
We know that for most of the protocols router does not change anything in the IP header unless we have specifically configured the IP header to be changed for example NAT, QOS markings etc.
In this and few upcoming posts we will specifically look for packet marking when the IP packet gets translated into MPLS labels. We will look into the fact that what exactly happens with the QOS markings when labels are imposed on to the packet.
For internal routing I am using EIGRP in my setup , we can have any routing protocol to achieve the reachability in the network. MPLS uses FIB derived from routing protocols to derive LFIB(Label forwarding information base) which is used for the eventual label switching.
In the above network diag we have three routers running MPLS. Following are the configurations:
R1:
mpls label range 100 200 mpls label protocol ldp ! interface Loopback1 ip address 1.1.1.1 255.255.255.255 ! interface FastEthernet1/0 ip address 13.13.13.1 255.255.255.252 mpls ip ! router eigrp 1 network 1.1.1.1 0.0.0.0 network 13.13.13.0 0.0.0.3 auto-summary
R2:
mpls label range 300 400 mpls label protocol ldp ! interface Loopback1 ip address 2.2.2.2 255.255.255.255 ! interface FastEthernet1/0 ip address 13.13.13.2 255.255.255.252 mpls ip ! interface FastEthernet1/1 ip address 14.14.14.1 255.255.255.252 mpls ip ! router eigrp 1 network 2.2.2.2 0.0.0.0 network 13.13.13.0 0.0.0.3 network 14.14.14.1 0.0.0.0 no auto-summary
R3:
mpls label range 500 600 mpls label protocol ldp ! interface Loopback1 ip address 3.3.3.3 255.255.255.255 ! interface FastEthernet1/0 ip address 14.14.14.2 255.255.255.252 mpls ip ! router eigrp 1 network 3.3.3.3 0.0.0.0 network 14.14.14.2 0.0.0.0 no auto-summary
verification :
R1#show mpls forwarding-table Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop Label Label or VC orTunnel Id Switched interface 16 Pop Label 14.14.14.0/30 0 Fa1/0 13.13.13.2 100 Pop Label 2.2.2.2/32 0 Fa1/0 13.13.13.2 101 300 3.3.3.3/32 0 Fa1/0 13.13.13.2
R2#show mpls forwarding-table Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop Label Label or VC or Tunnel Id Switched interface 16 Pop Label 1.0.0.0/8 570 Fa1/0 13.13.13.1 300 Pop Label 3.3.3.3/32 2850 Fa1/1 14.14.14.2
R3#show mpls forwarding-table Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop Label Label or VC or Tunnel Id Switched interface 500 16 1.0.0.0/8 0 Fa1/0 14.14.14.1 501 Pop Label 2.2.2.2/32 0 Fa1/0 14.14.14.1 502 Pop Label 13.13.13.0/30 0 Fa1/0 14.14.14.1
Here we see that mpls is working fine, you can verify the same when you see “label switched ” packet counts increasing in the above command. You can also verify the same with traceroute , it will tell you the imposed label as well as the EXP Bit which I will talk about in my next post.
R1#traceroute 3.3.3.3
Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 3.3.3.3
1 13.13.13.2 [MPLS: Label 300 Exp 0] 100 msec 12 msec 24 msec
2 14.14.14.2 36 msec 96 msec 96 msec
I will not make this post boring by putting QOS details. Please see my next post for MPLS QOS details…Stay tuned!!
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