What does PE-CE mean in the context of MPLS ? What is CE , P and PE device in MPLS and MPLS VPN ?

These are foundational terms and definition in MPLS.

MPLS is one of the most commonly used encapsulation mechanism in Service Provider networks and before studying more advanced mechanisms, this article is must read.

In order to understand PE-CE, we need to understand first what are PE and CE in MPLS.

Let’s take a look at below figure.

Note: If you are looking for a much more detailed resource on this topic, please click here.

Figure -1 MPLS network PE, P and CE routers Read more