Internet Protocol Multi Protocol Label Switching System (IP/MPLS) is in growing demand and set to overtake ordinary IP, according to networking firm Juniper.
The company, which has for some time extolled the benefits of MPLS, said at its annual partner conference in Malta that, with the advent of VoIP and multicast television, companies are increasingly asking for it on their networks.
"IP has limitations, we want more secure systems and we want synchronous and isochronous [simultaneous] operation," said Richard Brandon, VP of marketing at Juniper. "Generally the systems are used in the backbone but increasingly we see them being pushed beyond the core."
MPLS works by forming a more direct routing system based upon an end-to-end route rather than making a decision at each router. One of its perceived advantages is lessened downtime. Brandon said that convergence time using MPLS is less than a second.
Juniper used the event to discuss the emergence of VoIP and suggested that its inexorable rise and the security dangers associated with that could be contained.
"VoIP shouldn't be proprietary, but based on open standards," said Brandon.
In mid-May SC reported Juniper's involvement in The Initiative for Open Authentication (OATH).
