MPLS definition
Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is a data forwarding technology enterprises use to connect their remote sites. Since it overcomes many of the shortcomings of IP routing, MPLS technology is widely used by the telecommunication industries.
Multiprotocol label switching directs data through the shortest path based on “labels” instead of network addresses that would require complex lookups at every stop. It assigns labels to each data packet and controls the path the packet follows. Using MPLS significantly improves the speed of data traffic.
Benefits of MPLS
- Improved bandwidth utilization. With MPLS, you’re putting multiple types of traffic on the same link, meaning high-priority traffic borrows capacity from lower-priority traffic when required.
- Improved uptime. MPLS reduces the manual intervention by the network provider, and if there’s downtime, it can switch traffic to an alternative route.
- Easy to add remote connections. Because MPLS is cloud-hosted, adding new remote connections is easy and doesn’t require additional hardware.
- Reduced network congestion. MPLS provides advanced traffic engineering options that can send traffic over non-standard paths, reducing the delay in receiving and sending data. This process can reduce congestion on these paths.
