What Is the Difference Between VPN, MPLS, VLAN, and MPLS-VPN?

People often want to know details about MPLS vs VPN, but the combination of MPLS-VPN is today one of the most sought-after technology. VPN has been around before the inception of MPLS. And in the case of the MPLS VPN network, while MPLS is the network’s backbone, VPN forms the topmost layer through which different services are provided.

A standard MPLS VPN service consists of four different routers, the CE or customer edge router, PE or provider edge router, P or provider router, and C or customer router. All the provider routers, P & PE, run the MPLS VPN service. They send and receive packages as per MPLS labels. On the other hand, the customer routers need not run on MPLS.

An MPLS VPN provider provides the best of both features to the customer. While MPLS can prioritise the packages based on urgency, with VPN, they can enhance the security better. MPLS is comparatively more reliable with a higher uptime as compared to VPN. Moreover, MPLS helps support legacy systems or systems that need extensive infrastructure. And VPN can encrypt the data packages, thus allowing better security. The MPLS VPN helps keep MPLS as the backbone of the system while making VPN the top layer to enhance security.

MPLS makes use of private WANs for transferring data packages. And when the MPLS VPN provider provides a private WAN for the end customer, it is known as MPLS VPN. The MPLS-based VPN is like a tunnelling protocol as it transfers the user's traffic over the carrier's network.

IPSEC VPN is another type of tunnelling protocol that focuses only on the IP and point-to-point transmission. Another significant advantage of IPSEC VPN or MPLS VPN is that it provides authentication and encryption facilities that MPLS VPN doesn’t.

While MPLS comes with its SLA, IPSEC VPN runs on your existing internet connection. Therefore, IPSEC VPN can only provide a specific limit of bandwidth and availability. Moreover, its performance also depends on best effort.

While we get answers to what is MPLS VPN service and MPLS VPN definition, it is also critical to understand their difference with leased line connection. While leased lines provide physical entities to customers, VPNs are provided over network layers, and MPLS is a network routing method that can also be integrated with the VPN service.

Among the three, leased lines are the most expensive, whereas VPNs are the least costly. On the other hand, MPLS helps in increasing efficiency when compared to the IP-based routing that is used traditionally. Regarding reliability, leased lines and MPLS is the most reliable, followed by VPN networks. Regarding scalability, leased lines are the most difficult to scale as they require a lot of physical infrastructure and changes.

Choosing between MPLS, VLAN, VPN, and MPLS-VPN will depend on your personal requirement and other factors. While you already understand the difference between MPLS and VPN, whether to choose VLAN over MPLS, whether is MPLS a VPN, and MPLS vs VPN tunnel, the final decision might get tricky for you.

All these technologies serve different needs, and you should choose the one that suits you. For example, VLAN is ideal for computers in the same building. Because of this, you will be able to create multiple segments of the network that will further help you optimise the performance of all the branches.

VPN can help you connect people from around the globe while ensuring they can access the company’s data safely. In today’s working-from-anywhere environment, it is highly critical to secure your data in the best possible manner; this is where VPN can be helpful.

While MPLS is a costly solution, it is ideal for larger organizations that need the best solution to help them transfer data in the fastest way possible. MPLS VPN is the latest solution where the network service provider combines MPLS with VPN to provide both benefits. But this service is often costly.

The question of VPN over internet vs MPLS is ubiquitous. Both MPLS and VPN are technologies that can help in creating corporate WANs. Both can also control how you route your traffic while ensuring security. As highlighted in the above blog, VPN over the internet provides P2P connectivity. While VPN over the internet is less costly than MPLS, both have different architecture and technology.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) and VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) are networking concepts with distinct purposes and scopes. VPNs create secure connections over public networks, enabling remote access to private networks while ensuring data privacy.

On the other hand, VLANs are used for logical network segmentation within a local network, separating devices into distinct groups for enhanced security and network efficiency.

VPNs operate at the network or transport layer, while VLANs operate at the data link layer.

MPLS, SD-WAN, and VPN are different networking technologies with distinct purposes:

• MPLS: Used within service provider networks, MPLS optimizes traffic routing and offers quality-of-service features for WAN connectivity.
• SD-WAN: An architecture that leverages software-defined networking principles, SD-WAN allows organizations to manage and optimize their wide area networks using software controls. It enables centralized management, dynamic traffic routing, and the efficient use of multiple network links.
• VPN: VPN creates secure and encrypted connections over public networks, providing remote access to private networks or ensuring secure internet browsing. VPNs focus on privacy, security, and anonymity.

While MPLS is primarily used for traffic optimization within service provider networks, SD-WAN offers organizations greater control and flexibility over their own WAN infrastructure. VPNs, on the other hand, are used for secure remote access or secure internet browsing.