Semester 4

Chapter 5 FRAME RELAY

Objective

Learn about another type of WAN technology,

Frame Relay, that can be implemented to solve connectivity issues for users who need access to geographically distant locations. Learn about Frame Relay services, standards, components, and operation. Describes the configuration tasks for Frame Relay service, along with the commands for monitoring and maintaining a Frame Relay connection.

Content

#Day

Topic

Duration

Frame Relay Technology LMI: Ciscos Implementation of FR LMI Features Frame Relay Sub-Interfaces Configuration of Basic Frame Relay

FRAME RELAY TECHNOLOGY

Introduction
Frame Relay is a Consultative Committee for CCITT and ANSI standard. Defines a process for sending data over a public data network (PDN). A way of sending information over a WAN by dividing data into packets. It operates at the physical and data link layers of the OSI reference model. It relies on upper-layer protocols such as TCP for error correction. Frame Relay uses virtual circuits to make connections.
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Overview

Frame Relay devices

The network providing the Frame Relay interface can be either:

A carrier-provided public network A network of privately owned equipment, serving a single enterprise.

Frame Relay network devices such as switches, routers, CSU/DSUs, or multiplexers.

Connection oriented services

Frame Relay terminologies

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Access rate Local management interface (LMI) Committed information rate (CIR) Committed burst (Bc) Committed rate measurement interval (Tc) Excess burst (Be) Forward explicit congestion noti. (FECN) Backward explicit congestion noti.(BECN) Discard eligibility (DE) indicator

Frame Relay technology

Terminologies: Access Rate

The clock speed of the connection (local loop) to the Frame Relay cloud. It is the rate at which data travels into or out of the network

Terminologies: DLCI

Data-link connection identifier. A number that identifies the end point in a Frame Relay network. Significance only to the local network. The Frame Relay switch maps the DLCIs between a pair of routers to create a permanent virtual circuit.

Terminologies: LMI

Local management interface. A signaling standard between the CPE device and the Frame Relay switch Responsible for managing the connection and maintaining status btw the devices.

Terminologies: CIR

Committed information rate. The CIR is the guaranteed rate, that the service provider commits to providing.

Terminologies: Bc

Committed Burst The maximum number of bits that the switch agrees to transfer during a interval.

Terminologies: Tc

Committed Rate Measurement Interval. The time interval shouldnt exceed 125 ms, almost always 125 ms
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Terminologies: Excess burst

The maximum number of uncommitted bits that the switch attempts to transfer beyond the CIR. Dependent on the service offerings available by the vendor, but is typically limited to the port speed of the local access loop.

Terminologies: FECN

Forward explicit congestion notification. When a switch recognizes congestion in the network, it sends a FECN packet to the destination device.

Terminologies: BECN

Backward explicit congestion notification. When a switch recognizes congestion in the network, it sends a BECN packet to the source router, instructing the router to reduce the rate at which it is sending packets.

Frame Relay congestion

Terminologies: DE

Discard eligibility indicator. A set bit that indicates the frame may be discarded in preference to other frames if congestion occurs The DE bit is set on the oversubscribed traffic.

Frame Relay operation

A public FR service is deployed by putting FR switching equipment in the central office of a carrier. Economic benefits are got by from traffic sensitive charging rates and lack of equipment and service maintenance. The lines that connect user devices to the provider can operate at a speed selected from a broad range of data rates. Speeds between 56 kbps and 2 Mbps are typical, although Frame Relay can support lower and higher speeds.
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Frame Relay operation

Frame Relay multiplexing

Frame Relay provides a means for multiplexing many logical data conversations, as virtual circuits, through a shared physical medium Frame Relay's multiplexing provides more flexible and efficient use of available bandwidth. Frame Relay allows users to share bandwidth at a reduced cost.
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Frame Relay multiplexing

Frame Relay DLCI

FR standards address PVCs that are configured and managed in a FR network. FR PVCs are identified by DLCIs, that have LOCAL significance. Multiplexing many virtual circuit through a physical medium. FR switches constructs a table mapping DLCI values to outbound ports. The complete path to the destination is established before the first frame is sent.
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Frame Relay DLCI (cont.)

Frame Relay frame format

DLCI: Indicates the DLCI value. Consists of the first 10 bits of the Address field. Congestion Control: The last 3 bits in the address field. These are the FECN, BECN, and discard eligible (DE) bits.
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Frame Relay addressing

DLCI address space is limited to 10 bits. possible 1024 DLCI addresses. The usable portion of these addresses are determined by the LMI type:
The Cisco LMI type supports a range of DLCI addresses from DLCI 16-1007. The ANSI/ITU LMI type supports the range of addresses from DLCI 16-992.

The remaining DLCI addresses are reserved for vendor implementation.

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Frame Relay addressing

LMI: CISCOS IMPLEMENTATION OF FRAME RELAY

LMI functions

To determine the operational status of the various PVCs that the router knows about To transmit keepalive packets to ensure that the PVC stays up and does not shut down due to inactivity To tell the router what PVCs are available Three LMI types can be invoked by the router: ansi, cisco, and q933a

LMI operation

LMI extension functions

In addition to the basic Frame Relay protocol functions for transferring data, the Frame Relay specification includes LMI extensions that make supporting large, complex internetworks easier.
Virtual circuit status messages Multicasting Global addressing Simple flow control

LMI FEATURES

Frame Relay Signaling

Cisco supports three LMI standards:

Cisco ANSI T1.617 Annex D ITU-T Q.933 Annex A
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Frame Relay map

Frame Relay mapping

Network address DLCI The routing table is then used to supply the next-hop protocol address or the DLCI for outgoing traffic. The resolution is done through a data structure called a Frame Relay map. This data structure can be statically configured in the router, or the Inverse ARP feature can be used for automatic setup of the map.
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Frame Relay mapping

Inverse ARP

The Inverse ARP mechanism allows the router to automatically build the Frame Relay map.
1. The router learns the DLCIs that are in use from the switch during the initial LMI exchange. 2. The router then sends an Inverse ARP request to each DLCI for each protocol configured on the interface. 3. The return information from the Inverse ARP is then used to build the Frame Relay map.

Frame Relay Inverse ARP and LMI Signaling

Stages of Inverse ARP and LMI Operation

Frame Relay switching table

The Frame Relay switching table consists of four entries: two for incoming port and DLCI, and two for outgoing port and DLCI. The DLCI could, therefore, be remapped as it passes through each switch; the fact that the port reference can be changed is why the DLCI does not change even though the port reference might change.

Frame Relay switching table

Selecting a Frame Relay Topology

Frame Relay default: nonbroadcast, multiaccess (NBMA)

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FRAME RELAY SUBINTERFACES

What are Frame Relay subinterfaces

Subinterfaces are logical subdivisions of a physical interface. In a subinterface configuration, each PVC can be configured as a point-to-point connection, which allows the subinterface to act as a dedicated line. By using multiple virtual subinterfaces, the overall cost of implementing a Frame Relay network can be reduced.
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FR without subinterface

FR with subinterface

Subinterface

Split horizon routing environments

Split horizon reduces routing loops by not allowing a routing update received on one physical interface to be sent back out that same interface. As a result, if a remote router sends an update to the headquarters router that is connecting multiple PVCs over a single physical interface, the headquarters router cannot advertise that route through the same physical interface to other remote routers.
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Split horizon and reachability problem

Reachability issues: Point-to-point

A single subinterface is used to establish one PVC connection to another physical interface or subinterface on a remote router. Each point-to-point connection is its own subnet. In this environment, broadcasts are not a problem because the routers are pointto-point and act like a leased line.

Reachability issues: Multipoint

A single subinterface is used to establish multiple PVC connections to multiple physical interfaces or subinterfaces on remote routers. All the participating interfaces would be in the same subnet, and each interface would have its own local DLCI. Because the subinterface is acting like a regular Frame Relay network, routing updates are subject to split horizon.
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FRAME RELAY CONFIGURATION

Basic Frame Relay configuration

Basic Frame Relay configuration

A basic Frame Relay configuration assumes that:

you want to configure Frame Relay on one physical interface and that LMI and Inverse ARP are supported by the remote routers.

The LMI notifies the router about the available DLCIs. Inverse ARP is enabled by default, so it does not appear in configuration output.
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Basic configuration: Step 1

Basic configuration: Step 2

Basic configuration: Step 3

Basic configuration: Step 4

Basic configuration: Step 5

Basic configuration: Step 6

Verifying Frame Relay operation

Verifying Frame Relay operation

Configure Frame Relay Switch

Enable Frame Relay Switching
FRSW(conf)# frame-relay switching

Configure interface
FRSW(conf-if)#Encapsulation frame-relay FRSW(conf-if)#frame-relay intf-type dce|dte FRSW(conf-if)#clock rate 56000 FRSW(conf-if)#frame-relay lmi-type cisco|ansi| q933a

FR route (create PVC - Switching Table)

FRSW(conf-if)#frame-relay route <input_dlci> interface <output_interface> <output_dlci>
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Configuration subinterfaces

Configuring Subinterfaces
Point-to-point
Subinterfaces act like leased lines. Each point-to-point subinterface requires its own subnet. Point-to-point is applicable to hub and spoke topologies.

Multipoint
Subinterfaces act like NBMA networks, so they do not resolve the split-horizon issues. Multipoint can save address space because it uses a single subnet. Multipoint is applicable to partial mesh and full mesh topologies.

Configuration subinterfaces

Configuration subinterfaces

Multipoint subinterfaces example

Point-to-point subinterfaces example

FRAME RELAY CONFIGURATION EXAMPLES

Configuration: without subinterface

1.0.0.0/8 FR Cloud 9.0.0.0/8 2.0.0.0/8

# interface serial 0 # encapsulation frame-relay LMI type is automatically sensed # ip address 9.0.0.1 255.0.0.0

The encapsulation is Cisco

# router igrp 1 DLCI is learned via LMI status messages # network 1.0.0.0 Inverse ARP # network 9.0.0.0 is enable (by default)
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Configuration: Specified encapsulation

1.0.0.0/8 2.0.0.0/8

DLCI 41

FR Cloud 9.0.0.0/8

DLCI 42

# interface serial 0 # ip address 9.0.0.1 255.0.0.0 # encapsulation frame-relay ietf # frame-relay lmi-type ansi
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Configuration: with subinterface

1.0.0.0/8 2.0.0.0/8

DLCI 41

FR Cloud 9.0.0.0/8

DLCI 42

# interface serial 0 # encapsulation frame-relay # frame-relay lmi-type ansi # interface serial 0.1 point-to-point # frame-relay interface-dlci 41 # ip address 9.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
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Configuration: with subinterface

1.0.0.0/8 2.0.0.0/8

DLCI 41 DLCI 43

FR Cloud 9.0.0.0/8

DLCI 42 DLCI 44

3.0.0.0/8 Intel

# interface serial 0 # encapsulation frame-relay # interface serial 0.1 multipoint # ip address 9.0.0.1 255.0.0.0 # frame-relay interface-dlci 41 # frame-relay interface-dlci 43 ietf
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Configuration: disabled inverse ARP

1.0.0.0/8 2.0.0.0/8

DLCI 41 DLCI 43

FR Cloud 9.0.0.0/8

DLCI 42 DLCI 44

3.0.0.0/8 Intel

# interface serial 0.1 multipoint # ip address 9.0.0.1 255.0.0.0 # frame-relay interface-dlci 41 # frame-relay interface-dlci 43 ietf # frame-relay map ip 9.0.0.2 41 broadcast # frame-relay map ip 9.0.0.3 43 broadcast
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Configuring a Static Frame Relay Map

Configuring Point-to-Point Subinterfaces

Multipoint Subinterfaces Configuration Example

Q&A