Download a free OSPF and MPLS LDP PDF. 47 pages of service provider best practices, with copy-paste config templates for IOS, IOS-XE and IOS-XR. Covers OSPF tuning, LDP session protection, IGP sync, BFD, NSF/NSR and SNMP. Instant, no cost.
Here’s the short version. This is a free 47-page PDF written by a working service provider network engineer, not a vendor marketing team. Every recommendation comes with the actual configuration, and most come in all three flavours: IOS, IOS-XE and IOS-XR side by side. If you’re building an MPLS core, prepping for CCNP Service Provider, or you inherited a network someone else tuned badly, this is the reference you keep open in a second tab.
One file. One free download. Every config template, ready to paste.
What this PDF is
It’s a design and operations reference, not a textbook. The structure follows how you’d actually build a core: get the IGP right, get the label protocol right, add redundancy, add management, then lock it down.
The part most guides skip is the “why”. This one explains why loopbacks should be /32 and passive, why Ethernet core links should be point-to-point instead of broadcast, and what breaks when LDP and the IGP fall out of sync. Then it gives you the command.
Every section closes with a numbered recommendations list. Those lists alone are worth the download. They read like a change-request checklist.
What’s inside
- OSPF process design – area 0 layout, /32 loopbacks generated internally, passive interfaces, and
log-adjacency-changesas a troubleshooting habit - Router-id and reference bandwidth – why you pin the router-id manually, and the
auto-cost reference-bandwidthvalue that keeps 1G/10G/100G costs sane - Point-to-point network type – killing DR/BDR election on Ethernet core links to cut Type 2 LSAs and speed up adjacency
- SPF and LSA throttle timers – the full
timers throttle spf,timers throttle lsa,lsa arrivalandpacing floodset, with the IOS-XR syntax difference called out - OSPF authentication – MD5 message-digest at the area level, both platforms
- Max-metric on startup and flood reduction – stopping a rebooting router from black-holing traffic, plus DoNotAge LSAs
- LDP fundamentals – label protocol selection, per-interface enablement, and why the router-id must be a logical interface
- LDP session protection – Basic vs Extended Discovery, targeted hellos, and keeping label bindings alive through a link flap
- LDP and IGP synchronization – the two packet-loss scenarios it prevents, and the one-line fix
- Label advertisement and allocation –
advertise-label, host-route allocation, and the warning about breaking services with it - TTL propagation – hiding the MPLS core from customer traceroutes while keeping your own troubleshooting intact
- High availability at three levels – SSO, NSF/Graceful Restart and NSR at the device level; BFD, carrier-delay and RIB purge at the link level; HSRP, VRRP and LLDP at the service level
- BFD in depth – asynchronous vs echo mode, the timer negotiation, and per-interface OSPF BFD config
- Network management – full SNMP trap lists for IOS and IOS-XR (OSPF, LDP, L3VPN, BFD, entity redundancy) and a syslog structure that survives a reboot
- Device hardening – 16 services to disable or pin down, VTY access lists, SSHv2, AAA accounting, NTP authentication and Management Plane Protection
- Miscellaneous operational wins – login and exec banners, a single management loopback as source interface for everything, duplicate-IP conflict policy, and TCP path MTU discovery
Config blocks are shown for IOS / IOS-XE / IOS-XR throughout. Where the syntax diverges, both versions are printed.
Who it’s for
- Service provider and carrier engineers designing or standardising an MPLS core
- CCNP Service Provider (SPCOR 350-501) candidates – the exam covers OSPF, MPLS with LDP, VPN services and high availability directly (Cisco Press)
- CCNP Enterprise ENARSI (300-410) students – MPLS operations, LSR, LDP, label switching and LSP sit in the VPN Technologies domain, worth 20% of the exam
- Enterprise engineers running MPLS in a large campus or WAN core
- Anyone who inherited a network and needs a baseline to audit the running config against
This one’s advanced. If OSPF areas and label switching are new to you, start with the free BGP PDF or the free EIGRP cheat sheet first.
