MPLS - A Technology for Our Time

Source: Nortel - Technology Update

    Part 1
  Data Mountains: the eBusiness Legacy
  Going the Full Monty
  Show me the Money
Part 1
Part 2

Make more of what you've got

As enterprises are demanding new, increasingly sophisticated telecommunications services, operators are looking to find ways of tightening their financial belts.

Although major network upgrades will be inevitable in the medium to long term, service providers are naturally keen to make the most of existing infrastructure.

MPLS allows service providers to:

• Evolve their core networks onto a single platform
• Slash operating costs
• Increase the efficiency of their infrastructures
• Provision customers with dedicated bandwidth in real time
• Maximize the capacity potential of their networks through new, highly sophisticated traffic management functionality
• Support new, real-time, bandwidth-hungry services such as voice over IP, and personal content delivery
• Commit to the Quality of Service (QoS) that next-generation service delivery demands.

The evolution of MPLS

MPLS adds intelligence to existing protocols and has the capability of revolutionizing the ability of service providers to offer next-generation networking services.

It does so by harnessing both the traffic management and fast switching capabilities of ATM and the seamless data transmission and ubiquity of IP.

MPLS technology:

• Has the backing of all the major equipment vendors and standards bodies associated with the networking industry.
• Offers unprecedented levels of traffic management functionality.
• Is ideally positioned to become ubiquitous.

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eBusiness applications are empowering enterprises like never before - but one thing remains over which they have no control. The better the ERP or CRM solution, the greater the volume of data it leaves trailing behind it.

Already the biggest organisations are producing an almost unsustainable mountain of data. Every year that mountain grows by around 100%. And almost all of this data is business critical.

Service providers are ideally positioned to fill the niche. They already have many of the necessary resources for offering massively scalable, completely reliable business continuity solutions. Indeed, for the most part their spanking new optical networks are craving some of that big corporation traffic.

Disaster-free zone

Effective business continuity depends, at the very least, on point-in-time replication of all critical data ensuring that it can be swiftly retrieved and business can continue as usual.

The ultimate, 'platinum class' business continuity system, however, should be so powerful that such disasters go unnoticed. It involves not just data storage but dual redundancy and replication of all systems and applications. The biggest obstacle to finding such a solution has been the sheer volume of data large enterprises are dealing with. SAN (storage area network) implementation can significantly enhance high volume data storage.
A SAN is an indispensable component of any powerful business continuity solution.

Industry verticals from finance to telecommunications now require instant access to data (of all kinds) stored at multiple sites. Crucially, they must have dedicated access to disaster recovery sites and other SANs.

Fortunately, there is an alternative. A DWDM (dense wave division multiplexing) solution, such as the OPTera Metro product from Nortel Networks, can multiply the bandwidth capacity of existing fibres exponentially.

All enterprises need to do is optically enable their networks and SANs, and they'll be able to replicate data in spades. DWDM is protocol independent and offers dual redundancy in both the equipment and the network. If it is implemented, it will:

• Optimize storage
• Remove single-site vulnerability
• Centralize management
• Reduce staffing costs.

On top of all this, enterprises will gain highly resilient SAN communities that can more than deliver on their business continuity ideals.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series that goes into the full story behind the OPTera Metro Solution from Nortel Networks!

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What this amounts to is a golden opportunity for service providers - they already possess the necessary fibre for SAN connectivity.

To begin optically enabling enterprise SANs on a service basis, they need only to equip themselves with a robust DWDM solution. Many major corporations already have SANs, and desperately want to get that high bandwidth connectivity without paying the earth for an in-house solution.

A product like OPTera Metro makes this an immediate possibility, and once DWDM has proven its worth, service providers will find it's not long before many enterprises are ready to outsource their SANs entirely. The key factor in this development is control, because, while enterprises do want to be saved unnecessary expenditures, they are understandably circumspect about relinquishing the management of their data. That's fine though - because they won't have to.

The bottom line is that there is no reason why service providers can't offer the full business continuity services that today's enterprises so desperately need (indeed, Qwest is doing it already). They will have the DWDM (and it will have paid for itself):

• Storage devices will be optimized for service-provider-friendliness
• The enterprise market will swarm to such services in droves.

If Service Providers start now, by offering the big, data-rich enterprises, optical SAN connectivity, they can set themselves on a strategic path to prosperity that delivers its dividends today.

OPTera Metro - key success figures

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Now that the infrastructures are largely in place, the challenge for operators is to ensure that they are using them in the most profitable way.

Instead of just providing simple connectivity, carriers that want to differentiate themselves in the market need to be offering more intelligent services to enterprises and indeed domestic users.
Intelligent services are set to prove vital to carrier success.

A seamless network architecture

Traditionally, moving up the value chain from connectivity to application services required multiple sets of equipments and networks.
Fundamental to the principles of a Nortel Networks Intelligent Internet infrastructure is the ability to leverage versatile platforms allowing phased layer 2 to 7 service offering and deployment. For example:

• Combination of Passport 8600 and Alteon
• Passport 7000 / Passport 15000 core network solution

Bringing personalisation up to speed

Personalisation matters, particularly in terms of delivering the revenue-generating tailored services that will soon prove vital to carriers.

• Service engine platforms like Shasta 5000 BSN are invaluable because they enable operators to identify and authenticate individual subscribers, an essential step in providing personalised services.

Content providers have more digital content available than ever and profitability depends on connecting users securely and swiftly to content relevant to them.

This can be fulfilled through judicious use of Alteon's:

• Load balancing
• Web acceleration
• Caching
• Content routing
• Distribution capabilities

At the same time, the Open Security Architecture built around Alteon ensures that operators no longer face having to compromise performance to deliver the level of security needed.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series for more on Nortel Networks Intelligent Internet!

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A good IPVPN enables service providers to:

• Deliver cost-effective and highly scalable network connectivity.
• Provide a platform from which to launch new, more personal services.

Even though VPNs are becoming increasingly technically sophisticated, presenting a huge revenue opportunity for service providers, they are subject to price erosion. Once this happens, service providers will find themselves struggling to become the price leader.

A game of two halves

Commoditisation is really only applicable to the transport network. Service providers who choose to follow this route are damned to competing on price alone.

A breakdown of services

So what are the services that can deliver new revenue streams to the service provider?

• Security services - for example, network based firewalls, traffic management and virus scanning.
• QoS services - different levels of service with premium rates charged for a 'gold' service.

VPNs also encourage another type of service altogether…
Content services - VSNs lend themselves to deliver increasing personalisation that might include:

• Anything from streaming media, IP conferencing or broadcast events.
• Even personal content portals, where the network recognizes and authenticates each subscriber and delivers the content that has been personalised for them.

The VPN has traditionally been regarded as a technology solution.

The advent of the VTN and VSN model, however, is moving it into the business arena. It allows service providers to deliver more customer focused solutions and it provides a far greater potential for gaining revenue.

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