* VPLS is generating considerable demand from enterprises due to user familiarity with Ethernet, but is still an immature technology
The Securities Industry Automation Corp. was looking for a way to securely multicast market data between exchanges and other financial institutions after the 9/11 attacks.
It believes it found a solution with Layer 3 MPLS VPNs, specifically those adhering to the IETF RFC 2547bis specification. This technology forms the guts of SIAC’s Secure Financial Transaction Infrastructure network.
Why Layer 3 instead of Layer 2 VPNs based on Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS), a much heralded yet scarcely deployed Ethernet/MPLS hybrid?
“When we were building this, VPLS technology was still very immature,” says Naishen Wang, senior manager of communications planning at SIAC. “Another thing with multicast is we do entitlements” where the customer can choose between multicast products. “It’s a little harder to do in a VPLS environment.”
Multicast is one of the key considerations enterprises face when deciding on Layer 2 or Layer 3 MPLS VPNs for their service oriented architectures, grid/utility computing environments, application aware networks and security implementations, according to attendees at last week’s MPLScon 2006 conference.
VPLS is generating considerable demand from enterprises due to user familiarity with Ethernet, among other factors. But VPLS is still an immature technology compared to RFC 2547 Layer 3 VPNs, especially in services such as multicast.
And only four of the top 10 Ethernet service providers in the U.S. offer VPLS, according to Vertical Systems Group. Indeed, carriers such as Verizon have 3,000 customers for its 2547-based Private IP service yet none for VPLS because it won’t be available for about another year.
