Some intriguing insights into the infrastructure being used to deploy Ethernet services are coming out of Light Reading's project to compile a global directory of such services.
Details of services offered by more than 150 network operators have already been collected. The directory, which should be going live in the coming month, will enable enterprise users to define the services they want in different locations and then get a list of operators capable of meeting their requirements (see LR Creates Ethernet Services Directory).
Those requirements include the type of infrastructure supporting the service, which can have a critical bearing on issues such as equipment costs, efficient use of bandwidth, the ability to support service level agreements, scaleability, and manageability (see Enterprise Ethernet Services ).
Analysis of the services already listed in the directory indicates the following:
Forty-two percent are based on Sonet (Synchronous Optical NETwork) and SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) infrastructure. This is hardly surprising because many carriers already have Sonet/SDH networks, and next-generation technologies have made them more data-friendly. Sonet/SDH edge equipment also has come down in price significantly, thanks to the arrival of off-the-shelf silicon (see Why Sonet Chips Are Sexy).
Thirteen percent are provided over “pure Ethernet” networks -- that is, using Layer 2/3 switches that have been adapted to make them “carrier class” by improving reliability and scaleability.
It’s worth pointing out that user requirements for Ethernet services are evolving, and as a result, so are service provider infrastructure requirements. The slide below, part of a presentation given in Light Reading's Carrier Class Ethernet roadshow in China earlier this month, illustrates this.
Evolution of Infrastructure Requirements
On the left hand side, it shows transparent LAN services, typically provided over dark fiber or ATM connections, which have existed for more than a decade. They met niche requirements for very high speed connections over short distances, such as between data centers in cities, where reliability was paramount and cost wasn’t.
In the past couple of years, incumbent carriers have rolled out Ethernet services, mainly point-to-point ones over Sonet/SDH infrastructure (as Light Reading's directory demonstrates).
From 2005 onwards, large-scale deployments of Ethernet VPNs are expected, using MPLS as the core technology. Opinions differ on whether MPLS will extend all the way to customer sites, or whether carriers will use a combination of VPLS in the core, with pure Ethernet collector networks interfacing the customer.
— Nicole Willing, Reporter, and Peter Heywood, Founding Editor, Light Reading
LR Staff: It would be interesting to see the different tiers of service available and the approximate cost for each of these services today.
"MPLS Core" with "VPN Services" is the hot buzzword again for CLEC's, large IOC's and Greenfield networks. I see the merit of the approach. What I struggle with is the cost associated with the build out. Here's why.
The hangover from the bubble still has your company a bit groggy.
Unless you are a Greenfield build, specifically addressing the VPN market then you will have TDM customers. Not every business customer will switch to a VoIP or VPN service. There has to be a compelling reason for them that will translate to an operational cost savings.
A PoS interface is very expensive at OC-48 and OC-192 relative to a standard sonet OC-48 or OC-192 interfaces. A network of GbE or 10GbE trunks is possible but can only scale if implemented over CWDM or DWDM. A 1:1 customer to fiber ratio won’t work. This leads to the next point.
Like most, you don’t own dark fiber to the building and you the service provider has to lease access to reach the would be VPN customer. $$ or is that $$$ ? Either way it’s another $.
The original Cogent model was around $1000 a month for a 100Mb service and $10000 a month for GbE. It doesn’t seem likely this price would be the same 4 – 5 years later.
It might indeed be the case that Ethernet-over-Sonet/SDH dominates. But it's like comparing apples to oranges. Since Ethernet-over-(eg)-dark fiber is compared to Ethernet-over-RPR and to Ethernet-over-Sonet/SDH and to Ethernet-over-WDM, wouldn't it be interseting to know what is the unerlying infrastructure distribution?
Is it Ethernet-over-Sonet/SDH-over-dark fiber, Ethernet-over-Sonet/SDH-over-WDM-over-dark fiber, etc?
The blogs and comments are the opinions only of the writers and do not reflect the views of Light Reading. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
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