MPLS Will Help Your Business

Written by: RealTimeDS3.com - Feb 9, 2010

MPLS will help your business run more efficiently by prioritizing your data traffic. Voice and video data run flawlessly through the busiest networks. MPLS streamlines your business' data so that all of your locations locally and across the country operate as one.

What is MPLS?

In computer networking and telecommunications, "Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a data-carrying mechanism that belongs to the family of packet-switched networks." -- Wikepedia.com. MPLS operates at an OSI Model layer that is lies between traditional definitions of Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) and Layer 3 (Network Layer), and therefore it is frequently referred to as a "Layer 2.5" protocol. MPLS can be used to carry many different kinds of traffic, including native ATM, SONET, IP packets, and Ethernet frames. MPLS was designed to provide a unified data-carrying service for both circuit-based clients and packet-switching clients which provide a datagram service model.

Various technologies were previously deployed with identical goals, such as frame relay and ATM. However, MPLS technologies have evolved with the strengths and weaknesses of ATM in mind. Network engineers around the country agree that ATM should be replaced with a protocol that requires less overhead, while providing connection-oriented services for variable-length frames. MPLS is currently replacing some of these technologies in the marketplace. MPLS may completely replace these technologies in the future, thus aligning these technologies with current and future technology needs.