- What Is MPLS?
- Why Is MPLS Needed?
- How Is MPLS Done?
- When and Where Is MPLS Used?
- Who Is Doing MPLS?
- The Label Switching Paradigm
- A Quick Introduction to MPLS
- Evolution of Internet Network Models
- Basics of the Internet
- Internetworking Technology Basics
- More Basics: Graph Theory and Modeling Language
- The Promise of MPLS
- The Promise of the Promise of MPLS
- Summary
Who Is Doing MPLS?
The initial deployers of MPLS are large ISPs, some second- and third-tier network providers, and other similar organizations that offer products and services for the core and regional areas of the Internet. MPLS is also currently in use by carrier backbones and large-enterprise wide area networks (WANs). It is beginning to be rapidly introduced into metropolitan area networks (MANs), also.
Many different types of organizations are interested in MPLS, including MPLS equipment vendors, major service providers, MPLS software stack vendors, testing equipment manufacturers, testing organizations, universities, research centers, and others. See Chapter 9, "Current MPLS Implementations," for a sample of the many companies and organizations that are actively involved in MPLS implementation and deployment.
After reading the "five Ws and H," a quick introduction to the label switching paradigm and then MPLS will expose the reader to a sound overview of the main facets of the technology.