The MPLS VPN-Tagging Server, an optional server in the MPLS Management Suite of products, enables IP Availability Manager to correctly represent in its repository certain overlapping IP-address configurations. Overlapping IP addresses are IP addresses that are reused and configured across multiple network devices in the same managed network environment.
The MPLS VPN-Tagging Server performs overlapping-IP and corresponding network-connection discovery in two vendor-specific environments: Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent. It can perform discovery in both environments at the same time.
The MPLS VPN-Tagging Server discovers VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) based network connections and sends the connection information to IP Availability Manager so that it can distinguish overlapping IPs in the managed MPLS network. An MPLS Manager deployment that includes the MPLS VPN-Tagging Server shows the flow of information for the MPLS VPN-Tagging Server in the Cisco environment.
![](images/GUID-C5FE7E41-B5F1-4257-B88A-A0506BDD6CD3-low.bmp)
The MPLS VPN-Tagging Server creates no device or network instances. Its sole purpose is to solve the overlapping IP discovery problem.
The VMware Smart Assurance MPLS Manager Discovery Guide Supplement provides more information about how the MPLS VPN-Tagging Server solves the overlapping IP discovery problem.