Is MPLS going away?

June 6, 2023

Summary

In this article, we will explore the topic of MPLS and its alternatives. We will discuss the declining popularity of MPLS and why it is being replaced by SD-WAN. We will also look at the benefits of SD-WAN over MPLS and address common questions and concerns regarding the transition from MPLS to SD-WAN.

Main Thought

MPLS, once a popular choice for reliable and secure connectivity, is facing challenges in terms of capacity and cost. The increasing demand for bandwidth and the high costs associated with MPLS are driving organizations to seek alternative solutions.

Key Points

1. SD-WAN as an Alternative: SD-WAN offers a virtual WAN architecture that allows for the use of multiple connection types, including MPLS, broadband, dedicated internet access, and LTE. This flexibility in connectivity options makes SD-WAN a viable alternative to MPLS.

2. Reduced Bandwidth Costs: MPLS bandwidth is expensive when compared to public internet bandwidth. SD-WAN provides a cost-effective solution by leveraging different connection types, resulting in reduced bandwidth costs.

3. Use Cases for MPLS: While MPLS is still suitable for applications that require high-speed and reliable data delivery, such as real-time applications and setting up wide area networks, organizations are increasingly finding SD-WAN to be a more flexible and cost-effective option.

Questions and Answers

1. Question: What is replacing MPLS?
Answer: The best alternative to MPLS is SD-WAN, which offers a virtual WAN architecture with varying connection options.

2. Question: Why is MPLS declining?
Answer: MPLS is facing capacity challenges and high overall costs, particularly in terms of bandwidth costs.

3. Question: Is MPLS more secure than the internet?
Answer: MPLS does provide some additional security benefits due to the different routing mechanism it uses compared to traditional internet traffic.

4. Question: What are the disadvantages of MPLS?
Answer: MPLS is optimized for point-to-point connectivity and requires WAN optimization for streamlined delivery. It can also be expensive, especially when compared to options like Ethernet.

5. Question: Why replace MPLS with SD-WAN?
Answer: SD-WAN offers similar performance and reliability to MPLS but with lower costs, easier deployment, more flexible configuration, higher performance, and stronger security.

6. Question: Which is better, MPLS or SD-WAN?
Answer: MPLS is better suited for real-time applications with quality-of-service guarantees, while SD-WAN offers lower costs, more flexibility, and stronger security for distributed users and workloads.

7. Question: Why are customers moving to SD-WAN?
Answer: SD-WAN allows for easy and cost-effective setup of new branch offices, eliminating the need for travel or on-site configuration.

8. Question: What are the downsides of SD-WAN?
Answer: One downside of SD-WAN is the hype surrounding it, which may lead to complacency regarding the need for MPLS or dedicated firewall security.

Conclusion

MPLS is facing challenges in terms of capacity and cost, leading organizations to seek alternatives like SD-WAN. SD-WAN offers a flexible and cost-effective solution with various connection options. It provides similar performance and reliability to MPLS while offering additional benefits such as lower costs, easier deployment, and stronger security for distributed users and workloads.
Is MPLS going away?

What is replacing MPLS

The best alternative to MPLS is an SD-WAN network. SD-WAN is a virtual WAN architecture. It uses software to abstract the networking layer, allowing you to use varying connection types interchangeably. Connectivity options include MPLS, broadband, dedicated internet access (DIA), and LTE.

Why is MPLS declining

MPLS is falling down on the job in capacity, especially as that capacity requires still more infrastructure to support. The combination of high overall costs and capacity issues poses an entirely new problem when it comes to MPLS: bandwidth costs.

Why replace MPLS

What are the benefits of SD-WAN Reduced Bandwidth Costs: MPLS bandwidth is expensive. On a “dollar per bit” basis, MPLS is significantly higher than public Internet bandwidth. Exactly how much more expensive will depend on a number of variables, not the least of which is location.

Is MPLS needed

MPLS can be used when speed and reliability are highly important. Applications that require near-immediate data delivery are known as real-time applications. Voice calls and video calls are two common examples of real-time applications. MPLS can also be used to set up wide area networks (WANs).

What is better than MPLS

Why Is SD-WAN Better than MPLS SD-WAN can use any combination of connections, whereas MPLS requires static, dedicated network connections. This allows SD-WAN to offer lower costs, easier deployment, more flexible configuration, higher performance, and stronger security for distributed users and workloads.

Is MPLS more secure than Internet

Security. Traffic flowing over an MPLS network uses routes differently than traditional Internet traffic, which provides some additional security.

What are the disadvantages of MPLS

Cons of MPLS:MPLS is optimized for point-to-point connectivity only.If your offices are situated in different countries or states, then MPLS will take a long time to deploy.MPLS also requires WAN optimization for streamlining its delivery.MPLS is also expensive when compared to options like Ethernet.

What are the downsides of MPLS

MPLS Disadvantages

It requires WAN optimization to streamline the delivery, which adds extra cost on top of a solution that can already be pricey. It takes a long time to deploy, especially when office locations are spread across different states or countries.

Why replace MPLS with SD-WAN

SD-WAN provides similar performance and reliability to a dedicated MPLS circuit. However, it accomplishes this by aggregating various transport media and optimizing traffic routing rather than relying upon predefined, dedicated links.

Which is better MPLS or SD-WAN

MPLS services often include quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees. SD-WAN leverages best effort Internet services and may experience occasional packet loss. However, most SD-WAN services compensate for this by intelligently steering traffic away from lossy connections. MPLS is better for real-time applications.

Why are customers moving to SD-WAN

An SD WAN service lets you set up new branch offices easily and cheaply as it requires no travel or on-site configuration. Using SD-WAN, you can bring appliances online automatically by using centralised policy rules.

Why is SD-WAN better than MPLS

SD-WAN can use any combination of connections, whereas MPLS requires static, dedicated network connections. This allows SD-WAN to offer lower costs, easier deployment, more flexible configuration, higher performance, and stronger security for distributed users and workloads.

What is the downside of SD-WAN

In many ways, the disadvantage of SD-WAN revolves around the hype. With marketing suggesting a single device is able to perform everything required using almost no deployment involvement, there is a risk that IT teams become complacent believing there is no need to spend on MPLS or dedicated Firewall security.

What is SD-WAN and why it’s replacing MPLS

Is SD-WAN better than MPLS