Connector types

General information

The following types of connectors join SCs in a composite service:

SCP-to-SCP
internal cross-connect
PW spoke
routed VPLS
VRF RT connections for VPRN services

Note: The NFM-P does not create connectors between mesh SDP bindings.

SCP-to-SCP connectors

SCP-to-SCP connectors can join any two SC types that have service interfaces on the same device or on different devices. A connector between VPLS and VPRN SAPs is an SCP-to-SCP connector, as is a connector between a dot1q-encapsulated VPLS SAP and L2 switch uplink port in a VLAN ring group. The table below describes the supported encapsulation types.

Table 85-2: Supported encapsulation types

SAP type	Encapsulation type
Ethernet¹	dot1q
	QinQ
	Null
ATM	VPI/VCI
ATM	VPI
FR	DLCI
SONET/SDH	BCP Null
	BCP dot1q
	IPCP
	PPP Auto
	cHDLC
	WAN Mirror
LAG	Null
LAG	dot1q
	QinQ
	Null

Notes:

VLAN connection profiles are supported for Ethernet SAPs with dot1q and QinQ.

The operational status of an SCP-to-SCP connector depends on the operational status of its endpoints. An alarm raised against one of the endpoints causes an alarm to be raised against the connector. Such alarms are aggregated within the composite service.

Internal cross-connect connectors

An internal cross-connect connector can join any SC types. It uses a CCAG to join two SCs that have SAPs or network interfaces on the same device. This functionality is available in the 7450 ESS and 7750 SR. The following rules apply to internal cross-connect connectors.

A SAP can be connected to another SAP or to a network interface using a CCAG.
When a SAP or network interface is deleted, the connector associated with it is also deleted.
The deletion of an internal cross-connect connector causes the associated interfaces and SAPs to be deleted.

The operational state of an internal cross-connect connector depends on the operational state of the CCAG. An alarm raised against the CCAG causes an alarm to be raised against the connector. Such alarms are aggregated within the composite service.

PW spoke connectors

A PW spoke connector generally joins VPLS instances to create an HVPLS. In the 7210 SAS, 7450 ESS, 7750 SR, and 7950 XRS, a PW spoke can, for example, connect IES and VPLS instances to provide distributed Internet access service. The endpoints of a PW spoke connector must be on different devices. PW spoke connectors are subject to restrictions on the SC types that they can join. The table below lists the SC types that can be linked by PW spoke connectors.

Table 85-3: Valid PW spoke interconnections

SC type	Valid PW spoke SC interconnections
VLL	IES, VPLS
VLAN	—
VPLS	IES, VLL, VPLS
MVPLS	MVPLS
IES	VLL, VPLS
VPRN	VLL, VPLS

The operational state of a PW spoke connector depends on the operational state of the underlying SDP bindings. An alarm raised against one of the SDP bindings causes an alarm to be raised against the connector. Such alarms are aggregated within the composite service.

Routed VPLS connectors

A routed VPLS connector joins an L3 access interface within an IES or VPRN service context to a VPLS or I-VPLS on the same site. When an IES or VPRN IP interface is bound to a VPLS site name, the site name cannot be bound to another IP interface. Although an IES or VPRN IP interface can only be bound to a single VPLS site, the service context that contains the IP interface can have other IP interfaces bound to other VPLS sites. Both the IES or VPRN IP interface and VPLS site must be located on the same NE.

If a VPLS site name does not exist within the system, the binding between the IP interface and the VPLS site remains operationally down until a VPLS site name is assigned to the VPLS site. When an IP interface is bound to a VPLS site, the operational state of the binding depends on the operational state of the VPLS site, or whether the IP interface binding is enabled on the VPLS site.

The operational state of the routed VPLS connector depends on the operational state of the binding and the operational state of the L3 IP interface.

The routed VPLS connector function is supported for IOM3, or later, cards in the following devices:

7450 ESS in mixed mode
7750 SR
7750 SR-c4
7705 SAR, all variants
7950 XRS

VPRN RT connections

RT connectivity is the matching of import and export VRF targets for VPRN services, and is represented as a dotted line between the services with arrows indicating the direction. You can highlight the VRF targets between VPRN services within a composite service on the topology map and on the flat topology map. The flat topology map shows RT connections between all of the sites, whereas the topology map show RT details between services.

For VPRN RT connections within composite services, you can define:

the VRF import and export targets on the sites (only one import and one export RT value on each site)
the VRF target based on import and export policies, where multiple community members can be defined

Consider the following when you highlight the VRF targets between VPRN services within a composite service on the topology map:

the RT connections are highlighted when the RT defined in the VRF import policy matches the VRF export policy on another site
if a site is configured with VRF target values and with VRF import and export policies, the NFM-P uses the VRF import and export policy

See To configure a VRF instance on a VPRN site for more information about how to configure VRF instances on VPRN sites.

See To configure VRF import and export policies on a VPRN site for more information about how to configure VRF import and export policies on a VPRN site.

See Chapter 54, Routing policies for more information about routing policies.