All of MPLScon 2004 at a click of a mouse

One of the toughest tasks in today’s economy is getting trained on new technologies. With slashed training budgets, most companies don’t have the resources to send their staffs to formal classes or conferences. As a partial solution to this problem, Webtorials has partnered with MPLScon to make available for you essentially the entire program of MPLScon 2004, which took place last May, including the opening day tutorials.

One of the toughest tasks in today’s economy is getting trained on new technologies.  With slashed training budgets, most companies don’t have the resources to send their staffs to formal classes or conferences. As a partial solution to this problem, Webtorials has partnered with MPLScon to make available for you essentially the entire program of MPLScon 2004, which took place last May, including the opening day tutorials. 

Obviously, just having the handouts can’t compare with the experience of actually attending the conference in person and interacting with your peers.  Nevertheless, for those of you who were unable to attend, and for those of you who attended but want to refer to the handouts online, this is a fantastic resource.

Here’s a sampling of some of the materials that are available, with the descriptions below from the abstracts of the presentations:

* MPLS VPNs

This tutorial discusses MPLS Layer 2 VPN models, the MPLS Layer 3 RFC2547-bis model, and briefly highlights the Virtual Router (VR) model. The tutorial describes and contrasts MPLS VPNs to other types of VPNs in use today.

The Layer 2 material gives an overview of the different encapsulation drafts available and the ongoing work in the IETF, ITU, and the MPLS, ATM, and Frame Relay Forums. We briefly highlight the new Ethernet Virtual Private LAN Segment (VPLS) work for Ethernet Transparent LAN Services (TLS). The Layer 3 material describes the reference models for MPLS RFC2547 VPNs and details the set-up and operation of Layer 3 MPLS VPNs.

* Where MPLS fits in the Enterprise Network – MPLS applicability to intranets, extranets and remote access 

This presentation explores the drivers behind enterprise implementations of MPLS, sorting through the myths, facts, benefits and challenges. The presentation covers the networking requirements of enterprise customers and identifies where the “sweet spots” for MPLS VPNs are.

* Perfect MPLS Application – Voice

IT executives are adopting VoIP technology in droves. In doing so, they’re finding that MPLS offers the most compelling set of technical and management capabilities when sending different traffic types over the WAN.  Johna Till Johnson, president and chief research officer of Nemertes Research presents the latest data on enterprise MPLS adoption plans. The session addresses how companies are using MPLS services, what their plans are for running voice, video, and other traffic types over a converged network, and what they want from carriers and vendors in terms of network-based offerings. She also explains why voice is the application for MPLS.

And these are only three representative presentations of the more than 35 presentations that are available.  If you need to get up to speed on the nitty-gritty of MPLS, this is a great starting point.