Design and deploy high availability IP and MPLS network architectures with this comprehensive guide * Includes a detailed overview of the IP/MPLS forwarding and control plane protocols, including OSPF, IS-IS, LDP, BGP, and RSVP * Analyze fault-tolerant IP/MPLS control plane architectures with the explanations in this book * Develop a clear understanding of various high availability aspects of IP/MPLS networks * Learn how to seamlessly deploy IP/MPLS control plane restart mechanisms * Master the application of fault-tolerant control-plane architectures in designing and deploying highly reliable and available MPLS applications, such as traffic engineering, L2VPNs, and L3VPNs * Understand the layered architecture of network-level fault recovery mechanisms, such as optical, SONET, MPLS, and interactions between different layers In the wake of increased traffic, today's service providers and enterprises must assure high availability across a variety of networked services and applications. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is the enabling technology for the widespread deployment of IP networks in core and Metro Ethernet applications. Many service providers need to move their legacy Layer 2 and Layer 3 services onto converged MPLS and IP-enabled networks, but high availability is a prerequisite for offering profitable carrier-class services. Although most carrier-class routers do provide an adequate level of hardware redundancy, control-plane software is still vulnerable to and, in many cases, the cause of router failures. Fault-Tolerant IP and MPLS Networks provides you with an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms that improve the reliability and availability of IP and MPLS control plane components. The IP/MPLS control-plane architecture and all its restart mechanisms are explained with examples and deployment considerations. This explanation of IP/MPLS control-plane architecture begins with a service view of the network, moves on to the node-level view by partitioning the network into its constituent network elements, and then advances to the component-level view to explore various techniques that can be used to improve the reliability and availability of each component. The top-down and example-oriented approach facilitates a solid understanding of the constituent components before moving on to more advanced MPLS applications involving multiple components. Fault-Tolerant IP and MPLS Networks is your practical guide for understanding, designing, and deploying carrier class IP/MPLS networks. This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press' which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.