Management Plane Protection (MPP)

Hello David

It is possible to achieve results similar to those provided by MPP by using ACLs. However, MPP provides a more specific focus on protecting management interfaces and is designed specifically for that purpose. ACLs, while versatile, are a broader tool and require more careful configuration to achieve the same level of protection specifically for management interfaces.

The primary difference is the ease of configuration. MPP is generally easier to configure for the specific task of protecting management interfaces. With ACLs, you need to ensure that your configurations are precise to avoid inadvertently blocking legitimate traffic or allowing unauthorized access.

This is true of both MPP and ACLs. ACLs do not deliver an advantage in this scenario, since if an interface goes down on a core switch, and you’ve applied ACLs on ports to allow management traffic only via that port, then you will still lose management connectivity. The only way this would be avoided is if you apply the ACL to the VTY, thus not limiting connectivity to any one port.

It all comes down to weighing what’s most important to you. By restricting management traffic to a single port, you are dramatically reducing the attack surface, but you are introducing a single point of failure. By using MPP, you are deploying a configuration that is simpler and less prone to errors. By using ACLs, you have more granular control over everything but have a much higher administrative overhead. Does that make sense?

I hope this has been helpful!

Laz