A provider edge router (PE router) is a router between one network service provider's area and areas administered by other network providers. [1] A network provider is usually an Internet service provider as well (or only that).
The term PE router covers equipment capable of a broad range of routing protocols, notably:
PE routers do not need to be aware of what kind of traffic is coming from the provider's network, as opposed to a P router that functions as a transit within the service provider's network. However, some PE routers also do labelling.
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a routing technique in telecommunications networks that directs data from one node to the next based on labels rather than network addresses. Whereas network addresses identify endpoints, the labels identify established paths between endpoints. MPLS can encapsulate packets of various network protocols, hence the multiprotocol component of the name. MPLS supports a range of access technologies, including T1/E1, ATM, Frame Relay, and DSL.
A router is a computer and networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks, including internetworks such as the global Internet.
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information among autonomous systems (AS) on the Internet. BGP is classified as a path-vector routing protocol, and it makes routing decisions based on paths, network policies, or rule-sets configured by a network administrator.
Intermediate System to Intermediate System is a routing protocol designed to move information efficiently within a computer network, a group of physically connected computers or similar devices. It accomplishes this by determining the best route for data through a packet switching network.
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a routing protocol for Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It uses a link state routing (LSR) algorithm and falls into the group of interior gateway protocols (IGPs), operating within a single autonomous system (AS).
An autonomous system (AS) is a collection of connected Internet Protocol (IP) routing prefixes under the control of one or more network operators on behalf of a single administrative entity or domain, that presents a common and clearly defined routing policy to the Internet. Each AS is assigned an autonomous system number (ASN), for use in Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing. Autonomous System Numbers are assigned to Local Internet Registries (LIRs) and end-user organizations by their respective Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), which in turn receive blocks of ASNs for reassignment from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). The IANA also maintains a registry of ASNs which are reserved for private use.
A route distinguisher is an address qualifier used only within a single internet service provider's Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network. It is used to distinguish the distinct virtual private network (VPN) routes of separate customers who connect to the provider.
In computer networking and telecommunications, a pseudowire is an emulation of a point-to-point connection over a packet-switched network (PSN).
Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) is a way to provide Ethernet-based multipoint to multipoint communication over IP or MPLS networks. It allows geographically dispersed sites to share an Ethernet broadcast domain by connecting sites through pseudowires. The term sites includes multiplicities of both servers and clients. The technologies that can be used as pseudo-wire can be Ethernet over MPLS, L2TPv3 or even GRE. There are two IETF standards-track RFCs describing VPLS establishment.
In IP-based computer networks, virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) is a technology that allows multiple instances of a routing table to co-exist within the same router at the same time. One or more logical or physical interfaces may have a VRF and these VRFs do not share routes. Therefore, the packets are only forwarded between interfaces on the same VRF. VRFs are the TCP/IP layer 3 equivalent of a VLAN. Because the routing instances are independent, the same or overlapping IP addresses can be used without conflicting with each other. Network functionality is improved because network paths can be segmented without requiring multiple routers.
Multiprotocol Extensions for BGP, sometimes referred to as Multiprotocol BGP or Multicast BGP and defined in IETF RFC 4760, is an extension to Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) that allows different types of addresses to be distributed in parallel. Whereas standard BGP supports only IPv4 unicast addresses, Multiprotocol BGP supports IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and it supports unicast and multicast variants of each. Multiprotocol BGP allows information about the topology of IP multicast-capable routers to be exchanged separately from the topology of normal IPv4 unicast routers. Thus, it allows a multicast routing topology different from the unicast routing topology. Although MBGP enables the exchange of inter-domain multicast routing information, other protocols such as the Protocol Independent Multicast family are needed to build trees and forward multicast traffic.
A Layer 2 MPLS VPN is a term in computer networking. It is a method that Internet service providers use to segregate their network for their customers, to allow them to transmit data over an IP network. This is often sold as a service to businesses.
In computer networking, an edge device is a device that provides an entry point into enterprise or service provider core networks. Examples include routers, routing switches, integrated access devices (IADs), multiplexers, and a variety of metropolitan area network (MAN) and wide area network (WAN) access devices. Edge devices also provide connections into carrier and service provider networks. An edge device that connects a local area network to a high speed switch or backbone may be called an edge concentrator.
PIP in telecommunications and datacommunications stands for Private Internet Protocol or Private IP. PIP refers to connectivity into a private extranet network which by its design emulates the functioning of the Internet. Specifically, the Internet uses a routing protocol called border gateway protocol (BGP), as do most Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks. With this design, there is an ambiguity to the route that a packet can take while traversing the network. Whereas the Internet is a public offering, MPLS PIP networks are private. This lends a known, often used, and comfortable network design model for private implementation.
Yakov Rekhter is a well-known network protocol designer and software programmer. He was heavily involved in internet protocol development, and its predecessors, from their early stages.
The customer edge router (CE) generally refers to the router at the customer premises that is interconnected with the provider edge router of a service provider's IP/MPLS network.
In Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), a P router or provider router is a label switch router (LSR) that functions as a transit router of the core network. The P router is typically connected to one or more PE routers.
In telecommunications, Multiprotocol Label Switching - Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) is a variant of the MPLS protocol that is used in packet switched data networks. MPLS-TP is the product of a joint Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) / International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) effort to include an MPLS Transport Profile within the IETF MPLS and PWE3 architectures to support the capabilities and functionalities of a packet transport network.
Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) is a "map-and-encapsulate" protocol which is developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force LISP Working Group. The basic idea behind the separation is that the Internet architecture combines two functions, routing locators and identifiers in one number space: the IP address. LISP supports the separation of the IPv4 and IPv6 address space following a network-based map-and-encapsulate scheme. In LISP, both identifiers and locators can be IP addresses or arbitrary elements like a set of GPS coordinates or a MAC address.
A provider-provisioned VPN (PPVPN) is a virtual private network (VPN) implemented by a connectivity service provider or large enterprise on a network they operate on their own, as opposed to a "customer-provisioned VPN" where the VPN is implemented by the customer who acquires the connectivity service on top of the technical specificities of the provider.