Using Multicast VPN for Optimized Multicast Traffic Distribution
Question
A customer is using a service provider to provide a WAN backbone for a 30-site network.
In establishing the network, the customer must work within these constraints: - The customer has a self-managed MPLS backbone.
- The VPLS WAN backbone of the service provider does not support PIM snooping.
- Multicast VPN must be used for multicast support inside some VRFs.
What can the customer do so that multicast traffic is NOT flooded to all sites?
Answers
Explanations
Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer
A. B. C. D. E.A.
The customer is facing a challenge of enabling multicast support in their self-managed MPLS backbone for a 30-site network, while the VPLS WAN backbone of the service provider does not support PIM snooping. This means that multicast traffic may be flooded to all sites, causing potential performance issues.
To address this challenge, there are several options available:
A. Configure static GRE tunnels and run the MPLS and multicast VPN inside these GRE tunnels. This approach involves creating static GRE tunnels between the customer sites, and running the MPLS and multicast VPN inside these tunnels. This allows the customer to have control over the multicast traffic and prevent it from being flooded to all sites. However, this approach requires significant configuration effort and may not scale well for larger networks.
B. Use Label Switched Multicast for the multicast transport. Label Switched Multicast (LSM) is a protocol that enables efficient multicast traffic transport across an MPLS network. It uses labels to identify multicast groups and multicast sources, and enables multicast traffic to be transmitted across the MPLS network without flooding it to all sites. However, LSM requires support from both the customer and service provider networks, and may not be widely supported.
C. Use PIM-SSM as the multicast routing protocol with IETF Rosen Draft multicast VPN. Protocol Independent Multicast - Source-Specific Multicast (PIM-SSM) is a multicast routing protocol that enables efficient delivery of multicast traffic to a specific source. The IETF Rosen Draft multicast VPN is a method of implementing multicast VPNs using PIM-SSM. This approach allows the customer to have control over the multicast traffic and prevent it from being flooded to all sites. However, this approach requires support from both the customer and service provider networks, and may not be widely supported.
D. Configure a static mapping between multicast addresses and MAC addresses. This approach involves configuring a static mapping between multicast addresses and MAC addresses, which can be used to prevent multicast traffic from being flooded to all sites. However, this approach is not scalable and may not be practical for larger networks.
E. Use GET VPN to encrypt the multicast packets inside the WAN. Group Encrypted Transport VPN (GET VPN) is a technology that enables encryption of multicast traffic within a VPN. This approach can be used to prevent multicast traffic from being flooded to all sites, while also providing encryption for security purposes. However, this approach requires support from both the customer and service provider networks, and may have additional overhead.
In summary, there are several options available for the customer to enable multicast support in their self-managed MPLS backbone for a 30-site network, while also preventing multicast traffic from being flooded to all sites. The best approach may depend on the specific requirements and constraints of the customer's network.
