How do you migrate from legacy WAN technologies to MPLS VPNs with minimal disruption and cost?

1 Assess your current network

Before you plan your migration, you need to assess your current network and identify your requirements and goals. You should evaluate the bandwidth and performance of your legacy WAN, such as how much bandwidth you need for applications and services, how to measure and monitor performance, and how to handle congestion and prioritize traffic. Additionally, consider security and privacy measures like protecting data from unauthorized access, isolating different traffic types, and complying with regulatory standards. Make sure to also evaluate availability and reliability by ensuring network uptime, handling failures, backing up data, and restoring configurations. Lastly, consider scalability and flexibility for accommodating changes in the network, adding or removing sites or services, and supporting new technologies.

2 Choose your MPLS VPN type

MPLS VPNs can be divided into two main types: Layer 2 VPNs and Layer 3 VPNs. Layer 2 VPNs offer point-to-point or point-to-multipoint connectivity between sites at the data link layer, allowing you to transport any protocol over MPLS, such as Ethernet, Frame Relay, or ATM. Layer 3 VPNs provide multipoint-to-multipoint connectivity between sites at the network layer and use routing protocols, such as BGP or OSPF, to exchange routes and labels over MPLS. This type of VPN allows you to segment your network into different virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) instances. The selection of MPLS VPN type depends on factors like the level of control and transparency you want for your network, the compatibility and interoperability of your devices and applications, as well as the complexity and cost of your network. Layer 2 VPNs give you more control and transparency but are more complex and costly. On the other hand, Layer 3 VPNs offer less control and transparency but require less configuration and management.

3 Design your MPLS VPN topology

Once you have chosen your MPLS VPN type, you need to design your MPLS VPN topology. You should map out the number and location of your sites, as well as their bandwidth and performance requirements. Additionally, you should select your service providers based on coverage, quality, and price, and decide if you want to use one or more for redundancy and diversity. You should also choose your edge devices based on capabilities, compatibility, and scalability; decide if you want to use routers or switches, dedicated or shared devices, or customer or provider edge devices; and define your tunnels and labels based on your MPLS VPN type, traffic segmentation, and security requirements. Finally, decide if you want to use static or dynamic tunnels and labels, or single or multiple labels.

4 Implement your MPLS VPN migration

Once you have designed your MPLS VPN topology, it is important to implement your MPLS VPN migration. To ensure a successful migration, you should begin by backing up your data and configurations, testing your devices and applications, and communicating your migration plan to stakeholders. During the migration, you should migrate your network in phases starting with the least critical sites and services. It is also important to monitor your network performance and troubleshoot any issues that arise. After the migration, verify the network functionality and security, collect feedback from users and stakeholders, and document your network changes and improvements.

5 Optimize your MPLS VPN network

Once you have implemented your MPLS VPN migration, you should optimize your network for efficiency and effectiveness. To do this, you can use tools and techniques such as traffic engineering, quality of service, or load balancing to optimize bandwidth utilization and performance. Additionally, you can use encryption, authentication, or firewall to enhance security and privacy. Moreover, redundancy, backup, or failover can be used to optimize availability and reliability. Finally, automation, virtualization, or cloud can be employed to boost scalability and flexibility.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?