Virtual private wired service:

A Virtual Private Wire Service (VPWS), also known as

a Virtual Leased Line (VLL) or Ethernet Private Line
(EPL), is a point-to-point Layer 2 VPN service that
uses MPLS or IP networks to create the virtual
equivalent of a dedicated leased line between two
customer sites. It provides a transparent, point-to-point,
Ethernet-based connection over a service provider's
network by using pseudowires to carry traffic between
the sites.
How it works
 Pseudowire:A pseudowire is a virtual point-to-point
connection that carries Layer 2 traffic over a packet-
switched backbone, like MPLS.
 Ethernet over MPLS (EoMPLS):This is a common
method for implementing VPWS, where Ethernet
frames are encapsulated and sent over an MPLS
network, effectively extending a customer's LAN
across the provider's network.
 Point-to-Point Connection:Unlike Virtual Private
LAN Service (VPLS), which is a multipoint service,
 VPWS establishes a dedicated, point-to-point link
for each customer connection.
 EVPN-VPWS:Modern implementations of VPWS use
Ethernet VPN (EVPN) signaling mechanisms,
leveraging BGP to automate the creation and
management of pseudowires, offering enhanced
scalability and multihoming capabilities.
Key Features and Benefits
 Virtual Leased Line:Offers the functionality of a
traditional leased line but over a shared, more
flexible MPLS network.
 Transparency:Provides a high degree of
transparency, acting as a virtual Ethernet
connection that is largely invisible to the underlying
transport network.
 Security:Creates a private and secure connection,
protecting data as it travels over the provider's
network.
 Scalability and Flexibility:Modern EVPN-VPWS
solutions offer better scalability and support for
 both single-homing and all-active multihoming
scenarios.
Use Cases
 Connecting Geographically Dispersed
Sites:Businesses can use VPWS to establish secure
and private Ethernet connections between their
various locations.
 Extending LANs:VPWS can extend a customer's local
area network (LAN) to connect to remote branches
or data centers.
 Replacement for Leased Lines:Businesses can
migrate from expensive, dedicated leased lines to a
more cost-effective and flexible VPWS service over
a provider's MPLS infrastructure.
Types of private wire service:
Types of private wire services, also known as Virtual
Private Wire Services (VPWS), are generally categorized
by their connectivity, with common examples
including Single-Homed connections for basic
connectivity and Multi-Homed configurations (which
include Single-Active and All-Active modes) for
redundancy and load balancing. These services are
provided over an MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching)
or IP core, with modern implementations
using EVPN (Ethernet VPN) for signaling and
encapsulation.
Connectivity Types
 Single-Homed: A customer edge (CE) device is
connected to a single provider edge (PE) device.
This is the simplest form of VPWS and is suitable for
non-critical connections.
 Multi-Homed: A customer edge (CE) device
connects to multiple provider edge (PE) devices,
providing redundant connectivity and potentially
load balancing.
 Single-Active: Out of the connected PEs, only
one is allowed to forward traffic to and from
the Ethernet segment at a time.
 All-Active: All connected PEs are allowed to
forward traffic to and from the Ethernet
segment, providing both redundancy and load
balancing.
Signaling and Control Plane Mechanisms
  LDP-based VPWS: A traditional method for signaling
pseudowires between PE routers using the Label
Distribution Protocol (LDP).
 BGP-based VPWS (EVPN-VPWS): A more modern
approach that uses Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
for auto-discovery and signaling of pseudowires.
EVPN-VPWS is a BGP control plane solution for
point-to-point services and can support both single-
homing and multi-homing.
Core Network Types
 MPLS Core: Traditional and still widely used for
transporting VPWS traffic.
 IP Core: Used with EVPN for BGP signaling and
routing.
Generic routing encapsulation:
Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) is a tunneling
protocol developed by Cisco that creates virtual point-
to-point links over an Internet Protocol network,
allowing a wide variety of network-layer protocols to be
transported across an IP network by encapsulating them
within a GRE header and an outer IP packet. GRE
tunnels function like virtual private networks (VPNs) but
lack native encryption, creating a direct, logical
connection between two endpoints and enabling
disparate networks to appear directly connected.

How GRE Works

1. 1. Encapsulation:
When a packet needs to traverse the GRE tunnel, its
original protocol (the "passenger protocol") is wrapped
inside a GRE header. This GRE header includes the
source and destination IP addresses of the tunnel
endpoints and other necessary information, such as a
protocol identifier and a sequence number.
2. 2. Outer IP Packet:
The GRE-encapsulated packet is then placed within a
new IP packet (the "carrier" or "transport
protocol"). This outer IP packet contains the IP
addresses of the actual network endpoints that the
tunnel data will traverse.
3. 3. Tunneling:
The outer IP packet is routed across the IP network as
any other IP packet.
4. 4. Decapsulation:
At the receiving tunnel endpoint, the outer IP header is
stripped, the GRE header is processed, and the original
"inner" packet is extracted. The extracted packet is then
forwarded to its final destination.
Key Features and Benefits
 Protocol Agnosticism:
GRE supports a wide range of network-layer protocols,
including various routing protocols and multicast traffic,
which might not be natively supported by the
intervening IP network.
 Virtual Point-to-Point Links:
GRE creates virtual, direct connections between two
routers or network devices, making them appear as if
they are on the same network.
 Simplicity:
It is a relatively simple tunneling method, often used to
transport routing protocols or multicast data across an
IP network that would otherwise not support them.
Use Cases
 Transporting Unsupported Protocols:
Allowing routing protocols like RIP or OSPF to be used
across the internet, even though the internet itself relies
on IP routing.
 Connecting Disparate Networks:
Creating a direct logical path between two networks
separated by an IP network.