I’ve got a new MPLS lab. Tell me how to play with it

I’ve just had Christmas in July.  I’ve been given a whole list of lab equipment, so big that naming all the SIPs, SPAs, and line cards, would end up blowing my word count limit for one blog.  So I’ll just keep it at a high level.

• 1 CRS-16
• 2 CRS-16-RP
• 2 CRS-DRP-PLIM, 2 CRS-DRP-CPU
• 4 12406s and 4 PRP-3
• 1 ASR1002 and 1 ASR1000-RP1
• 2 ASR1006 and 4 ASR1000-RP1
• 2 7600s and 4 RSP720-3CXL

My present is a hand-me-down.  A co-worker of mine in the Cisco Customer Proof of Concept Lab (CPOC) Brett Huffman, had built out the original MPLS cloud for use by our CPOC engineers for when they have customers requesting to connect to a MPLS cloud into their network during their CPOC visit.

Click to enlarge image.

First things first.  Why does this diagram come from Huffy Enterprises and Pigpen Communications?  Brett used to ride to work on a bike that looked like a “Huffy.”  So I ended up nicknaming him Huffy.  Where did “PigPen” come from?  Well…. I tend to “nest” when I’m in a customer room.  Bringing varying books, my kindle, my big screen display, my varying cables to charge my iPhone and my blackberry, my trail mix, water bottles all over the place, the bowl of candy that I have for my co-workers…. And the list goes on and on.  So, Huffy nicknamed me “PigPen” Admittedly he also nicknamed me “Gadget Queen” years ago but I apparently had that title revoked when I didn’t go running out to upgrade my iPhone or buy and iPad.

As for my new present, I don’t know about you, but when I get a really big, wicked cool present, I want to do two  things – (1) show it off, (2) play with it.  #1 is now accomplished.  But what about #2?

That is where you come in!  It really isn’t going to be as much fun to play with it all on my own.  Also, I’m a little ADD so I can’t decide where to start.  Right now it is a pretty basic MPLS cloud. All IPv4, OSPF and MPLS LDP in the core, VPNv4 to a RR from the PEs, and with sample configurations in the PEs so my CPOC co-workers can add CEs and add their configurations into the PE and be up and running with VPNv4 in no time.

Right now I’m just moving the 12406 routers from regular IOS on PRP-2s to IOS XR on a PRP-3.  Also I’m standardizing my configs across the board.  But after that….. what do you want me to do next?  I’ve been tasked with eventually adding all 5 of the below items.  But I don’t know where I want to start. 

• 6VPE?
• 6PE?
• mVPN?
• Add a 2nd Route Reflector
• Address single points of failure, high availability and fast convergence

So you make the decision for me.