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NorthStar Planner Inter-Area MPLS-TE Overview

NorthStar Planner supports the design of LSP tunnels for a multiple-area network. Unlike the router whose knowledge of the network is limited to the area to which it belongs, NorthStar Planner has a global view of the entire network topology and can therefore design both primary and diverse inter-area LSP tunnels more intelligently. Once the LSP tunnels are designed, LSP configlets can be generated for loading into the network.

NorthStar Planner supports Inter-Area MPLS-TE design for both Juniper and Cisco networks.

Note:

Use these procedures if you have multiple OSPF areas in your network and you want to quickly generate LSP tunnels between the different areas.

If you wish to perform this task in NorthStar Planner, you should have a router specification file open before you begin. You should have also created multiple OSPF areas in your network and set the routing method to OSPF.

To do this, first create OSPF areas using Modify > Protocols > OSPF Areas. Then, set the area property accordingly on your network links using Modify > Elements > Links (see the Location tab). You may follow along by using any specification file with multiple OSPF areas defined in the network.

Check that the routing method is OSPF in Tools > Options > Design, Path Placement option pane. Additionally, check that the links have OSPF enabled using Modify > Elements > Links (see the Protocols tab)

Review the Prerequisites to ensure that your network is configured properly.

For information about how to perform an automatic multi-area OSPF network design, se Tunnel Sizing and Demand Sizing Overview.

For information about LSP Tunnels and how to set their characteristics, see NorthStar Planner LSP Tunnels Overview.

For more information on generating LSP configlets, see LSP Configlet Generation Overview.

For information on configuring a diverse standby or secondary tunnel, see Tunnel Path Design Overview.