Applicability Statement for BGP/MPLS IP Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
RFC 4365

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Network Working Group                                           E. Rosen
Request for Comments: 4365                           Cisco Systems, Inc.
Category: Informational                                    February 2006

                Applicability Statement for BGP/MPLS IP
                    Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

   This document provides an Applicability Statement for the Virtual
   Private Network (VPN) solution described in RFC 4364 and other
   documents listed in the References section.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. SP Provisioning Model ...........................................4
   3. Supported Topologies and Traffic Types ..........................6
   4. Isolated Exchange of Data and Routing Information ...............7
   5. Access Control and Authentication ...............................9
   6. Security Considerations .........................................9
      6.1. Protection of User Data ....................................9
      6.2. SP Security Measures ......................................10
      6.3. Security Framework Template ...............................12
   7. Addressing .....................................................18
   8. Interoperability and Interworking ..............................19
   9. Network Access .................................................19
      9.1. Physical/Link Layer Topology ..............................19
      9.2. Temporary Access ..........................................19
      9.3. Access Connectivity .......................................20
   10. Service Access ................................................21
      10.1. Internet Access ..........................................21
      10.2. Other Services ...........................................21
   11. SP Routing ....................................................22
   12. Migration Impact ..............................................22
   13. Scalability ...................................................23
   14. QoS, SLA ......................................................26

Rosen                        Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 4365      Applicability Statement for BGP/MPLS IP VPNs February 2006

   15. Management ....................................................27
      15.1. Management by the Provider ...............................27
      15.2. Management by the Customer ...............................28
   16. Acknowledgements ..............................................28
   17. Normative References ..........................................29
   18. Informative References ........................................29

1.  Introduction

   This document provides an Applicability Statement for the Virtual
   Private Network (VPN) solution described in [BGP-MPLS-IP-VPN] and
   other documents listed in the References section.  We refer to these
   as "BGP/MPLS IP VPNs", because Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is used
   to distribute the routes, and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is
   used to indicate that particular packets need to follow particular
   routes.  The characteristics of BGP/MPLS IP VPNs are compared with
   the requirements specified in [L3VPN-REQS].

   A VPN service is provided by a Service Provider (SP) to a customer
   (sometimes referred to as an enterprise).  BGP/MPLS IP VPNs are
   intended for the situation in which:

     - The customer:

         * uses the VPN only for carrying IP packets.

         * does not want to manage a routed backbone; the customer may
           be using routing within his sites, but wishes to outsource
           the inter-site routing to the SP.

         * wants the SP to make the backbone and its routing completely
           transparent to the customer's own routing.

           If the customer has a routed infrastructure at his sites, he
           does not want his site routing algorithms to need to be aware
           of any part of the SP backbone network, other than the
           Provider Edge (PE) routers to which the sites are attached.
           In particular, the customer does not want his routers to need
           to be aware of either the native structure of the SP backbone
           or an overlay topology of tunnels through the SP backbone.

     - The Service Provider:

         * has an IP backbone, with MPLS-enabled edge routers, and
           possibly (though not necessarily) with MPLS-enabled core
           routers.

Rosen                        Informational                      [Page 2]
RFC 4365      Applicability Statement for BGP/MPLS IP VPNs February 2006

         * wants to provide a service that meets the customer