Multiple VLAN Registration Protocol (MVRP) is a Layer 2 protocol that allows the dynamic propagation of VLAN information from device to device. With MVRP, you manually configure an MVRP-aware access device with all the desired VLANs for the network, and all other MVRP-aware devices on the network learn these VLANs dynamically. By automatically providing VLAN ID consistency across the network, MVRP reduces the chances of errors in VLAN configuration.
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This feature is supported on the SLX 9640, SLX 9540, SLX 9250, SLX 9150 and SLX 9740 devices.An MVRP-aware device can exchange VLAN configuration information with other MVRP-aware devices, prune unnecessary broadcast and unknown unicast traffic, and dynamically create and manage VLANs on the devices. These devices form a reachability tree that is a subset of an active topology. To avoid any information loop, the forwarding ports of base spanning tree form the active topology.
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It is not mandatory to enable any of the STP variants before configuring MVRP if the topology is already Layer 2 loop free where MVRP can still function effectively.MVRP on the device propagates the configured VLANs to all MVRP participants to declare it over their respective MVRP-enabled ports. The device initiates a join event information which is placed inside an MVRP data unit (MVRPDU). The MVRPDU is transmitted as untagged Ethernet frame and is sent out as an advertisement through all ports wherever a declaration is made. The advertisement is transmitted only when the port's spanning tree state is forwarding.
Similarly, if a VLAN is removed from a port, MVRP on the device propagates a leave event to all MVRP participants which removes the registration and declaration for the VLAN and then sends out a leave message over their respective MVRP enabled ports. The receiving node mimics this behavior and, through this method, the removal of the VLAN configuration is communicated to the entire topology.
VLAN registration occurs only on ports of intermediate nodes where the MVRP advertisement is received. Each registration acts as a pointer towards the source of the VLAN declaration. If the VLAN configuration on a device changes, MVRP automatically changes the VLAN configurations of the affected devices. Using VLAN pruning, MVRP avoids unnecessary flooding and provides solution for better resource utilization and bandwidth conservation.