Building Enterprise Data Communication Network Based On MPLS VPN

Along with the popularization of the network technology and the promotion of information technology upgrading, people often need to access their Intranet at any time or in any place. In addition, following the development and growth of the enterprises, there are more and more transnational enterprises, and their branches are distributed all over the world. The requirement of data communication between the enterprises and their branches is becoming more and more important.A Virtual Private Network is defined as network whereby customer connectivity amongst multiple sites is deployed on a shared infrastructure with the same policies as a private network. It provides a cost-effective private data communications technology. VPN can be classified using different criteria: For instance, according to their commercial purposes which can be Intranet VPN, Extranet VPN or VPDN; according to the network structure which can be satellite-based networks, mesh networks or multi-network; according to the Layer 2 or Layer 3 technology used to implement the VPN service within the service provider network, which can be X.25, Frame Relay, SMDS, ATM, or IP.MPLS stands for Multiprotocol Label Switch, which combines the benefits of packet forwarding based on Layer 2 switching with the benefits of Layer 3 routing. Similar to Layer 2 networks (for example, Frame Relay or ATM), MPLS assigns labels to packets for transport across packet- or cell-based networks. The forwarding mechanism throughout the network is label swapping, in which units of data (for example, a packet or a cell) carry a short, fixed-length label that tells switching nodes along the packets path how to process and forward the data. MPLS was originally designed to integrate the advantages of the ATM technology and the advantages of the IP technology. It can support many routing protocols and control agreements. So MPLS can meet the requirements of many new applications on the network.MPLS VPN is an add-on service to an already-up-and-functioning MPLS network. As an important application based on MPLS technology, it is now a relatively mature technology. And most of the world's major telecommunications providers are now providing this new type of VPN services. It will certainly become more and more popular and has a good prospect of large-scale commercial applications.Through the discussion of MPLS VPN and the construction of Shandong Mobile data communication network, this paper give a detailed example of how to build an enterprise data communication network based on MPLS VPN.