--- title: SR-MPLS or SRv6 for Greenfield Networks « ipSpace.net blog description: A comparison of SR-MPLS and SRv6 for greenfield network deployments, with a clear recommendation for SR-MPLS in hardware edge networks. Key arguments favor... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/sr-mpls-or-srv6-for-greenfield-networks-ipspace-net-blog-neczkg4yo twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: SR-MPLS or SRv6 for Greenfield Networks « ipSpace.net blog | daily.dev og:description: A comparison of SR-MPLS and SRv6 for greenfield network deployments, with a clear recommendation for SR-MPLS in hardware edge networks. Key arguments favor... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/sr-mpls-or-srv6-for-greenfield-networks-ipspace-net-blog-neczkg4yo og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/NeczkG4yo.png og:image:alt: SR-MPLS or SRv6 for Greenfield Networks « ipSpace.net blog og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # SR-MPLS or SRv6 for Greenfield Networks « ipSpace.net blog **[ipSpace.net Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A comparison of SR-MPLS and SRv6 for greenfield network deployments, with a clear recommendation for SR-MPLS in hardware edge networks. Key arguments favor SR-MPLS: it reuses the proven MPLS data plane (requiring only a software update), has simpler hardware implementation, lower overhead, and inherits a mature ecosystem of technologies like L3VPN, EVPN, and FRR/LFA. SRv6 is criticized for being a brand-new data plane with complex hardware requirements, higher overhead from IPv6 extension headers, and debunked claims around security and service insertion advantages. SRv6 is acknowledged as potentially useful for virtual machine or container traffic scenarios, though VXLAN/Geneve are raised as alternatives. Comments add nuance around ECMP challenges with SR-MPLS on commodity ASICs, label stack depth concerns at scale, and SRv6's advantage of summarizable SIDs in very large ISP/hyperscaler networks. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What are the main technical disadvantages of SRv6 compared to SR-MPLS for a new network deployment? SRv6 requires a brand-new data plane with complex hardware implementation, potentially raising hardware costs. Its overhead includes IPv6 extension headers plus an extra IPv6 header for non-IPv6 payloads, versus just an MPLS label stack for SR-MPLS. SRv6 also requires new code for technologies like L3VPN and EVPN that already run natively on MPLS, introducing new bugs. Security claims for SRv6 over public IPv6 are equivalent to MPLS-over-GRE-over-IP. _Network architects evaluating segment routing options find the detailed trade-offs for both approaches on daily.dev._ ### Does SRv6 have any real advantage over SR-MPLS in specific use cases? SRv6 has a practical advantage when routing traffic through virtual machines or containers, since it avoids the complexity of pulling MPLS LSPs into a virtual environment. At very large scale (thousands of routers across IS-IS areas), SRv6 supports summarizable SIDs, which SR-MPLS lacks, reducing the volume of prefix and SID advertisements that L1/L2 routers must propagate across area boundaries. _Engineers designing large-scale or virtualized networks track segment routing developments on daily.dev._ ### Why does SR-MPLS work on existing hardware without hardware upgrades? SR-MPLS uses the same MPLS data plane that has existed for decades, meaning existing hardware only needs a software update to support it. It replaces LDP or RSVP-TE as the control plane while keeping label swapping as the forwarding mechanism, leaving technologies like L3VPN, EVPN, 6PE, and FRR/LFA completely unaffected. _Teams planning a migration from LDP or RSVP-TE to segment routing can follow related discussions on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [MPLS/VPN with SR-MPLS Core « ipSpace.net blog](https://daily.dev/posts/mpls-vpn-with-sr-mpls-core-ipspace-net-blog-nw3uwiphe) · ipSpace.net Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [SRv6: From 5G networks to AI infrastructure—a journey of innovation](https://daily.dev/posts/srv6-from-5g-networks-to-ai-infrastructure-a-journey-of-innovation-dgebr25fq) · Cisco · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [IPng Networks](https://daily.dev/posts/ipng-networks-u37jx9af5) · IPng Networks · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Multivendor SR-MPLS « ipSpace.net blog](https://daily.dev/posts/multivendor-sr-mpls-ipspace-net-blog-qekokwduk) · ipSpace.net Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [EVPN with SR-MPLS Core « ipSpace.net blog](https://daily.dev/posts/evpn-with-sr-mpls-core-ipspace-net-blog-taobtibzc) · ipSpace.net Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#networking](https://daily.dev/tags/networking) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/sr-mpls-or-srv6-for-greenfield-networks-ipspace-net-blog-neczkg4yo) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"SR-MPLS or SRv6 for Greenfield Networks « ipSpace.net blog","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/sr-mpls-or-srv6-for-greenfield-networks-ipspace-net-blog-neczkg4yo","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/sr-mpls-or-srv6-for-greenfield-networks-ipspace-net-blog-neczkg4yo"},"datePublished":"2026-08-11T08:52:06.900Z","dateModified":"2026-08-11T09:00:55.732Z","description":"A comparison of SR-MPLS and SRv6 for greenfield network deployments, with a clear recommendation for SR-MPLS in hardware edge networks. 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