A UBM TECHWEB WHITE PAPEROCTOBER 2012
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Five Reasons to Move from a Traditional TDM Network to
Metro EthernetCloud services create a compelling case to move
application processing and storage out of the data center and onto the network.
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Five Reasons to Move from a Traditional TDM Network to Metro EthernetCloud services create a compelling case to move application processing and storage out of the data center and onto the network.
Communications and networking technologies continue to evolve at a rapid pace, and organiza-tions that fail to stay on top of these developments and implement change as it’s needed risk being at a huge competitive disadvantage.
Just think of the emergence and growth of cloud computing, social networking, and mobile technology in the workplace over the past several years and you can see how much things have changed and how reliant companies have become on these newer solutions.
One of the keys to leveraging technologies such as cloud computing, voice over IP (VoIP), and unified communications (UC) is updating the communications infrastructure. Organizations need to consider migrating from older WAN tech-nology to modern Ethernet-based services such as metro Ethernet.
Metro Ethernet is a metropolitan area network (MAN) based on Ethernet standards and is often used to connect subscribers to a larger service network or the Internet.
This white paper highlights the key rea-sons for moving from a traditional time-division multiplexing (TDM) network to an Ethernet network. These reasons include the compelling nature of the cloud, the solidification of VoIP as a key part of corporate communications strate-gies, the demise of T1, the emergence of UC as a business necessity, and the availability of network
service providers that can help guide a successful migration to Ethernet.
1. Compelling Nature of the CloudOnline, on-demand, Internet-based services collectively known as “the cloud” present a com-pelling case for CIOs to move a large number of operations, including application processing and storage, out of the data center and onto the network.
The use of cloud-based services can lead to benefits such as cost savings, increased flexibility and improved scalability. On-demand offerings, such as software-as-a-service or infrastructure-as-a-service, can be especially appealing to businesses that deal with frequent fluctuations in demand for computing capacity and use of applications.
Accessing the cloud in the most cost-effec-tive, secure and efficient manner is a top priority for most organizations looking to leverage on-demand services. Traditional TDM does not provide adequate bandwidth or true reliability in terms of delivering application support and high-quality end-user experiences.
Today, there are alternatives to traditional TDM WAN services that offer cost savings and per-formance improvements. While TDM is adequate for voice telephony service, Ethernet provides sig-nificant advantages for data applications. It’s a technology that is purpose-built for carrying data.
From day one, Ethernet was designed to be a data network, with all of the features and functions built into it specifically designed to carry data.
Living in a data-centric business world that is increasingly moving to the cloud, companies want the most advanced, compatible network technology to support their needs.
In addition, one of the biggest advantages of Ethernet compared with TDM is that Ethernet has become much easier to deploy. With underlying technologies, such as fiber optics, wireless, and microwave systems, Ethernet can be adapted to more physical transports. Ethernet is now being deployed in places where several years ago TDM was the only choice. 2. Voice Over IP Is for RealThe second key reason for moving from tradi-tional TDM to Ethernet is VoIP. For many years, VoIP suffered from a reputation of poor voice quality and performance. But that’s changed as the technology has matured.
To realize the inherent cost savings of using IP-based communications, many organizations are adopting VoIP across their enterprises. IT and busi-ness executives are actively looking for ways to keep costs down, and VoIP affords an opportunity to do that. The question concerning VoIP now is how do organizations access and implement VoIP services optimally, securely, and effectively?
Although VoIP is an adaptation of voice to the data world, where data is now the underlying transport of voice, Ethernet presents a more viable option for carrying VoIP traffic. That’s because of the fact that the underlying transport is data. IP is a protocol designed for moving information over the Internet, and is tailored to being carried across an Ethernet network.
When you try to carry data or IP in general across a TDM network, the interaction that has to take place between the IP layer and the TDM transport is again an adaptation. IP was not devel-oped for TDM networks.
Ethernet was specifically created to transport IP packets and has features and components that are specific to it. The technology allows for more flexibility at the transport layer that interacts with
IP and requires no adaptation of the transport.In essence, Ethernet is designed specifi-
cally to carry IP payload. It allows for VoIP to operate much better, because it’s a system that provides compatibility among all of the interac-tions that need to take place. This enables IP to do what it was designed to do, which is carry packetized data.
Ethernet allows organizations to have an environment that is more cohesive from the standpoint of offering advanced features of VoIP, which are not yet fully exploited, and allows VoIP to act more succinctly with the overall transport of the network.
Over the years, companies have adapted to some of the functions and features of IP but have not taken advantage of all of them. The exhaus-tion of IPv4 has forced the industry to look at a protocol level with more advanced features that can be implemented down the road, such as quality of service and the ability for packets to dynamically recover themselves.
“As Ethernet and IP continue to evolve, com-panies will see more advanced features coming out, such as how we handle quality of service and how devices actually correspond and work with that—both at an IP level and an Ethernet level,” says Michael Scott, general manager of Wolfe. “And as we evolve and increase our ability to use these functions and features that are built into both Ethernet and IP, we’re going to see more advanced application sets actually taking advan-tage of those specific features.”
3. T1 Is Fading At one time, top-notch state-of-the-art network-ing meant T1 service. Not anymore. T1 adoption is fading, due to concerns about cost-effectiveness, flexibility, security, and performance. Taking its place is metro Ethernet, which provides for better scalability and performance, ease of operation, and cost-competitiveness.
Many of the emerging cloud-based applica-tions, whether it’s Microsoft Office 365 or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform or some other application, require bandwidth that T1s simply cannot support.
As companies develop more bandwidth-intensive cloud applications, T1s are going to go by the wayside at an even faster rate.
The increases in needed bandwidth and in requirements for supporting cloud applications, as well as the need to support VoIP and video, are forcing T1s to diminish in terms of their deploy-
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VoIP is an adaptation of voice to the data
world, but data is now the underlying transport for voice.
That’s why Ethernet is a better option for VoIP.
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ment and use. “We’re seeing the adoption rate of Ethernet increase significantly over T1s because organizations now realize that they can have a technology that they are extremely comfortable with and that offers the bandwidth advantages they need,” Scott says.
For those organizations that still have T1s in place, the best opportunity for success in sup-porting the most current cloud applications and communications services is to swap out T1 for Ethernet. In fact, many companies are doing just that once they recognize that their existing T1 infrastructures are not able to provide the perfor-mance they need from cloud-based applications.
For example, Scott says, one company had two T1s that were bonded together, and pur-chased a subscription to Office 365 without knowing what kind of bandwidth the platform would need. The organization quickly discovered that it could not support Office 365 on two T1s because the bandwidth wasn’t sufficient. The application ran much too slowly, and in addition all of the company’s access to the Internet was severely affected by the drain on the WAN.
The company swapped out its service for a 10-Mbps Ethernet service over a fiber optic infra-
structure that was designed to meet its needs. As its use of cloud services increases or its needs for bandwidth grow, the company can quickly migrate the connection to additional bandwidth. This would not be possible using a T1 service.
Ultimately, Ethernet provides the kind of band-width flexibility that organizations need today as their application and computing demands change.
4. Unified Communications Is a Business NecessityToday, networking carries much more than email or voice communications. It’s about collaboration, both internally among co-workers and externally with partners, suppliers, and customers.
Effective collaboration requires the ability to support bandwidth-intensive applications such as design and graphics, as well as sharing and communications applications such as webcasting and video.
For many enterprises, unified communica-tions (UC) has become a critical business tool for keeping members of the organization in touch—regardless of where they are located in the world. UC generally involves real-time communication capabilities including voice, instant messaging,
Rock Island Technology Solutions, a value-added reseller of networking solutions for small businesses, has a first-hand understanding of the benefits of moving from TDM to metro Ethernet. The company had a number of traditional TDM-based circuits in Washington state, and was looking to create a point-to-point private-line connection between its Seattle and Bellingham, Wash., facilities. Rock Island had been gradually moving away from TDM toward Ethernet since 2004, because of the lower costs of hardware, better scalability, and simpler network management, according to Mike Greene, CEO and president of Rock Island. The company got in touch with Wolfe in April 2012 at the suggestion of Rock Island’s former telecom carrier (which was unable to deliver a suitable solution), and explained what it was hoping to achieve. “Wolfe came to the table with a really attractive solution that we were looking for,” Greene says. That solution was Wolfe’s metro Ethernet offering, and Greene has been impressed with the performance of the service. Some of Rock Island’s customers are moving to more cloud computing and asking for increasingly higher speeds. “We immediately go directly to optical Ethernet or metro Ethernet,” Greene says, rather than talking about other types of services that can’t handle the capacities needed. Ethernet is also more suitable for voice over IP (VoIP), and Greene says Rock Island has been looking at doing more VoIP and on a larger scale than it has thus far. The company’s move away from traditional TDM toward Ethernet has had a huge impact on its business, in terms of keeping costs down and simplifying network management. Rock Island had more than 100 T1s at one point and dropped its last one about a year ago. The strategy reflects what is going on in the industry in general. “Certainly for moving data and voice, I believe telcos are going to be shifting a lot of their traditional voice services over into the data stream,” Greene says. “We’re already seeing that happen.”
ROCK ISLAND SHIFTS TO ETHERNET
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video conferencing, presence and data sharing, as well as non-real-time functionality such as email, voicemail, unified messaging and fax.
UC technology offers the potential for people to communicate and collaborate as they never have before, and it can have tremendous posi-tive impact on worker productivity and efficiency. Workers spend less effort and time trying to reach other people, and important communications are less frequently missed.
UC is a platform that is not only bandwidth-intensive at times, but like voice over IP, it requires quality-of-service components in order to be highly reliable. It’s a technology in which users are actu-ally leveraging three or four different types of applications to completely unify all of the voice, video, and data communications among users.
For example, the Microsoft Lync product offers basic audio conferencing or point-to-point dial services, desktop sharing of applications, vid-eoconferencing, and the ability to host meetings and share data on a whiteboard space.
Multiple applications make up one UC appli-cation set, and each of those applications requires individual service levels in order to operate effi-ciently. UC forces a network to have resources available individually to support each one of the applications.
In a basic setting where TDM is used, com-panies do not have those various levels of service classifications. There simply is not enough band-width or processing resources to support all of that. In an Ethernet world, on the other hand, there is sufficient bandwidth and resources.
As service providers migrate their networks to Ethernet, UC becomes a more accessible tool for organizations because they have access to the bandwidth and quality-of-service they need to allow the application to function as intended.
5. A Network Service Provider Can HelpThe Internet service provider is more than just a supplier—it’s a networking partner that offers cutting-edge technology and services, network manageability, and sound communication advice.
Networking is finally catching up with other areas of IT in terms of offering dynamic alterna-
tives and competitive products. IT executives need to be aware of these alternatives, and how and where they can be implemented effectively. It is critical to have a strong networking partner that understands the rapidly changing commu-nications and networking marketplace, to better leverage newer technologies and reap the full benefits of these solutions.
A network service provider can help get companies from their current infrastructures to the cloud, or to VoIP or unified communica-tions. “We’re seeing the marketplace go through another evolutionary cycle, where the service providers that are capable of providing Ethernet-based services are the ones moving forward and actually gathering market share,” Scott says.
The service providers that can deliver Ethernet service to small and midsize businesses as well as large enterprises, and that can custom design solutions based on Ethernet, are the ones that are gaining a strong foothold.
Wolfe brings to the market an advanced network capable of providing organizations with the ability to maintain consistent Ethernet con-nectivity end-to-end and take advantage of the cloud and other services.
What makes Wolfe unique is that it offers customers the ability to have unblended, specific access to Ethernet technology across the net-work. The entire network is Ethernet—including routers, switches and architecture—with no TDM or other legacy technology.
Many service providers, on the other hand, have legacy networks that include some type of adaptation, with integration of TDM with Ethernet.
In terms of voice over IP, Wolfe offers an end-to-end network and provides quality-of-service across the entire infrastructure, to support voice applications that require a lot of sensitive latency aspects to be well-defined and easily transportable across the network. This is vital, because the network requires a certain level of service in order to transport VoIP effectively. In most situations, with an Ethernet network, unless quality-of-service is implemented, voice commu-nication becomes extremely degraded.
The minute a Wolfe customer’s connection is enabled, the customer will have access to Wolfe’s full spectrum of quality-of-service, end-to-end across its network.
Wolfe’s network is fully capable of trans-ferring VoIP across the entire infrastructure, regardless of whether a customer is buying a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) service, a
To ensure a good user experience for VoIP, use a
network service provider that provides Ethernet and quality of service
from end to end.
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ABOUT WOLFEA driving factor at Wolfe is to provide customers with high-quality Internet and Ethernet solutions and excellent customer service and support. One size does not fit all, so Wolfe offers customized business network solutions help any organization’s bottom line.
Wolfe believes that the best way to be a successful business is to provide outstanding services to customers coupled with the gold standard of customer service. Happy customers are loyal customers who will refer others. Learn more at www.wolfe.net.
A UBM TECHWEB WHITE PAPER | Five Reasons to Move from a Traditional TDM Network to Metro Ethernet
basic Internet package, or anything in between.Wolfe can help customers move off their
existing T1 services to Ethernet, enabling them to get better performance out of cloud-based applications. For example, Wolfe can provide com-panies with 10-Mbps to 10-Gbps Ethernet that customers can easily plug into and be using in a matter of days.
And Wolfe can help companies deliver the UC capabilities they need in today’s competitive
business environment—where staying in touch with colleagues and partners is vital. Because the company supports an all-Ethernet infrastructure, it can provide the capabilities for both bandwidth and quality-of-service that platforms, such as UC (including video and audio) require.
Perhaps most importantly, Wolfe’s skilled staff works closely with customers to address their specific networking challenges and help them meet their strategic goals. ■
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