MPOA

The term MPOA is quite a versatile term. Many meaning can be attributed to this single term, depending upon the perspective it is explained or used in. This article will only deal with this term with respect to the networking and computing world, and in that perspective the term MPOA stands for Multiprotocol over ATM. It is a specification which was developed specifically with just one purpose in mind, that is, to allow or enable the ATM services to be integrated wit the already existing local area network or LAN that made use of the Ethernet network, token ring network and TCP/IP protocols.

The main aim or goal of this technology is to allow the different local area networks present in an organization to send data packets to each other via an ATM backbone, without any problem. Along with this technique, there is also another technique which allows the Local area networks to send the data over the ATM backbone, named LANE. However, unlike LANE or local area network emulation, MPOA works at the layer 3 of the OSI model, while LAN emulation technique works are the layer 2 of the OSI model.

When it comes to the MPOA topology, there are two terms that one should remember, they are, MPC and MPS. The term MPC refers to the MPOA client and the term MPS refers to the MPOA server. An MPC is an edge device that makes use of the MPOA services provided by one or more MPOA servers. It is basically a device which initiates a search for information to make a cut through SVC to another MPC. On the other hand a MPS is the functionality in a server or a router which responds to the request sent by the MPC or MPOA client. The role of the MPS is that it provides the client with the network layer forwarding information.