application Server and Database Server) has two direct connections to two ALU 7450 switches - the 7450s run MC-LAG between them. The servers also run LAG. These two connections are separate connections- each for BLUE and RED VPLS. RT1 and RT2 are connected to each other by LAG-1 (ports 1/2/19 and port 1/2/20), and RT3 and RT4 are also connected to each other by LAG-1 (ports 1/2/19 and 1/2/20).

In this case, the servers ping geographically remote standby servers to monitor availability. If the standby server cannot reach the active server, the standby server tries to take on active status by connecting to the primary database.

R-VPLS is configured on PE routers that allows MC-LAG to be configured on the SAPs facing the servers. MC-LAG and VRRP will be configured to protect against link and PE router failure.

The configuration steps are as follows-

1. Configure MC-LAG on PE routers.

MC-LAG configuration on RT1

A:RT1# configure lag 101
A:RT1>config>lag# info
            mode access
            port 1/2/10
            lacp active administrative-key 32768
            no shutdown
            exit all
A:RT1# configure lag 102
A:RT1>config>lag# info
            mode access
            port 1/2/11
            lacp active administrative-key 32768
            no shutdown
            exit all

A:RT1# configure redundancy multi-chassis
A:RT1>config>redundancy>multi-chassis# info
            peer 10.0.0.2
            mc-lag
                lag 101 lacp-key 10 system-id 00:00:00:00:00:01 system-priority 32768
                lag 102 lacp-key 10 system-id 00:00:00:00:00:02 system-priority 32768
                no shutdown
                exit
            sync
                igmp
                igmp-snooping
                no shutdown
                exit all        

A similar MC-LAG configuration applies to RT2 router. Note that the triplet {LACP-Key, System-ID, System Priority} values must match on both PE routers for MC-LAG to function correctly.

MC-LAG configuration on RT2

A:RT2# configure lag 101
A:RT2>config>lag# info
            mode access
            port 1/2/10
            lacp active
            no shutdown
            exit all
A:RT2# configure lag 102
A:RT2>config>lag# info
            mode access
            port 1/2/11
            lacp active administrative-key 32768
            no shutdown
            exit all

A:RT2# configure redundancy multi-chassis
A:RT2>config>redundancy>multi-chassis# info
            peer 10.0.0.1
            mc-lag
                lag 101 lacp-key 10 system-id 00:00:00:00:00:01 system-priority 32768
                lag 102 lacp-key 10 system-id 00:00:00:00:00:02 system-priority 32768
                no shutdown
                exit
            sync
                igmp
                igmp-snooping
                no shutdown
                exit all        

RT3 and RT4 configuration is similar to RT1 and RT2 routers, and is not provided here for brevity.

2. Configure SDP on PE routers. This SDP is only configured on directly connected PE routers i.e. between RT1 and RT2, and between RT3 and RT4 routers. The LSP created is used to carry R-VPLS service between RT1 and RT2 that allows MC-LAG and VRRP traffic.

SDP configuration on RT1

A:RT1# configure router mpls
A:RT1>config>router>mpls# info
            path PATH_to_RT2            # Loose path to RT2
                no shutdown
                exit
            lsp LSP_to_RT2
                to 10.0.0.2
                cspf
                primary PATH_to_RT2
                fast-reroute facility
                exit
            no shutdown
            exit all

A:RT1# configure service sdp 1 mpls create
A:RT1>config>service>sdp# info
            far-end 10.0.0.2
            description "SDP to RT2"
            lsp LSP_to_RT2
            signaling tldp
            no shutdown
            exit all      

A similar configuration on RT2 router follows for SDP to RT1 router.

SDP configuration on RT2

A:RT2# configure router mpls
A:RT2>config>router>mpls# info
            path PATH_to_RT1
                no shutdown
                exit
            lsp LSP_to_RT1
                to 10.0.0.1
                cspf
                primary PATH_to_RT1
                fast-reroute facility
                exit
            no shutdown
            exit all

A:RT2# configure service sdp 1 mpls create
A:RT2>config>service>sdp# info
            far-end 10.0.0.1
            description "SDP to RT1"
            lsp LSP_to_RT1
            signaling tldp
            no shutdown
            exit all       

RT3 and RT4 configuration is similar to RT1 and RT2 routers, and is not provided here for brevity.

3. Configure R-VPLS on PE routers.

R-VPLS configuration on RT1

A:RT1# configure service vpls 50
A:RT1>config>service>vpls# info
            description "BLUE VPLS"
            allow-ip-int-binding         # Allow routed VPLS functionality      
            service-name "BLUE_VPLS"
            stp
                shutdown
            sap lag-101 create
            exit
            mesh-sdp 1 create
            exit
            no shutdown
            exit all
A:RT1# configure service vpls 51
A:RT1>config>service>vpls# info
            description "RED VPLS"
            allow-ip-int-binding
            service-name "RED_VPLS"
            stp
                shutdown
            sap lag-102 create
            exit
            mesh-sdp 1 create
            exit
            no shutdown
            exit all

A similar R-VPLS configuration is applied on RT2 router.

R-VPLS configuration on RT2

A:RT2# configure service vpls 50
A:RT2>config>service>vpls# info
            description "BLUE VPLS"
            allow-ip-int-binding           
            service-name "BLUE_VPLS"
            stp
                shutdown
            sap lag-101 create
            exit
            mesh-sdp 1 create
            exit
            no shutdown
            exit all
A:RT2# configure service vpls 51
A:RT2>config>service>vpls# info
            description "RED VPLS"
            allow-ip-int-binding
            service-name "RED_VPLS"
            stp
                shutdown
            sap lag-102 create
            exit
            mesh-sdp 1 create
            exit
            no shutdown
            exit all

This R-VPLS instance (R-VPLS service-name) can be used in a VPRN or IES service using the command vpls "BLUE_VPLS" or vpls "RED_VPLS". This allows the interface to become route-able.
(source: https://sites.google.com/site/amitsciscozone/home/vpls/routed-vpls)