System and method to provision MPLS/VPN network

A computer network operations system comprising:

• a terminal having a display portion;
• a data input device to receive input from a user;
• a computer system having a memory and a processor, the computer system coupled to the terminal and to the data input device;
• wherein the display portion of the terminal provides an input screen having a data format configured to prompt the user to provide high-level network topology data via the data input device, the high-level network topology data including a plurality of data entries, a first set of the plurality of data entries identifying customer edge (CE) routers, a second set of the plurality of data entries identifying provider edge (PE) routers corresponding to each of the customer edge routers, and a third set of the plurality of data entries identifying a topology type of a virtual private network (VPN);
• wherein the computer system converts the high-level network topology data into a set of route targets to be assigned to virtual routing and forwarding elements, the set of route targets stored in the memory, wherein the memory includes a virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) element to route target data mapping for each of a plurality of provider edge routers (PEs) and wherein all of the customer edge routers (CEs) with the same route target (RT) set on one PE share one VRF.

A method of provisioning a virtual private network service, the method comprising:

• providing a set of rules regarding assignment of route targets stored in a memory for each of a plurality of virtual private networks;
• configuring provider edge routers (PEs) of a backbone network;
• configuring customer edge routers (CEs), each of the customer edge routers having a relationship link to at least one of the provider edge routers;
• assigning route targets to each of the customer edge routers based on topology requirements of the backbone network and based on the set of rules, wherein route targets are grouped into sets and duplicate sets of route targets are removed based on the route targets between duplicate sets of route targets being the same, and wherein the topology requirements comprise a plurality of data entries, a first set of the plurality of data entries identifying customer edge (CE) routers, a second set of the plurality of data entries identifying provider edge (PE) routers corresponding to each of the customer edge routers, and a third set of the plurality of data entries identifying a topology type of a virtual private network (VPN);
• and
• configuring each of the VRFs and RTs on the corresponding provider edge routers to form a logical topology;
• wherein the memory further includes a virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) element to route target data mapping for each of a plurality of provider edge routers (PEs) and wherein all of the customer edge routers (CEs) with the same route target (RT) set on one PE share one VRF.

A system to monitor a backbone network, the system comprising:

• a terminal having a display portion;
• a data input device to receive input from a user;
• a computer system having a memory and a processor, the computer system coupled to the terminal and to the data input device;
• wherein the display portion of the terminal provides an input screen having a data format configured to prompt the user to provide high-level network topology data via the data input device, the backbone network including a plurality of CEs, a plurality of PEs, a plurality of virtual routing and forwarding components, a plurality of route targets, a plurality of virtual private networks and wherein the high level network topology data identifies the CEs, the PEs within each of the virtual private networks, and a plurality of data entries, a first set of the plurality of data entries identifying customer edge (CE) routers, a second set of the plurality of data entries identifying provider edge (PE) routers corresponding to each of the customer edge routers, and a third set of the plurality of data entries identifying a topology type of a virtual private network (VPN);
• wherein the computer system includes a set of rules to convert the high-level network topology data into a set of route targets to be assigned to virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) elements, the set of route targets stored in the memory;
• and
• wherein the memory further includes a VRF to route target data mapping for each of a plurality of PEs and wherein the CEs with the same RT set on one PE share one VRF.