Hi, Sasha:

 

Then, what is the value of this “MPLS EVPN label”?  The VLAN, or the VNI?

If you don’t have both of them, how can you identify both the different BD, and 
also the corresponding EVPN instance?

 

 

Best Regards

 

Aijun Wang

China Telecom

 

From: Alexander Vainshtein [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Friday, August 8, 2025 12:44 PM
To: Aijun Wang <[email protected]>
Cc: 'Ali Sajassi (sajassi)' <[email protected]>; [email protected]; 
[email protected]; 'Wei Wang' 
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] RE: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

 

Dear Aijun,

Responding to your question " Doesn’t it mean that the “VLAN” should be 
encapsulated within the Ethernet packet, to identify the BD, together with the 
VNI, that identifies the EVI?"

 

No. The quoted text says:  "upon receiving an MPLS-encapsulated packet, the 
advertising PE can identify the corresponding bridge table from the MPLS EVPN 
label".

 

 

IMHO and FWIW this is quite unambiguous.

 

My 2c,

Sasha

 

 

Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg> 

 

 

 

  _____  

From: Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Sent: Friday, August 8, 2025 5:11:15 AM
To: Alexander Vainshtein <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >
Cc: 'Ali Sajassi (sajassi)' <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >; 'Wei Wang' 
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] RE: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

 

Hi, Sasha:

 

Yes, I read these paragraphs carefully.

Doesn’t it mean that the “VLAN” should be encapsulated within the Ethernet 
packet, to identify the BD, together with the VNI, that identifies the EVI?

That’s to say, for “VLAN aware bundle” service, we need VLAN+VNI encapsulation.

 

And, then, for “LSI aware bundle” service, we need LSI+VNI encapsulation, which 
the current VxLAN based EVPN doesn’t provide.

 

Best Regards

 

Aijun Wang

China Telecom

 

From: Alexander Vainshtein [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, August 7, 2025 3:33 PM
To: Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Cc: 'Ali Sajassi (sajassi)' <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ; 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> ; 'Wei Wang' 
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] RE: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today
Importance: High

 

Aijun,

Quoting from Section 6.3 of 7432bis (the relevant text is highlighted):

 

In the case where a single VLAN is represented by different VIDs on different 
CEs and thus VID translation is required, a normalized Ethernet Tag ID (VID) 
(i.e., a unique network-wide VID in context of the EVI) MUST be carried in the 
EVPN BGP routes. Furthermore, the advertising PE SHOULD advertise the MPLS 
Label in the Ethernet A-D per EVI and Inclusive Multicast routes and MPLS 
Label1 in the MAC/IP Advertisement routes representing both the Ethernet Tag ID 
and the EVI, so that upon receiving an MPLS-encapsulated packet, the 
advertising PE can identify the corresponding bridge table from the MPLS EVPN 
label and perform Ethernet Tag ID translation ONLY at the disposition PE -- 
i.e., the Ethernet frames transported over the MPLS/IP network MUST remain 
tagged with the originating VID, and VID translation is performed on the 
disposition PE. The Ethernet Tag ID in all EVPN routes MUST be set to the 
normalized Ethernet Tag ID assigned by the EVPN provider.

 

In the text above “VLAN” is the synonym of a BD in an EVI.

 

Hopefully these notes will be useful.

 

Regards,

Sasha

 

From: Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Sent: Thursday, August 7, 2025 10:15 AM
To: 'Ali Sajassi (sajassi)' <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 
'Wei Wang' <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; Alexander 
Vainshtein <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 
; [email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> 
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

 

Hi, Ali and Sasha:

 

if you use single VNI(this VNI is used to identify the EVPN instance, not the 
access circuit) to represent a BD, it is VLAN-Based Service, not VLAN-aware 
bundle service.

 

Please note, for VLAN-Aware Bundle service, “an EVPN instance consists of 
multiple broadcast domains (e.g., multiple VLANs) with each VLAN having its own 
bridge table”.

If you use only single VNI, how to differentiate the different BDs in the EVPN 
instance that identified by such VNI?

 

Please gives the example that can detail the packet encapsulation schema in the 
VLAN-Aware Bundle service.

 

Best Regards

 

Aijun Wang

China Telecom

 

From: Ali Sajassi (sajassi) [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, August 7, 2025 1:23 AM
To: Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 
'Wei Wang' <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 'Alexander 
Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 
; [email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> 
Subject: Re: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

 

Hi Aijun,

 

No, VLAN-aware bundle service does NOT require the use of two identifiers in 
data-plane. Your assumption is incorrect, and you can simply use a single VNI 
to represent a BD in VLAN-aware bundle service as I mentioned in my previous 
emails.

 

Cheers,

Ali

 

From: Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at 7:49 PM
To: Ali Sajassi (sajassi) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 'Wei 
Wang' <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 'Alexander 
Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: RE: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

Hi, Ali and Sasha:

 

VLAN-aware bundle service Does require the use of the two identifiers: 
VLAN+VNI, right?

That’s the reason that LSI-aware bundle requires also two identifier: Access 
VNI(aka LSI)+VNI.  Please note here the Access VNI(aka LSI) is equivalent to 
“VLAN” in VLAN-aware bundle service.

 

If there is no both VNI+LSI combination in the packet, there is no possibility 
to achieve the effect of the different BDs(identified by the LSI) within one 
EVPN instance(identified by the VNI in EVPN backbone).

 

 

Best Regards

 

Aijun Wang

China Telecom

 

From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ali Sajassi (sajassi)
Sent: Tuesday, August 5, 2025 2:15 AM
To: Wei Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; Aijun 
Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 
; [email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> 
Subject: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

 

Wei,

 

As I mentioned before in my previous email, the implementation of VLAN-aware 
bundle service does NOT require the use of two identifiers (VNI + LSI in your 
lingo).  When traffic is L2 forwarded, then a single L2-VNI can be used to 
identify the BD for VLAN-aware bundle service and when traffic is L3 forwarded, 
then a single L3-VNI can be used to identify the L3-VRF. 

WHY DO YOU WANT TO COMPLICATE IT AND USE BOTH VNI + LSI (in your lingo)? 

 

Cheers,

Ali

 

From: Wei Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: Monday, August 4, 2025 at 1:31 AM
To: Ali Sajassi (sajassi) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: Re: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

Hi Ali,

 

Customer service segmentation is based on the Logical Access Identifier (LSI, 
i.e., access VNI) rather than the VLAN information in the original customer 
data. The main reasons are as follows:

 

1) The original customer data may not contain VLAN information. If this field 
is to be reused, it would be necessary to convert LSI/VNI to VLAN on the 
ingress PE side and then convert VLAN back to LSI/VNI on the egress PE side. 
Such conversions also require extensions in the control plane to transmit the 
corresponding relationship between LSI/VNI and VLAN. In addition, at the 
forwarding plane, the VLAN space is limited, making it unable to accommodate 
more branch customers under the same EVPN.

 

2) In our solution, service segmentation is based on branch sites within each 
metropolitan area network, rather than the VLAN information within the sites.

 

Best Regards,

Wei

 

原始邮件

  _____  


发件人:Ali Sajassi (sajassi) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >

发件时间:2025年8月2日 02:17

收件人:Wei Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, Aijun 
Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >

主题:Re: [bess] Re: My question/comment 
aboutdraft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

 

Hi Wei,

 

What you want to do is already supported by current RFCs and specifications. 

 

1.  Use EVPN-VPWS service to setup a PW identified by the access VNI to carry 
your VLANs traffic to your core PE. This PWs carries traffic for several VIDs 
and it is terminated on the core PE.

2.  The core PE uses the concept of EVPN vES to map each VID to a different BD.

3.  For encapsulation over the core network for VLAN-aware bundle service, you 
have two options: a) to use core-VNI+VID to identify the BD on the receiving 
core PE or b) to use core-VNI alone to identify the BD. In the latter case, 
each BD gets mapped to a core-VNI. The choice is up to the receiving PE and 
transparent to the transmitting PE!

 

Therefore, I don’t see any need for a new encapsulation and your proposal.

 

Cheers,

Ali

 

From: Wei Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: Friday, August 1, 2025 at 12:50 AM
To: Ali Sajassi (sajassi) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: Re: [bess] Re: My question/comment about 
draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

Hi Ali and Sasha,

 

Let’s use VLAN-aware bundle to clarify why we need both Access VNI (LSI) and 
Core VNI in one VxLAN header.

 

In traditional VLAN-aware bundle ([RFC7432]), multiple VIDs map to a single 
EVI. Isolation relies on VIDs (e.g., VID 10 vs. 20) to separate broadcast 
domains, even with overlapping MACs.

 

In our Layer 3 scenario (LSI-aware bundle, the L3 equivalent), VIDs are 
replaced by LSIs (Access VNIs) to retain that "broadcast domain ID" role, while 
the core EVI maps to a Core VNI.

 

If we only include Core VNI (no LSI), the core PE loses the LSI (like losing 
VID) and can’t distinguish traffic from overlapping MACs in shared Core 
VNI—breaking isolation, just as losing VID would in VLAN-aware bundle.

 

Since standard VxLAN has only one VNI field, we extend it to carry both: Core 
VNI (for EVI) and LSI (for "VID-like" isolation).

 

Best regards,

Wei

 

 

原始邮件

  _____  


发件人:Ali Sajassi (sajassi) <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >

发件时间:2025年8月1日 00:59

收件人:Wei Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, Aijun 
Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >

主题:[bess] Re: My question/comment about draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 
at the BESS WG session today

 

Wei,

 

You said: "the critical challenge lies in how to physically encapsulate both in 
a single VxLAN packet to ensure end-to-end traffic isolation and correct 
mapping in a Layer 3 access scenario, which is not addressed by existing 
specifications.”

 

Please elaborate - i.e., give detailed explanation and use cases as to why both 
VNI need to be encapsulated in the same VxLAN packet. PWs are only stretched 
over access network (and NOT core network) and are terminated onto service VRF. 
Therefore, they are not needed between VRFs over the core network! 

 

Cheers,

Ali

 

From: Wei Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 at 6:34 PM
To: Ali Sajassi (sajassi) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: Re: [bess] Re: My question/comment about 
draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

Hi Ali,

 

Thanks for your perspective. While we agree that the access EVPN-VPWS VNI and 
backbone VxLAN VNI are logically independent in terms of their roles—similar to 
MPLS labels or Q-tags—the critical challenge lies in how to physically 
encapsulate both in a single VxLAN packet to ensure end-to-end traffic 
isolation and correct mapping in a Layer 3 access scenario, which is not 
addressed by existing specifications.

 

Our proposal addresses this by extending the VxLAN header with an "S" flag and 
a 16-bit LSI field. When the "S" flag is set, the LSI field carries the access 
PW VNI, while the original VNI field retains the backbone VNI—enabling both 
identifiers to coexist in one packet . This extension is precisely to bridge 
the gap between logical independence and practical encapsulation requirements 
in Layer 3 access scenarios.

 

Best Regards,

Wei

 

原始邮件

  _____  


发件人:Ali Sajassi (sajassi) <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >

发件时间:2025年7月26日 01:03

收件人:Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >

主题:[bess] Re: My question/comment about draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 
at the BESS WG session today

 

Hi Aiju,

 

The answer to your question is very easy. The access EVPN-VPWS VNI 
(representing a PW) is independent from the backbone EVPN VxLAN VNI 
representing ELAN, E-TREE, or IRB service just like the access MPLS label for 
PW is independent from backbone EVPN MPLS label representing ELAN, E-TREE, or 
IRB service, just like Q-tag or Q-in-Q tag in the access is independent from 
VNI or MPLS label in the backbone.

 

You should keep in mind that VNI does NOT need to be global. It can be domain 
specific and even down-stream assigned!

 

Cheers,

Ali

 

From: Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: Friday, July 25, 2025 at 1:50 AM
To: Ali Sajassi (sajassi) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: RE: [bess] Re: My question/comment about 
draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

Hi, Ali:

 

It’s relatively easy to incorporate the MPLS based pseudowire into EVPN, as 
that described in RFC9784.

But, it is not easy to incorporate the VxLAN based PW into EVPN, although they 
are all VPWS.

 

draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn wants just to fit the gap.

Or else, would you like to tell us how to encapsulate the access PW VNI 
information, together with the backbone VxLAN VNI information in the normal 
VxLAN packet?

 

Best Regards

 

Aijun Wang

China Telecom

 

 

 

 

From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf 
Of Ali Sajassi (sajassi)
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2025 1:10 AM
To: Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 
'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >; [email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> ; [email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> 
Subject: [bess] Re: My question/comment about 
draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

 

Sasha,

Thanks for your question as I couldn’t figure out what this draft was trying to 
do on my quick glance ☺

 

Aijun,

EVPN-VPWS (RFC8214) applies to both MPLS and VxLAN as described in the 
document. Furthermore, although RFC9784 is written with MPLS access network as 
an example, it can easily be applied to VxLAN access since a VPWS instance can 
be either per RFC8214.

So, in light of these two RFCs, are there anything that you want to do that is 
not covered by these two RFCs?

 

Cheers,

Ali

 

 

 

From: Aijun Wang <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: Thursday, July 24, 2025 at 10:54 AM
To: 'Alexander Vainshtein' <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >, [email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >, 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: [bess] Re: My question/comment about 
draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 at the BESS WG session today

Hi, Sasha:

 

Using the concept of virtual segment in RFC 9784 to access the core EVPN 
service is similar with our proposal.

The difference is that in RFC 9784, the access network is one MPLS based 
network, the PW can be identified by the corresponding MPLS label.

But, in our proposal, the access network is one Layer 3 Native IP network, 
there is no MPLS deployed in the access network.

 

Then, some new solution (especially how to identify the logical session, how to 
transfer them via the control plane and how to encapsulate them in the VxLAN 
packet should be defined.

 

Does the above explanation address your concerns?

If so, we can add some procedure description for our proposal according to 
another expert’s comments.

 

Thanks!

 

Best Regards

 

Aijun Wang

China Telecom

 

From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf 
Of Alexander Vainshtein
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2025 5:48 PM
To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ; 
[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> 
Subject: [bess] My question/comment about draft-wang-bess-l3-accessible-evpn-10 
at the BESS WG session today

 

Hi all,

Just to repeat my question/comment asked at the BESS WG session in Madrid today:

 

I have asked whether the authors considered using the PWs crossing the L3 
domains as Virtual Ethernet Segments as described in Section 1.3 of RFC 9784 
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9784#section-1.3> ?

 

At the first glance, this could address all the problems with which this draft 
tries to cope.

 

Regards,

Sasha

 

 

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