Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00)
Written by Micki Kaufman
Tuesday, 24 August 2010 03:10
You’re convinced that an MPLS networking solution is the answer to connecting your geographically diverse business locations. But just how are you going to connect to the MPLS cloud from all those locations?
What you need is individual access networks for each location that will connect to the ingress tag router serving that geographical area. Right now the most popular connection technology is the venerable T1 line. Why? Because T1 lines are almost universally available, highly reliable, private, symmetrical, and relatively high bandwidth. Relatively means 1.5 Mbps in both the upload and download directions. For many businesses that exchange data files and even some voice traffic, this may be enough line speed. That’s especially true for branch offices and retail locations that simply need to connect to headquarters. But some applications may be limited by a 1.5 Mbps ceiling.
The next thing you can do is take advantage of T1 bonding to increase access line speed. T1 lines are readily combined, or bonded, to double, triple or otherwise expand bandwidth. There’s a practical limit of around 10 or 12 Mbps for this approach, but that can be more than adequate for many needs. Even video and medical image transmission can get by with this level of bandwidth as long as demands aren’t too high.
What if you need higher bandwidth levels to access your MPLS network? DS3 is still a good intermediate level solution at 45 Mbps. It’s a mature technology and available in many areas, no not nearly as prolific as T1 when you get beyond the metropolitan and suburban cores.
How about Ethernet as an access solution? Metro and Carrier Ethernet services are highly popular for a number of reasons. First, costs are often lower and sometimes much lower than traditional last mile connections for the amount of bandwidth you are ordering. For instance, it is not uncommon to get 3 Mbps Ethernet service for the same price as a 1.5 Mbps T1 line. 10 Mbps Ethernet is probably the most popular choice for new connections. It is priced attractively and available in most metro areas.
Another feature of Ethernet access services are that they are readily scalable up to the capability of the installed port. You may well start out at 3 Mbps but then find you need to double or triple that as business activity picks up at a particular location. No problem. A simple phone call to your service provider may be all you need to get that location upgraded. That can happen rapidly and independently of connection speeds at other locations.
If you are originating and terminating Ethernet packets, it only makes sense to use Ethernet connections to access the MPLS network. The network itself can easily transport Ethernet as well as other protocols. This gives you the option to keep everything in the Ethernet protocol and perhaps even create a multi-location LAN for ease of network management.
Higher bandwidth access connections, such as DS3 or Fast Ethernet, require fiber optic connections. With your building lit for fiber, you may be able to scale your bandwidth up to OC3, OC12, or OC48 SONET levels or GigE and 10 GigE Ethernet.
What type of MPLS VPN access connections do you need to support your multiple locations? Explore the complete range of options available to you now as MPLS VPN Access Solutions.
What you need is individual access networks for each location that will connect to the ingress tag router serving that geographical area. Right now the most popular connection technology is the venerable T1 line. Why? Because T1 lines are almost universally available, highly reliable, private, symmetrical, and relatively high bandwidth. Relatively means 1.5 Mbps in both the upload and download directions. For many businesses that exchange data files and even some voice traffic, this may be enough line speed. That’s especially true for branch offices and retail locations that simply need to connect to headquarters. But some applications may be limited by a 1.5 Mbps ceiling.The next thing you can do is take advantage of T1 bonding to increase access line speed. T1 lines are readily combined, or bonded, to double, triple or otherwise expand bandwidth. There’s a practical limit of around 10 or 12 Mbps for this approach, but that can be more than adequate for many needs. Even video and medical image transmission can get by with this level of bandwidth as long as demands aren’t too high.
What if you need higher bandwidth levels to access your MPLS network? DS3 is still a good intermediate level solution at 45 Mbps. It’s a mature technology and available in many areas, no not nearly as prolific as T1 when you get beyond the metropolitan and suburban cores.
How about Ethernet as an access solution? Metro and Carrier Ethernet services are highly popular for a number of reasons. First, costs are often lower and sometimes much lower than traditional last mile connections for the amount of bandwidth you are ordering. For instance, it is not uncommon to get 3 Mbps Ethernet service for the same price as a 1.5 Mbps T1 line. 10 Mbps Ethernet is probably the most popular choice for new connections. It is priced attractively and available in most metro areas.
Another feature of Ethernet access services are that they are readily scalable up to the capability of the installed port. You may well start out at 3 Mbps but then find you need to double or triple that as business activity picks up at a particular location. No problem. A simple phone call to your service provider may be all you need to get that location upgraded. That can happen rapidly and independently of connection speeds at other locations.
If you are originating and terminating Ethernet packets, it only makes sense to use Ethernet connections to access the MPLS network. The network itself can easily transport Ethernet as well as other protocols. This gives you the option to keep everything in the Ethernet protocol and perhaps even create a multi-location LAN for ease of network management.
Higher bandwidth access connections, such as DS3 or Fast Ethernet, require fiber optic connections. With your building lit for fiber, you may be able to scale your bandwidth up to OC3, OC12, or OC48 SONET levels or GigE and 10 GigE Ethernet.
What type of MPLS VPN access connections do you need to support your multiple locations? Explore the complete range of options available to you now as MPLS VPN Access Solutions.
Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00)
Written by Micki Kaufman
Monday, 23 August 2010 03:10
If you have a single office in a single city, you may have need for cloud computing or hosted PBX, aka telephony in the cloud. But chances are your communications needs are more about connecting to a service provider’s cloud than requiring a cloud of your own. It’s quite different for companies with multiple business locations. Cloud networking services are just what you need to interconnect two or more locations so they can act as one.
What is cloud networking? It is the use of public or private networks that connect geographically diverse sites on a one to one, one to many or many to many basis. The Internet is a cloud. So are privately run MPLS networks and their Frame Relay predecessors. You can even create your own cloud, if you like. You do this by leasing dedicated lines between locations and setting up your own routing scheme to determine how locations may communicate.
In fact, the ad-hoc private network is how many growing businesses get started with multi-location connections. They start off with a T1 point to point data line that connects their main office to a branch site. As more offices or retail locations are added, more lines are connected. At some point, you are dealing with a spider’s web of private lines that need constant management and are costing a small fortune.
This is where cloud networks shine. The idea behind the cloud is that costs are amortized by users sharing the resources of the cloud. Each user is required to provide a connection from each of their desired locations to the cloud network. The connections between locations and the transport of voice, data or video through the shared portion of the network is the responsibility of the cloud. The name “cloud” comes from the convention of drawing this shared network in the shape of a cumulus cloud. It signifies that you don’t manage what goes on in there. That’s someone else’s job.
Actually, you do need to be concerned about what’s going on in that cloud even though you don’t directly operate or control it. You don’t want your valuable information damaged or intercepted during the transport process. Take the biggest cloud in the world, the Internet. It has the advantages of being near universally available and relatively cheap to use. But the Internet also has the disadvantages of being a “best effort” service with no guaranteed performance parameters and enough security concerns to give you pause. How can anyone use the Internet for serious business applications?
In some cases you can’t. Two-way real-time applications have a tough time with the unpredictable performance that is inherent in the design of the Internet cloud. But it still works just fine for Web access, email, small scale data backup to remote servers, and one-way video that is properly buffered. In fact, your business probably needs access to the Internet just to communicate with customers, place orders or do research. If you are going to send sensitive business data between locations using the Internet cloud, however, you’ll need to protect yourself by encrypting those packets so they can’t be read by unintended parties. That process is called tunneling. The overall connection is called IP VPN. VPN, meaning Virtual Private Network.
If the internet is too flakey or scary to support your business, the cloud you’ll be most interested in is called MPLS or Multi-Protocol Label Switching. This is a privately run network with a regional or nationwide footprint. The combination of private ownership and proprietary technology means that performance can be guaranteed and security is inherently better than the public Internet. That’s why MPLS networks are also called MPLS VPN networks, even without packet encryption. Of course you can still encrypt your data to add even more security... something of a belt and suspenders approach.
A specialized type of cloud networking is telephone service. Instead of hooking all your phones with individual lines to the local phone company or managing an in-house PBX system, you connect your phones to the cloud using SIP trunks. This is also called hosted PBX. Users that all connect to the same cloud may communicate over this private network. When you need to make or receive calls with the general public, those calls are connected to the public telephone network by the service provider.
Can your company benefit from cloud networking or better cloud services? It’s fast and easy to find out. Just take a second and put in an inquiry for availability and pricing of competitive cloud networking services.
What is cloud networking? It is the use of public or private networks that connect geographically diverse sites on a one to one, one to many or many to many basis. The Internet is a cloud. So are privately run MPLS networks and their Frame Relay predecessors. You can even create your own cloud, if you like. You do this by leasing dedicated lines between locations and setting up your own routing scheme to determine how locations may communicate.In fact, the ad-hoc private network is how many growing businesses get started with multi-location connections. They start off with a T1 point to point data line that connects their main office to a branch site. As more offices or retail locations are added, more lines are connected. At some point, you are dealing with a spider’s web of private lines that need constant management and are costing a small fortune.
This is where cloud networks shine. The idea behind the cloud is that costs are amortized by users sharing the resources of the cloud. Each user is required to provide a connection from each of their desired locations to the cloud network. The connections between locations and the transport of voice, data or video through the shared portion of the network is the responsibility of the cloud. The name “cloud” comes from the convention of drawing this shared network in the shape of a cumulus cloud. It signifies that you don’t manage what goes on in there. That’s someone else’s job.
Actually, you do need to be concerned about what’s going on in that cloud even though you don’t directly operate or control it. You don’t want your valuable information damaged or intercepted during the transport process. Take the biggest cloud in the world, the Internet. It has the advantages of being near universally available and relatively cheap to use. But the Internet also has the disadvantages of being a “best effort” service with no guaranteed performance parameters and enough security concerns to give you pause. How can anyone use the Internet for serious business applications?
In some cases you can’t. Two-way real-time applications have a tough time with the unpredictable performance that is inherent in the design of the Internet cloud. But it still works just fine for Web access, email, small scale data backup to remote servers, and one-way video that is properly buffered. In fact, your business probably needs access to the Internet just to communicate with customers, place orders or do research. If you are going to send sensitive business data between locations using the Internet cloud, however, you’ll need to protect yourself by encrypting those packets so they can’t be read by unintended parties. That process is called tunneling. The overall connection is called IP VPN. VPN, meaning Virtual Private Network.
If the internet is too flakey or scary to support your business, the cloud you’ll be most interested in is called MPLS or Multi-Protocol Label Switching. This is a privately run network with a regional or nationwide footprint. The combination of private ownership and proprietary technology means that performance can be guaranteed and security is inherently better than the public Internet. That’s why MPLS networks are also called MPLS VPN networks, even without packet encryption. Of course you can still encrypt your data to add even more security... something of a belt and suspenders approach.
A specialized type of cloud networking is telephone service. Instead of hooking all your phones with individual lines to the local phone company or managing an in-house PBX system, you connect your phones to the cloud using SIP trunks. This is also called hosted PBX. Users that all connect to the same cloud may communicate over this private network. When you need to make or receive calls with the general public, those calls are connected to the public telephone network by the service provider.
Can your company benefit from cloud networking or better cloud services? It’s fast and easy to find out. Just take a second and put in an inquiry for availability and pricing of competitive cloud networking services.
Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00)
Written by Micki Kaufman
Friday, 20 August 2010 02:10
There’s a new design that’s becoming a standard in the smartphone market. It’s the combination of a 3 inch touch screen display with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and the Android operating system. Sprint gets this package in the Samsung Intercept. Would you like to intercept one online? What if you knew it was available free? Would that make a difference?
It’s truly amazing that you can get a phone with these capabilities free of charge when you order it online with new Sprint PCS service. Even the shipping is free. You don’t pay a premium for the service, either. The plans are priced the same as they are in stores.
Here are some of the highlights that emphasize what a deal the Samsung Intercept M910 really is. It starts with the large 3 inch touch screen display. This gives you the ability to select from a wealth of Android apps and run your application on a space large enough to make it usable and enjoyable. You’ll enjoy streaming multimedia on the go. Watch live TV and video on demand with full motion video and vivid sound.
What kind of connectivity can you expect to make that streaming video a pleasant experience? You’ll connect at 3G data speeds where available on the Sprint PCS network. You also have the option of connecting to wireless hotspot networks with the WiFi connectivity in this phone. No all smartphones give you WiFi connectivity, so be sure to look for it if you want to use this capability.
Messaging is obviously a high point of this design. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard lets you enter your messages efficiently by pressing actual physical keys and getting that tactile feedback you don’t enjoy when tapping your fingers on glass. In addition to standard text messaging, you can send and receive picture and video messages with multimedia messaging. The built-in camera offers 3.2 Megapixels to give you photos good enough to print as well as share via messaging. You can also capture video with this camera.
Other features of note for the Samsung Intercept include integrated GPS support for location-based services like Google Maps. Bluetooth for hands free conversation is included, as well as stereo Bluetooth so you can stream to your music to A2DP compatible devices, like wireless stereo headphones. Visual voicemail is a new feature. You can listen to your voicemail messages in any order and easily manage your inbox without calling-in.
The Intercept is a great work phone as well as a personal cellphone. It supports viewing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents that come in as email attachments. The included Web browser offers full HTML capability. Email capability includes Microsoft Direct Push as well as mobile email like Gmail and Yahoo!
Does this make your current cell phone seem like something from a generation ago? You needn’t suffer with inadequate functionality when you can get a high performance Android smartphone like this for free. Note: This phone is also available in a satin pink finish. Learn more and get your Samsung Intercept for Sprint or other high performance smartphone. There are many models available and most are free or offered at a tremendous discount through Cell Phone Plans Finder.
It’s truly amazing that you can get a phone with these capabilities free of charge when you order it online with new Sprint PCS service. Even the shipping is free. You don’t pay a premium for the service, either. The plans are priced the same as they are in stores. Here are some of the highlights that emphasize what a deal the Samsung Intercept M910 really is. It starts with the large 3 inch touch screen display. This gives you the ability to select from a wealth of Android apps and run your application on a space large enough to make it usable and enjoyable. You’ll enjoy streaming multimedia on the go. Watch live TV and video on demand with full motion video and vivid sound.
What kind of connectivity can you expect to make that streaming video a pleasant experience? You’ll connect at 3G data speeds where available on the Sprint PCS network. You also have the option of connecting to wireless hotspot networks with the WiFi connectivity in this phone. No all smartphones give you WiFi connectivity, so be sure to look for it if you want to use this capability.
Messaging is obviously a high point of this design. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard lets you enter your messages efficiently by pressing actual physical keys and getting that tactile feedback you don’t enjoy when tapping your fingers on glass. In addition to standard text messaging, you can send and receive picture and video messages with multimedia messaging. The built-in camera offers 3.2 Megapixels to give you photos good enough to print as well as share via messaging. You can also capture video with this camera.
Other features of note for the Samsung Intercept include integrated GPS support for location-based services like Google Maps. Bluetooth for hands free conversation is included, as well as stereo Bluetooth so you can stream to your music to A2DP compatible devices, like wireless stereo headphones. Visual voicemail is a new feature. You can listen to your voicemail messages in any order and easily manage your inbox without calling-in.
The Intercept is a great work phone as well as a personal cellphone. It supports viewing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents that come in as email attachments. The included Web browser offers full HTML capability. Email capability includes Microsoft Direct Push as well as mobile email like Gmail and Yahoo!
Does this make your current cell phone seem like something from a generation ago? You needn’t suffer with inadequate functionality when you can get a high performance Android smartphone like this for free. Note: This phone is also available in a satin pink finish. Learn more and get your Samsung Intercept for Sprint or other high performance smartphone. There are many models available and most are free or offered at a tremendous discount through Cell Phone Plans Finder.
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