Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) Practice Exam 2026 – All-in-One Guide to Mastering Your Certification!

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is primarily designed to enhance the speed and efficiency of data routing in high-performance networks. It does this by attaching a short, fixed-length label to packets, allowing routers to forward packets based on these labels rather than looking up the entire IP address in a routing table. This label-based forwarding process reduces the complexity and time required for each router to make forwarding decisions, resulting in faster and more efficient data traffic management.

MPLS is versatile and can encapsulate various protocols, hence the term "multiprotocol," which allows it to handle both IP packets and non-IP packets. However, its main advantage lies in optimizing the routing process and improving the overall performance of network traffic, especially in environments requiring the rapid transmission of data such as enterprise networks and service provider infrastructures.

While other options touch upon relevant networking concepts, they do not align with the fundamental purpose and functioning of MPLS. For instance, network address translation relates to IP address management rather than routing speed, video streaming has its specific protocols designed more for multimedia handling than routing, and wireless communication encompasses a different set of technologies and protocols that do not define the core functionality of MPLS.