Ethernet VPN (EVPN) is a technology for carrying layer 2

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

traffic as a virtual private network using

wide area network A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographic area. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication circuits. Businesses, as well as schools and government entities, use ...

protocols. EVPN technologies include Ethernet over

MPLS Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a routing technique in telecommunications networks that directs data from one node to the next based on labels rather than network addresses. Whereas network addresses identify endpoints, the labels identi ...

and Ethernet over

VXLAN Virtual eXtensible LAN (VXLAN) is a network virtualization technology that uses a VLAN-like encapsulation technique to encapsulate OSI model, OSI layer 2 Ethernet frames within layer 4 User Datagram Protocol, UDP datagrams, using 4789 as the defau ...

. EVPN uses encapsulation methods to ensure efficient and scalable transmission of Ethernet traffic over MPLS or IP-based networks. The Ethernet frames are encapsulated within MPLS or VXLAN headers for transport.

MPLS encapsulation

In MPLS-based EVPN, Ethernet frames are encapsulated with: # MPLS label stack: Each EVPN instance is associated with a unique label that helps in identifying the destination bridge domain. # Control word (optional): Provides additional information for synchronization and alignment in certain scenarios. The encapsulated packet flow includes: * Original Ethernet frame * MPLS labels * Outer IP header (in case of IP/MPLS networks) EVPNs are covered by a number of Internet RFCs, including: * * * * *

MPLS encapsulation

References

See also