Point-to-Point Protocol

(PPP)

Accessing the WAN – Chapter 2

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 Objectives
 Describe the fundamental concepts of point-to-point serial
communication including TDM, demarcation point, DTE-DCE
functions, HDLC encapsulation, and serial interface
troubleshooting.
 Describe PPP concepts including PPP layered architecture, PPP
frame structure, PPP session establishment, multiprotocol
encapsulation support, link control protocol (LCP), network
control protocol (NCP), and Internet Protocol Control Protocol
(IPCP).
 Configure PPP on a serial interface including enabling PPP
encapsulation, verifying the PPP connection and troubleshooting
encapsulation problems.
 Configure PPP authentication including explaining PAP and
CHAP authentication protocols, configuring PPP authentication
using PAP and CHAP, and troubleshooting PPP authentication
problems.

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 HDLC Encapsulation

 WAN Encapsulation Protocols

 To ensure that the correct protocol is used, you need to configure the
appropriate Layer 2 encapsulation type. The choice of protocol depends
on the WAN technology and the communicating equipment.
 HDLC - The default encapsulation type on point-to-point connections,
dedicated links, and circuit-switched connections when the link uses two
Cisco devices.
 PPP - Provides router-to-router and host-to-network connections

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 Conti…

 Frame Relay - Industry standard, switched, Data Link layer protocol that
handles multiple virtual circuits. Frame Relay is a next generation protocol
after X.25.
 ATM - The international standard for cell relay in which devices send
multiple service types (such as voice, video, or data) in fixed-length (53-
byte) cells. Fixed-length cells allow processing to occur in hardware,
thereby reducing transit delays.

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 Configuring HDLC Encapsulation

 Router (config-if)# encapsulation hdlc

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 Trouble shooting the Serial Interface

 show interfaces serial

 show controllers

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 PPP

 What is PPP?
 Recall that HDLC is the default serial encapsulation method when you
connect two Cisco routers.
 With an added protocol type field, the Cisco version of HDLC is
proprietary.
 Thus, Cisco HDLC can only work with other Cisco devices.
 However, when you need to connect to a non-Cisco router, you should
use PPP encapsulation.

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 Conti…
 PPP contains 3 main components :
HDLC for encapsulating L3 over point to point links.
LCP to establish, configure & test L2 connection.
Family of NCPs for configuration different protocols.
 LCP
LCP sits on top of the physical layer & establishes configures & tests the
data link connection.
LCP establishes the P2P link, negotiates & sets up control options on the
WAN data link.
LCP provides the following services:
Handling varying limits on packet size
Detecting common misconfiguration issues
Terminating the link
Determining when link is functioning or not
Setting up authentication compression & error detection

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 Conti…
 NCP
PPP permits multiple L3 protocols on the same link
For every L3 protocol used PPP uses a separate NCP
e.g. ICPCP, CDPCP, IPXCP, ATCP
Each NCP manages the specific needs required by its respective
network
layer protocols

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 Conti…

 PPP encapsulates data frames for transmission over Layer 2 physical

links.
 PPP establishes a direct connection using serial cables, phone lines,
trunk lines, cellular telephones, specialized radio links, or fiber-optic links.
 There are many advantages to using PPP, including the fact that it is not
proprietary.
 The link quality management feature monitors the quality of the link. If too
many errors are detected, PPP takes the link down.
 PPP supports PAP and CHAP authentication.

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 Point-to-Point Concepts
 Three phases of PPP session establishment

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 PPP Configuration Options
 PPP can be configured to support various functions including:
 Authentication using either PAP or CHAP
 Error Detection
 Multilink which combines two or more channels to increase the WAN
bandwidth

 Link Quality Monitoring

 The percentages are calculated for both incoming and outgoing
directions. The outgoing quality is calculated by comparing the total
number of packets and bytes sent to the total number of packets and
bytes received by the destination node. The incoming quality is
calculated by comparing the total number of packets and bytes received
to the total number of packets and bytes sent by the destination node.
 If the link quality percentage is not maintained, the link is deemed
to be of poor quality and is taken down. Link Quality Monitoring (LQM)
implements a time lag so that the link does not bounce up and down.

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 PPP Configuration Commands
 R3#configure terminal
 R3(config)#interface serial 0/0/0
 R3(config-if)#encapsulation ppp
 Quality
 R3(config-if)#ppp quality 80
 Multilink
 Router(config-if)#ppp multilink –this command perform load balancing
 Verification-- show interfaces serial
 Debug-Packet, negotiation, authentication, compression, etc

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 PPP Authentication Protocol

 Password Authentication Protocol (PAP)

 Initiating PAP
PAP provides a simple method for a remote node to establish its identity
using a two-way handshake.
 Command is ppp authentication pap
 username name password password
 It must match the user name and password of the other router.

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 Conti…

 Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)

 Unlike PAP, which only authenticates once, CHAP conducts periodic
challenges to make sure that the remote node still has a valid password
value.

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 Configuring PPP with Authentication
 Differentiate between PAP and CHAP

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 Configuring PPP with Authentication
 Describe how to use PAP to authenticate a PPP
connection

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 Configuring PPP with Authentication
 Describe how to use CHAP to authenticate a PPP
connection

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 Configuring PPP with Authentication
 Explain how to configure a PPP connection with
authentication

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 Configuring PPP with Authentication
 Explain the output of the debug ppp authentication
command

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 Summary

 PPP is a widely used WAN protocol

 PPP provides multi-protocol LAN to WAN connections
 PPP session establishment – 4 phases
Link establishment
Link quality determination
Network layer protocol configuration negotiation
Link termination

 WAN Encapsulation
–HDLC default encapsulation
–PPP

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 Summary
 PPP authentication
–PAP
•2 way handshake
–CHAP
•3 way handshake
–Use debug ppp authentication to confirm authentication
configuration

 PPP configuration
–Done on a serial interface

 After PPP configuration, use show interfaces command

to display:
–LCP state
–NCP state

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