Elsevier

Computer Networks

Volume 196, 4 September 2021, 108245
Computer Networks

Survey paper
A Survey of Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS): Past, Present and Future

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2021.108245Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Virtual Private LAN services (VPLS) is a Layer 2 Virtual Private Network (L2VPN) service that has gained immense popularity due to a number of its features, such as protocol independence, multipoint-to-multipoint mesh connectivity, robust security, low operational cost (in terms of optimal resource utilization), and high scalability. In addition to the traditional VPLS architectures, novel VPLS solutions have been designed leveraging new emerging paradigms, such as Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV), to keep up with the increasing demand. These emerging solutions help in enhancing scalability, strengthening security, and optimizing resource utilization. This paper aims to conduct an in-depth survey of various VPLS architectures and highlight different characteristics through insightful comparisons. Moreover, the article discusses numerous technical aspects such as security, scalability, compatibility, tunnel management, operational issues, and complexity, along with the lessons learned. Finally, the paper outlines future research directions related to VPLS. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to furnish a detailed survey of VPLS.

Keywords

VPLS
SDN
MPLS
BGP
LDP
HIPLS

Cited by (0)

Kuntal Gaur received the B.C.A (Hons.) from JNVU, Rajasthan, India, and M.C.A degree from University of Rajasthan, India. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with Manipal University Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. She is Assistant Professor with Manipal University Jaipur since 2013 with total 11 years of teaching experience. Her research interests are SDN, security, VPLS, and wireless communication. She has served as reviewer in various IEEE, Springer, and other conferences.

Anshuman Kalla is Postdoctoral Visiting Researcher at Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC), University of Oulu, Finland. Dr. Kalla has more than ten years of teaching and research experience. He graduated as Engineer from Govt. Engineering College Bikaner in 2004. He did Master of Science in Telecommunications and Wireless Networking from ISEP, Paris, France in 2008 and another Master from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France in 2011. He obtained Ph.D. degree in 2017. Dr. Kalla was recipient of Master’s scholarships from the Government of France for pursuing both the Master programs. Dr. Kalla has delivered invited sessions and talks during various Short Term Courses, Faculty Development Programs, Workshops, and Conferences. His area of interest includes Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Information Centric Networking (ICN), Software Defined Networking (SDN), Next Generation Networks.

URL: https://sites.google.com/site/kallanshuman/

Jyoti Grover received her Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur (India) in 2013. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, India. Her research interests include Ad hoc networks security, VANET, IoT, SDN, intelligent transportation system, cloud and mobile computing. She has published more than 30 research papers in international journals and conferences.

Mohammad Borhani received M.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran. He also received another M.Sc. degree in Software Engineering from the Mälardalen University, Sweden. He is currently working as Research Assistant with the Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University. His research interests include communication networks, wireless networking, VANETs, and SDN.

Andrei Gurtov is a Professor of Computer Science at Linköping University, Sweden. Previously he was at University of Oulu (3 years) and Aalto University (6 years) and visiting the International Computer Science Institute at Berkeley multiple times. He received his M.Sc (2000) and Ph.D. (2004) degrees in Computer Science from the University of Helsinki, Finland. Prof. Gurtov co-authored over 200 publications, including 4 books, 5 IETF RFCs, 6 patents, over 60 journal and 110 conference articles. He supervised 15 Ph.D. theses. Professor Gurtov’s research interests are in network protocols, security of vehicular, airborne, industrial systems, mobile, wireless and IoT networks, SmartGrids. He is an ACM Distinguished Scientist, IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer (2016-19) and Chair of IEEE Sweden section. He received best paper awards at IEEE CSCN’17 and IEEE Globecom’11, was co-adviser of the best Doctoral Thesis in CS in Finland in 2017. He had served on numerous journal editorial boards and conference program committees, including IEEE Internet of Things journal, MDPI Sensors, IEEE ICNP, ACM MSWiM, and IFIP Networking. URL: http://gurtov.com.

Madhusanka Liyanage is an Ad Astra Fellow/Assistant Professor at School of Computer Science, University College Dublin, Ireland. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Oulu, Finland. He received his Ph.D in communication engineering from the University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. He was also a recipient of prestigious Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship during 2018-2020. In 2011–2012, he was a research scientist at I3S Laboratory and Inria, Sophia Antipolis, France. Also, he was a visiting research fellow at and Computer Science and Engineering, The University of Oxford, Data61, CSIRO, Sydney Australia, Infolabs21, Lancaster University, UK and Computer Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales during 2016–2018. He is a senior member of IEEE. In 2020, he has received ”2020 IEEE ComSoc Outstanding Young Researcher” award by IEEE ComSoc EMEA. He has co-authored over 100 publications including four edited books with Wiley and one patent. His research interests are 5G/6G, SDN, IoT, Block Chain, mobile and virtual network security. More Info URL: http://madhusanka.com