Encryption of Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 packet data units (PDUs) at the edge of the enterprise network, in such a way as to support resilient Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS) network designs. The Ethernet traffic is securely tunneled within encrypted Ethernet tunnels from the edge to the edge of the enterprise network. The encrypted Ethernet traffic is also tunneled within Multi-Protocol Layer Switching (MPLS) tunnels from the edge to the edge of the service provider network. The enterprise network thus manages its own Ethernet site-to-site Virtual Private Network (VPN). The service provider thus independently manages its own MPLS network. The result provides a VPLS or Layer 2 MPLS VPN to the enterprise; the enterprise Ethernet encrypted network can thus be considered as an overlay to the MPLS service provider network.