Virtual Path Identifier/Virtual Channel Identifier, used in ATM packets.
VPI
Virtual Path Identifier
VPN
Virtual Private Network. For general information about VPNs, see VPNLABS
vpnv4
An IPv4 route with a VRF route distinguisher appended. This is used to exchange routes in a MPLS/VRF network.
VQP
VLAN Query Protocol
VRF
Virtual Routing and Forwarding, defined in
RFC 4364.
Virtual Routing and Forwarding, a Cisco term for using multiple routing tables in a router to increase flexibility. As of 2008-04-15, NETS uses VRF in ml-mr-c6-gs to support access to the Teragrid network, and has plans to use VRFs at the FRGP.
It's a technology included in Cisco and Juniper routers that allows multiple instances
of a routing table to exist in a router and work simultaneously. This allows network
paths to be segmented without using multiple devices. Internet service providers (ISPs) often
take advantage of VRFs to create separate virtual private networks
(VPNs) for customers; thus the technology is also referred to as VPN
routing and forwarding.
VRF acts like a logical router, but while a logical router may include
many routing tables, a VRF instance uses only a single routing table.
In addition, VRF requires a forwarding table that designates the next
hop for each data packet, a list of devices that may be called upon to
forward the packet, and a set of rules and routing protocols that
govern how the packet is forwarded. These tables prevent traffic from
being forwarded outside a specific VRF path and also keep out traffic
that should remain outside the VRF path.
