Mechanism for E-VPN interoperability with VPLS

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a first network device in a set of network devices belonging to a first redundancy group, a pseudowire label for a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) from a Designated Forwarder for the VLAN, wherein:
• the Designated Forwarder for the VLAN is one of the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group,
• the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group, including the first network device, are MPLS Edge Switch (MES) devices that support Ethernet Virtual Private Network (E-VPN), and
• the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group are all coupled to a first customer edge device;
• receiving, by the first network device, a set of one or more destination Media Access Control (MAC) addresses for the VLAN from the Designated Forwarder for the VLAN;
• receiving, from the first customer edge device on the VLAN, a first traffic packet destined to one of the set of destination MAC addresses;
• encapsulating, by the first network device, the first traffic packet, with the pseudowire label;
• identifying, by the first network device, on a per VPN instance basis, a set of network devices that support E-VPN;
• identifying, by the network device, a set of network devices that support Virtual Private Local Area Network Service (VPLS);
• identifying a set of network devices that support VPLS but do not support E-VPN by identifying a subset of the set of network devices that support VPLS that are not in the set of network devices that support E-VPN;
• and
• for each remote node in the set of network devices that support VPLS but do not support E-VPN, setting up a pseudowire.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory, at least one of the processor or the memory being adapted for:
• obtaining, by a first network device in a set of network devices belonging to a first redundancy group, a pseudowire label for a remote Provider Edge (PE) device, wherein:
• the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group are all coupled to a first customer edge device,
• the remote PE device is not coupled to the first customer edge device, and
• the pseudowire label corresponds to a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) on the remote PE device;
• identifying, by the first network device, a first set of one or more Media Access Control (MAC) addresses that are reachable via the remote PE device on the VLAN;
• transmitting, by the first network device, the pseudowire label for the remote PE device to one or more other network devices in the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group, wherein the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group, including the first network device, are MPLS Edge Switch (MES) devices that support Ethernet Virtual Private Network (E-VPN);
• transmitting, by the first network device, the set of one or more destination MAC addresses that are reachable via the PE device on the VLAN to the one or more other network devices in the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group, wherein, thereafter, the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group, including the first network device, encapsulate traffic received from the first customer edge device with the pseudowire label, when the traffic is destined to one of the set of destination MAC addresses reachable via the remote PE device;
• identifying, by the first network device, on a per VPN instance basis, a set of network devices that support E-VPN;
• identifying, by the network device, a set of network devices that support Virtual Private Local Area Network Service (VPLS);
• identifying a set of network devices that support VPLS but do not support E-VPN by identifying a subset of the set of network devices that support VPLS that are not in the set of network devices that support E-VPN;
• and
• for each remote node in the set of network devices that support VPLS but do not support E-VPN, setting up a pseudowire.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause a first network device in a set of network belonging to a first redundancy group to:

• obtain a pseudowire label for a remote Provider Edge (PE) device, wherein:
• the set of networking devices belonging to the first redundancy group are all coupled to a first customer edge device,
• the remote PE device is not coupled to the first customer edge device, and
• the pseudowire label corresponds to a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) on the remote PE device;
• obtain a set of one or more destination Media Access Control (MAC) addresses reachable via the remote PE device on the VLAN, wherein the set of network devices belonging to the first redundancy group, including the first network device, are MPLS Edge Switch (MES) devices that support Ethernet Virtual Private Network (E-VPN);
• store the pseudowire label in a forwarding table such that the pseudowire label is associated with the set of one or more destination MAC addresses;
• receive, from the customer edge device on the VLAN, a first traffic packet addressed to one of the one of the set of one or more destination MAC addresses;
• encapsulate the first traffic packet with the pseudowire label associated with the one of the set of one or more destination MAC addresses in the forwarding table;
• identifying, by the first network device, on a per VPN instance basis, a set of network devices that support E-VPN;
• identifying, by the network device, a set of network devices that support Virtual Private Local Area Network Service (VPLS);
• identifying a set of network devices that support VPLS but do not support E-VPN by identifying a subset of the set of network devices that support VPLS that are not in the set of network devices that support E-VPN;
• and
• for each remote node in the set of network devices that support VPLS but do not support E-VPN, setting up a pseudowire.