Provisional chapter

Chapter 4

Effective Planning and Analysis of Huawei and Cisco

Effective Planning
Routers for and Analysis
MPLS Network Designof Using
Huawei and
Fast Cisco
Reroute
Routers for MPLS Network Design Using Fast Reroute
Protection
Protection
Martin Hlozak, Dominik Uhrin,
Jerry Chun-Wei
Martin Lin and Miroslav
Hlozak, Dominik Uhrin, Voznak
Jerry Chun-Wei Lin and Miroslav Voznak
Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/66785

Abstract
This chapter deals with a description of the MPLS traffic engineering technology ­behavior
on two heterogeneous, but nowadays the most commonly used network vendors are
Cisco and Huawei. Compatibility and functionality between network devices Huawei
and Cisco were verified by testing the appropriate network topology. In this topology,
we mainly focused on the useful feature of MPLS TE called Fast Reroute (FRR) protec-
tion. It provides link protection, node protection and also bandwidth protection during
the failure of the primary link, especially on backbone networks. After successful valida-
tion, compatibility and functionality of the network topology between the heterogeneous
routers using the Fast Reroute protection will be possible to use this MPLS TE application
in the real networks.

Keywords: Cisco, Fast Reroute, Huawei, MPLS

1. Introduction

In the 1990s, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) was considered an ideal solution in trans-
mission networks to operate with different demands [1]. In earlier times, this technology
provided traffic engineering by a virtual channel as well as Frame-Relay. But subsequently
IP began to replace the ATM technology, which became the most popular network proto-
col for transmission. On the other hand, the ATM was still widely used by telecommunica-
tion providers at that time. Since 1999, the draft of multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) has
become the IETF [2] standard and internet service providers started to use this concept for IP/
MPLS transmission over older ATM technology. In this chapter, we focus on the application

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
© 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
40 Proceedings of the 2nd Czech-China Scientific Conference 2016

of MPLS called MPLS traffic engineering. MPLS TE can be understood as “effective planning
utilization” [3]. Instead of the normal routing of IP packets, MPLS TE routes traffic according
to the source IP addresses. This application can choose the most appropriate links according
to the speed of individual lines, delay, delay variability and can also react automatically to
the change of these parameters [3, 4]. In addition, the applications of MPLS are also used for
an effective creation of separate virtual private networks among the company branches, or for
addressing QoS issues in communication networks, such as satellite and mobile cellular net-
works. This chapter is focused on the most used function of MPLS TE called Fast Reroute. Fast
Reroute can be used in the case of a link or node failure in the MPLS network. Both vendors
Huawei and Cisco support MPLS TE, but each vendor can use a different function model. The
main motivation of this chapter is to bring complex view on usage and cooperation between
routers of two different vendors using Fast Reroute protection.

2. State of the art

Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is a backbone technology, which uses labels attached
to the packets for their transmission. Packets are not transmitted based on the destination
IP addresses but according to the MPLS labels. The protocol allows most packets to be for-
warded at Layer 2 (switching) rather than at Layer 3 (routing). The term “multiprotocol”
means that it can transport various protocols on Layer 3 such as IPv4, IPv6, IPX, and protocols
of Layer 2, e.g., Ethernet, HDLC, Frame-Relay, or ATM [5].
As shown in Figure 1, source A sends a packet to the router CE1. CE1 handles the packet
according to its routing table in a standard way. According to the destination IP address of
each packet, the ingress router (PE1) inserts a label in front of the IP header at the edge of
the backbone network. All the subsequent routers ignore the IP headers and perform the
packet forwarding based on the labels in front of them. This MPLS label determines a path
that is used for the routing of a particular packet. Paths through MPLS network are called
LSPs [5, 7].

Figure 1. Packet forwarding via MPLS network [6].

 Effective Planning and Analysis of Huawei and Cisco Routers for MPLS Network Design Using Fast Reroute Protection 41
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/66785

Each label has its local importance and every MPLS backbone router processes the packet
based on the MPLS label. Finally, the egress router (PE2) removes the label and forwards the
original IP packet toward its final destination.

3. Methodology

Nowadays, practically, computer networks are not built only on a homogeneous infrastruc-
ture, but they use heterogeneous devices.
As depicted in Figure 2, the basic MPLS topology consists of two Huawei routers—the first
one AR3200 and the second one AR2200 (marked in the red frame) and two Cisco 2800 series
routers. The first goal was to verify MPLS functionality and interoperability among these
above-mentioned routers.

Figure 2. MPLS network.topology.

Huawei routers have only two CLI modes (basic view and the system view). The basic con-
figuration of Huawei routers is as follows:

[Huawei]sysname PE1
[PE1]ospf 1
[PE1-ospf-1]area 0
[PE1-ospf-1-area-0.0.0.0]network 1.1.1.0 0.0.0.3
[PE1-ospf-1-area-0.0.0.0]network 10.0.0.1 0.0.0.0
[P1]mpls lsr-id 10.0.0.2
[PE1]mpls
[PE1-mpls]lsp-trigger all
[PE1]mpls ldp
42 Proceedings of the 2nd Czech-China Scientific Conference 2016

[PE1]int lo0
[PE1-LoopBack0]ip address 10.0.0.1 255.255.255.255

[PE1]int g0/0/1
[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]ip address 1.1.1.1 255.255.255.252
[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]mpls

[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]mpls ldp

[PE1]int g0/0/0
[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/0]ip address 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0

[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]mpls
[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]mpls ldp

All routers use OSPF as a routing protocol. Unlike Cisco routers, LSR identification must be
configured on every Huawei router. For identification of Huawei routers, the loopback IP
addresses were applied. The command lsp-trigger all allocates label for each IP prefix in the
routing table. Then the LDP protocol for exchange of MPLS labels had to be activated for each
MPLS physical interface.

3.1. Configuration of MPLS TE on Huawei routers

The network topology of the MPLS TE network is depicted in Figure 3.

First of all, it is necessary to configure MPLS TE technology and then turn on signalling pro-
tocol RSVP-TE. In the case of a link or node failure, we configure mpls rsvp-te hello as well. It
is also necessary to enable modified SPF algorithm called CSPF which excludes. Using CSPF
algorithm, the ingress MPLS router do not use these lines, which not satisfying the require-
ments of the data flow.
It is also necessary to explicitly turn on RSVP-TE for each MPLS physical interface. The part
of the configuration is setting of the maximum bit rate of a line, which can be reserved. This
bit rate cannot exceed the bit rate of a physical interface. The command mpls te bandwidth bc0
10000 defines maximum total bandwidth for class type 0. In this case, the maximum bit rate
of a physical interface is used.

In order to LSR routers could exchange information about set parameters such as maximum
bit rate of the line, it is necessary to configure support for a special type of message OSPF
LSA 10 for the OSPF area. Then this type of message is used for CSPF algorithm. By the
command opaque-capability enable, we allow propagation of LSA 10 messages. Next command
enable traffic-adjustment advertise includes static LSP tunnels into SPF calculation and to the
routing table.

[PE1-mpls]mpls te
[PE1-mpls]mpls rsvp-te
 Effective Planning and Analysis of Huawei and Cisco Routers for MPLS Network Design Using Fast Reroute Protection 43
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/66785

[PE1-mpls]mpls rsvp-te hello

[PE1-mpls]mpls te cspf

[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]mpls rsvp-te

[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]mpls rsvp-te hello

[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]mpls te bandwidth max-reservable bandwidth 10000

[PE1-GigabitEthernet0/0/1]mpls te bandwidth bc0 10000

[PE1]ospf 1

[PE1-ospf-1]area 0

[PE1 ospf-1-area-0.0.0.0]mpls-te enable

[PE1-ospf-1]opaque-capability enable

[PE1-ospf-1]enable traffic-adjustment advertise

Figure 3. MPLS TE topology.

3.2. Configuration of MPLS TE on Cisco routers

To enable the MPLS TE technology on Cisco routers, it is necessary to configure mpls traffic-
eng tunnels and ip rsvp signaling hello commands. To achieve establishment of the LDP signal-
ing protocol from the loopback interface, mpls ldp router-id Loopback0 force is configured.
44 Proceedings of the 2nd Czech-China Scientific Conference 2016

A part of the next configuration is to explicitly turn on RSVP-TE for each MPLS physical
interface and set the maximum bit rate of a line which can be reserved. Using mpls traffic-eng
area 0 command is configured a special type of message OSPF LSA 10 for the OSPF area. Each
Cisco router must be uniquely identified using OSPF router-ID. If the router did not have this
identification, OSPF LSA 10 will not be transmitted.

PE2(config)#mpls ldp router-id Loopback0 force

PE2(config)#mpls traffic-eng tunnels

PE2(config)#ip rsvp signalling hello

PE2(config)#interface FastEthernet0/1

PE2(config-if)#mpls traffic-eng tunnels

PE2(config-if)#ip rsvp bandwidth 10000

PE2(config-if)#ip rsvp signalling hello

PE2(config)#router ospf 1

PE2(config-router)#mpls traffic-eng router-id Loopback0

PE2(config-router)#mpls traffic-eng area 0

3.3. Configuration of primary explicit path on Cisco router PE1

To define an explicit path for the primary line through the MPLS network via routers PE1-P1-
P3-P2-PE2, each next hop is defined by the IP address of the LSR router.

MPLS TE technology includes configuration of MPLS tunnel connections. As a tunnel source,

a loopback interface is defined by IP address unnumbered interface LoopBack0 command. Last
next hop IP address of an explicit path must match the destination of the tunnel. In our case,
10.0.0.4 is used. Identification of the MPLS tunnel is made by mpls te tunnel-id 1 command.
Priority is set by the command mpls te priority 0, where zero indicates the highest priority. A
part of the configuration must be mpls te record-route label which records the links during the
initiation of the tunnel.

[PE1]explicit-path PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2

[PE1-explicit-path-PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2]next hop 1.1.1.2

[PE1-explicit-path-PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2]next hop 1.1.1.14

[PE1-explicit-path-PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2]next hop 1.1.1.17

[PE1-explicit-path-PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2]next hop 1.1.1.10

[PE1-explicit-path-PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2]next hop 10.0.0.4

[PE1]interface Tunnel0/0/0
 Effective Planning and Analysis of Huawei and Cisco Routers for MPLS Network Design Using Fast Reroute Protection 45
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/66785

[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]tunnel-protocol mpls te
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]ip address unnumbered interface LoopBack0
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]destination 10.0.0.4
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te tunnel-id 1
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te record-route label
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te priority 0
Bit rate 128 kbit/s is assigned to the MPLS tunnel. It is necessary to define an explicit path.
During the failover of the primary line, command mpls te fast-reroute bandwidth guarantees
switching to the backup line with a keeping bit rate of the primary line. By mplsteigpshortcut
command, tunnel becomes a virtual tunnel line, which will be inserted into the IP routing
table. To ensure the tunnel connection precedence over the traditional calculation by OSPF
routing protocol, we define an absolute metric for this tunnel using mpls te igp metric absolute
1command.
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te bandwidth ct0 128
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te path explicit-path PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te fast-reroute bandwidth
[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te igp shortcut

[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te igp metric absolute 1

[PE1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te commit

3.4. Configuration of primary explicit path on Huawei router PE2

Because every explicit path is unidirectional, we need to configure MPLS tunnel in the oppo-
site direction via routers PE2-P2-P3-P1-PE1.

Similarly, primary MPLS tunnel is configured on the Cisco router. As a tunnel source, a loop-
back interface is used. Because the last next hop of the explicit path is IP address 10.0.0.1, this
address is defined as a destination address. By tunnel mpls traffic-eng autoroute announce com-
mand, Cisco router announces the presence of the MPLS tunnel to the IP routing table. The
highest priority is set by mpls te priority 0 command.
PE2(config)#ip explicit-path name PE2-P2-P3-P1-PE1

PE2(cfg-ip-expl-path)#next-address 1.1.1.9
PE2(cfg-ip-expl-path)#next-address 1.1.1.18
PE2(cfg-ip-expl-path)#next-address 1.1.1.13
PE2(cfg-ip-expl-path)#next-address 1.1.1.1
PE2(cfg-ip-expl-path)#next-address 10.0.0.1
46 Proceedings of the 2nd Czech-China Scientific Conference 2016

PE2(config)#interface Tunnel0
PE2(config-if)#ip unnumbered Loopback0

PE2(config-if)#tunnel destination 10.0.0.1

PE2(config-if)#tunnel mode mpls traffic-eng
PE2(config-if)#tunnel mpls traffic-eng autoroute announce

PE2(config-if)#tunnel mpls traffic-eng priority 0 0

Same bit rate (128 kbit/s) is assigned to MPLS tunnel. The explicit path is then included in the
MPLS tunnel interface. During failover of the primary line on the Cisco site, command tunnel
mpls traffic-eng fast-reroute bw-protect guarantees switching to the backup line with a keeping
bit rate of the primary line.
PE2(config-if)#tunnel mpls traffic-eng bandwidth 128
PE2(config-if)#tunnel mpls traffic-eng path-option 1 explicit PE2-P2-P3-P1-PE1
PE2(config-if)#tunnel mpls traffic-eng record-route
PE2(config-if)#tunnel mpls traffic-eng fast-reroute bw-protect

3.5. Configuration of backup path and Fast Reroute on Huawei router P1

In next step, the router P1 is configured. A backup explicit path is defined between routers
P1 and P2. This backup tunnel will be used when the primary path PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2 fails.
The function of the backup exit node has a destination router P2 which uses 10.0.0.3 address.
This tunnel interface becomes a backup link using mpls te bypass-tunnel command. Last com-
mand protects the interface GigabitEthernet0/0/2, in the case of failure of the router P3 or link
between P1 and P3.
[P1]explicit-path P1-P2
[P1-explicit-path-P1-P2]next hop 1.1.1.6
[P1-explicit-path-P1-P2]next hop 10.0.0.3
[P1]interface Tunnel0/0/0

[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]ip address unnumbered interface LoopBack0

[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]tunnel-protocol mpls te

[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]destination 10.0.0.3
[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te tunnel-id 1
[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te record-route
[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te priority 0
[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te path explicit-path P1-P2
 Effective Planning and Analysis of Huawei and Cisco Routers for MPLS Network Design Using Fast Reroute Protection 47
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/66785

[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te bypass-tunnel

[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te igp shortcut

[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te igp metric absolute 1

[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te protected-interface GigabitEthernet0/0/2

[P1-Tunnel0/0/0]mpls te commit

4. Results

4.1. Verification of MPLS TE technology

After the configuration, it is time to verify the correct functionality of the MPLS TE technol-
ogy. Figure 4 shows the LFIB table with MPLS labels and also a created primary MPLS TE
tunnel. The entry point of the tunnel is the PE1 router with IP address 10.0.0.1, which corre-
sponds to the configured IP address on the loopback interface. The exit point is therouterPE2,
which is identified by IPaddress10.0.0.4. Likewise, we can see establishment of the primary-
tunnelPE2_t0 to theIPaddress10.0.0.4. Each one-way tunnel route has its own identification
(LSPID) and assigned MPLS label.

Figure 4. LFIB table of router PE1.

48 Proceedings of the 2nd Czech-China Scientific Conference 2016

As it can be seen in Figure 5, the transmission rate of 128kbit/s is reserved throughout the LSP
routersPE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2. The same transmission rate is reserved for the tunnellinePE2-P2-P3-
P1-PE1 as well.

Figure 5. Reserved transmission rates of MPLS tunnels.

The records marked “T” in the LFIB table of the routerPE2indicated that packets are sent
through MPLSTE tunnel. As we can see in Figure 6, Huawei router remembers only the IP
address of the end of the MPLS tunnel. However, a Cisco router in the LFIB table also records
the subnet 192.168.10.0/24.

Figure 7 shows the established primary tunnels, which pass through the router P1, but also
established backup tunnels. The entry point of the backup tunnel is the IP address 10.0.0.2
and the exit point is the router P2, which is identified by the IPaddress10.0.0.3. Likewise, we
see the backup tunnel(P2_t0), which was defined on the router P2.

Figure 6. LFIB table of router PE2.

Figure 7. Primary and backup MPLS TE tunnels established on the router P1.
 Effective Planning and Analysis of Huawei and Cisco Routers for MPLS Network Design Using Fast Reroute Protection 49
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/66785

4.1.1. Verification of MPLS TE Fast Reroute

Explicitly configured path through MPLS tunnel was verified using trace route command
fromPC1toPC2 via PE1-P1-P3-P2-PE2 routers, as depicted in Figure 8.

An Ethernet link between routers P1 and P3 was disconnected. Every single second was sent
an ICMP message from PC1 to PC2. Because 5ICMP messages were lost, the reconvergence
time of Fast Reroute was just 5seconds, which can be seen in Figure 9.

As depicted in Figure 10, the primary tunnel line used inner MPLS label 28, there is still main-
tained as the inner label. Value "zero" is used as the outer MPLS label. This explicit NULL
label signals to the receiving router P2 to remove the outer MPLS label.

Figure 8. Verified explicit path through primary tunnel.

Figure 9. Rerouting of ICMP traffic to the backup tunnel from PC1 to PC2.

Figure 10. ICMP traffic between routers P1 and P2.

50 Proceedings of the 2nd Czech-China Scientific Conference 2016

Fast Reroute was also tested on the Cisco site which was subsequently disconnected by means
of a serial link between routers P2 and P3. Every single second was sent an ICMP message
from PC2 to PC1. Because only two ICMP messages were lost, the convergence time of Fast
Reroute was just 2 seconds, which can be seen in Figure 11.

Figure 11. Rerouting of ICMP traffic to the backup tunnel from PC2 to PC1.

As depicted in Figure 12, the reconvergence time of the OSPF protocol was also measured
without the function of Fast Reroute. The measured time was 15 seconds.

Figure 12. Rerouting of ICMP traffic without using Fast Reroute.

5. Conclusion

The goal of this chapter was to test a network scenario of interoperability between differ-
ent vendor’s network devices for MPLS TE technology using the Fast Reroute function.
Our goal was to verify the compatibility and functionality between the Cisco and Huawei
devices. Although MPLS technology is standardized by RFC, some of our practical experi-
ence showed us problems in interoperability between different vendors within various RFC
standardized technologies. The basic MPLS configuration was without any problems. The
appropriate IP prefixes were successfully exchanged. LIB and LFIB tables were filled up.
 Effective Planning and Analysis of Huawei and Cisco Routers for MPLS Network Design Using Fast Reroute Protection 51
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/66785

The major ­disadvantage of Huawei routers during the MPLS TE configuration is necessity to
have the appropriate license. After the license activation, the MPLS TE technology worked
properly and the primary and backup MPLS tunnels were established. Without using the
technology MPLS TE, the OSPF reconvergence lasted about 15 seconds, after disconnecting
Ethernet cable. Due to function Fast Reroute of MPLS TE, the reconvergence lasted only 5
seconds between routers P1 and P3, which is 1/3of convergence time within the OSPF pro-
tocol. When using Fast Reroute, the convergence lasted only 2 seconds after disconnecting
serial link between routers P2 and P3. It is 1/8 of convergence time within the OSPF protocol.
If more routers were added to the network topology, it would lead to a longer convergence
time of OSPF but the reconvergence time within Fast Reroute would remain unchanged.

Because nowadays the fast convergence is very critical, this chapter showed that the ISPs can
use these heterogeneous network routers together with Fast Reroute technology, which can
greatly reduce the convergence time.

Acknowledgements

This publication was created within the project support of VŠB-TUO activities with China
with financial support from the Moravian-Silesian Region and partially was supported by
the grant SGS reg. no. SP2016/170 conducted at VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech
Republic.

Author details

Martin Hlozak1*, Dominik Uhrin1, Jerry Chun-Wei Lin2 and Miroslav Voznak1

Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1 Department of Telecommunications, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer

Science, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic

2 School of Computer Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen

Graduate School, Shenzhen, China

References

[1] K. I. Park, “QoS in packet networks”, The Kluwer International Series in Engineering and
Computer Science, vol. 779, pp. 213–231, 2005.

[2] IETF, RFC 3031: Multiprotocol Label Switching Architecture [online], 2001. Available from:
https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3031.txt
52 Proceedings of the 2nd Czech-China Scientific Conference 2016

[3] Ramadža, J. Ožegović, V. Pekić, “Network performance monitoring within MPLS traffic
engineering enabled networks”, in Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks
(SoftCOM) 2015, Croatia, IEEE pp. 315–319, 2015.

[4] B. Dekeris, L. Narbutaite, “Traffic control mechanism within MPLS networks”, IEEE
Information Technology Interfaces, pp. 603–608, 2004.

[5] M. Hlozak, J. Frnda, Z. Chmelikova, M. Voznak, “Analysis of Cisco and Huawei routers
cooperation for MPLS network design”, Telecommunications Forum Telfor (TELFOR), pp.
115–118, 2014.

[6] Yoo-Hwa Kang, J. Lee, “The implementation of the premium services for MPLS IP
VPNs”, in IEEE Advanced Communication Technology, ICACT 2005, South Korea, IEEE pp.
1107–1110, 2005.

[7] T. Almandhari, F. Shiginah, “A performance study framework for Multi-Protocol Label

Switching (MPLS) networks”, in GCC Conference and Exhibition (GCCCE), Oman, IEEE
pp. 1–6, 2015.