[c-nsp] Layer 2 VLAN advice..

[Michael K. Smith]

On 2/1/10 12:59 PM, "Peter Kranz" <pkranz at unwiredltd.com> wrote:

> Currently in our network we use dot1Q trunks to forward end-user/customer
> VLANs from Site A to Site B to provide them virtual point-to-point circuits
> between data centers without the overhead of some type of VPN tunnel.
> 
> However if one of our backhauls between data centers fails, we would desire
> these VLAN's to forward via an alternative backhaul path (All of our data
> centers have at least 2 exits to other datacenters in our network, and are
> meshed via OSPF/BGP)
> 
> It seems like there are a lot of different approaches to provide some level
> of self-healing/redundancy to these layer2 services we offer, I am
> interested in advice on which would be most straightforward to implement on
> top of our existing layer3 network.
> 
> Perhaps implementing Rapid-PVST is the simplest approach, but I'd be
> interested in some best-practices knowledge here..
> 
> Thanks!
We're using Cisco Resilient Ethernet Protocol (REP) which does the trick.
Depending upon your gear, you could also look at 802.17 (RPR) or Spatial
Reuse Protocol (SRP) on the routers.  I'm sure there are more acronyms as
well.

Regards,

Mike