How Do You Differentiate Between LAYER2 VPN And LAYER3 VPN?

On a high level .... L2VPN is only switching without any routing capability, so end customers still need to have a router facing the WAN SP, and manage their routing table. while L3VPN (MPLS vrf) allows the customer to outsource his routing responsibility to the SP, where he only needs a switch as the CE.

It only depends on the application of service/customer; there are customers who prefer to manage their routing functionality especially SPs (in a wholesale model), on the other hand L3 VPNs are mostly demanded by Banks, and SME corporates.

Specifically .... the L2 VPN would only be configured of VPLS IDs, VLAN IDs, VSI, and pseudo wire tunnels for switching, without configuring any L3 routing protocols or IP addresses for traffic routing within the MPLS network.

L3VPN, is a MPLS vrf (MBGP) cloud that is configured on the PE routers where the VLANs (L2) are binded to; so ideally, from the customer CE all the way to the PE router (through the Aggregator switch) is a VLAN that is binded to the L3 vrf with a /30 IP subnet. this is more scalable for many branches customers, or hub and spoke topology.


VPLS and IPLS are types of L2 Switching ....

VPLS .... Virtual Private LAN Service is basically adding two MPLS labels onto the customer Ethernet frames based on destination MAC address/port/VLAN information at the ingress node facing the customer CE.

The tunnel label is inserted at the top of the stack, which is then used by the MPLS network to reach the egress node. The VC label is introduced at the bottom of the stack is used by the egress node to deliver the frame to the destination network. The interconnected systems (usually LAN switches and the PE devices) must function as MAC learning bridges.

IPLS .... IP-only LAN-like Service is very rarely deployed, which is another L2 MPLS VPN, IPLS is a type of VPLS that is restricted to IP traffic only. the interconnected systems are not LAN switches, but rather are IP hosts or routers, so some simplifications are possible.

In IPLS, as in VPLS, LAN interfaces are run in promiscuous mode, and frames are forwarded based on their MAC destination addresses, but maintaing the MAC forwarding tables is done via signaling, rather than via MAC address learning procedures. In addition IPLS does not require flooding of ARP frames, and unknown unicast frames are never flooded as its the case in VPLS. Also, encapsulation is more efficient in IPLS because the MAC header is stripped while transported through the MPLS network.

For free assistance designing the right VPN-MPLS archetecture for your application requirements go to ...... MPLS Solution

Read More

The Difference Between Virtualization And Cloud Computing

The basic difference is "virtualization" happens on your own hardware and "cloud computing" happens on someone else's hardware. At the lowest level they are the same.

Virtualization and Private Cloud Computing are inter-related yet clearly different from each other. Virtualization itself can take several forms, from server virtualization, to network, desktop and storage virtualization. In each case, and importantly, virtualization abstracts the resource, i.e. Windows or Linux server, from the underlying physical hardware. The most popular products for virtualization include VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, KVM and Citrix Xen.

Private Cloud Computing is the application of Cloud Computing concepts to a privately owned and operated data center(s). Thus, features such as on-demand provisioning, distributed redundant architecture, and self-service administration should be part of a Private Cloud Computing implementation. Companies such as VMware are expanding their Virtualization offerings to support buildout of a full Private Cloud.

“Virtualization is simply one of the elements that makes cloud computing, so cloud computing can happen without virtualization..

A private cloud computing environment is built on a virtual infrastructure. Many organizations have deployed virtualization by creating virtual servers on top of their existing networking, storage and security stacks. But with private cloud computing, you need to think about and design these technologies in conjunction with one another.
In other words, you built previous virtual infrastructures on these stacks, but you need to build a private cloud with these stacks." - serverwatch.com

Also, keep this in mind .....

1) The additional links that are required to the cloud. These must to TOTALLY robust, if your link to the Internet is down, your business is down. Note that virtualization projects often miss this point about internal network reliability too.

2) Security. Where are the data centres? Are they in the same country? Are there different laws? Who has access to the servers? Is the data encrypted? Does it need to be?

3) SLA's. Do you have the right SLA's in place with the cloud provider? What happens if they take your service down? Can they delete your data? What about backups and recovery? Do you have sufficient control?

4) Liability. Who is liable when something goes wrong? Does the cloud provider give you liability cover? What happens if an outage materially affects your business? What happens if a lapse in their security releases some sensitive data?

Hopefully you can see that Cloud computing is NOT a magic bullet, nor is virtualization.

Read More

A Hosted Call Center Case Study

My friend Darren Prine of ConnectFirst recently shared his latest article which was just published online. The article is an interview with Linda Ruffenach, President of ACCENT, an international provider of integrated marketing solutions. Linda is incredibly intelligent and thoughtful. Her responses to Darren's interview questions are amazing.

If you have ever wondered why a company would want to move from premise based call center equipment to a hosted (cloud based) provider, then this is the article for you. In the interview, Linda covers why ACCENT moved to a hosted call center solution, the benefits they have experienced and improvements in their ROI/TCO.

Please check out the article and be sure to leave comments/feedback.

Hosted Call Center Case Study

Read More

Wireless Networks .... Gearing Up For The Backhaul Challenge

By now there’s no doubt about it. Mobile operators need to get their backhaul networks in condition to meet the burgeoning market for anytime, anywhere data access. Backhaul, once considered the humdrum side of an operator’s network, has become the topic du jour now that the mobile phone customers have shifted to smart phones and are taking advantage of data-hungry services in a big way.

Earlier this month, AT&T reported that its wireless data traffic has grown more than 5,000 percent over the past three years, largely due to smart phones, which are used by about 40 percent of its post-paid customer base. All operators have to contend with this growth, and quickly: smart phones should represent the vast majority (65%) of phones sold in the country by 2012, according to Creative Strategies, an analyst firm.

Operators are taking steps to prepare their networks to meet the expected demand, and the process of identifying specific backhaul needs and configuring the best solutions will force companies to bring the backhaul problem to the forefront of their infrastructure and business planning.

This ebook is a closer look at the available options and considerations operators must keep in mind as they prepare to build out this part of their networks.

Wireless Jumpstart

Read More

December Telecom Vendor News From Telarus

Here's the latest Telecom vendor news from Telarus ......

1. AboveNet .....

* AboveNet is extending its network capabilities through connections with CENX, Inc. The first connections are at CENX's New York sites where the AboveNet eXchange Hub service will be available to CENX's carrier exchange customers. AboveNet expects to expand to other CENX exchanges in top domestic and international metro markets.

* AboveNet has expanded its Metro Ethernet and dynamic Core Wave services in the London metro market. The new solutions will help meet customer demand for dedicated, high performance and high bandwidth solutions and facilitate seamless connectivity between London's business and data hubs.

* AboveNet is planning a strategic expansion of its data network by deploying new fiber optic based express routes in the Chicago metro area that will give rise to the lowest latency routes between downtown Chicago and the western suburbs. After the expected completion by mid-year 2011, routes between urban and suburban business hubs will prove to be the shortest data path available with high bandwidth capacity.

2. Level 3 Communications ....

* Level 3 Communications announced that it has been selected to serve as a primary content delivery network (CDN) provider for Netflix, Inc. to support the company's streaming functionality and to support storage for the entire Netflix library of content.

* Level 3 Communications, Inc. announced that as a result of increased customer demand, it has added significant capacity and five new network locations to its content delivery network (CDN). The completion of the augment and installations has added 1.65 Terabits per second (Tbps) of globally available Level 3 CDN capacity. As part of the augment, Level 3 has also added two Canadian cities (Toronto and Montreal) and three European cities (Brussels, Munich and Hamburg) to its CDN.

3. PAETEC - PAETEC has announced three new cities with Ethernet over Copper coverage: Seattle, Denver and Phoenix.

4. Telx ....

* Telx and Interxion announced a strategic alliance designed to help colocation customers easily locate expansion space on the other side of the Atlantic. The alliance is focused on customers in the financial services industry, where the growth of electronic trading is prompting many players to seek a global footprint for their high-speed trading operations.

* Data center operator and colocation firm Telx announced on Friday that the first phase of its 13,500 square foot high-density expansion at its 350 E. Cermak facility in Chicago is now open for immediate occupancy.

5. tw telecom - tw telecom announced a major expansion of its fiber network in the metro Atlanta area. The expansion reaches more than 600 additional commercial buildings in business districts within the cities of Johns Creek, Suwanee, Duluth, Norcross, Emory University area, Decatur and Tucker.

6. Windstream ....

* Windstream announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with ABRY Partners to acquire Hosted Solutions Acquisition, LLC (Hosted Solutions) in an all-cash transaction valued at $310 million.

* Windstream announced the expansion of its unified communications services to nearly 100 new cities within Windstream's service area. Windstream's IP solutions combine voice, data and Internet services over the same connection. Windstream is expanding its VoIP and Data services to additional cities in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Nebraska, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Georgia and Kentucky.

7. XO Communications - XO Communications has expanded its metro network coverage across Phoenix, part of an initiative the company says demonstrates its strategy to expand its presence in existing XO markets. The goal is to serve more enterprise customers with its IP-based communications, managed network solutions and exceptional customer experience.

To take advantage of any of the news and deals mentioned above go to:

Bandwidth Deals

Read More

What Are The Top 3 Telecommunications Challenges Faced By Small & Medium Size Businesses When Buying IT Services?

Although there may be many challenges faced by small and medium size businesses when buying IT services .... most can be boiled down to these three:

1. Producing a ROI analysis that convinces the boss to move to an IP based / converged voice and data environment.

2. Deciding whether to go for a hosted/SaaS or premise-based solution.

3. Finding a provider that meets the company's needs.

Most small to medium businesses go right after the technical "glitz" without making a Business case of why they need a new or modified network, how it will improve their business and without a clearcut success measuring tools/methods. When you succumb to the fad and fancy without rolling up your sleeves and getting some homework done first .... you risk these challenges:

1- Lack of what, why and how knowledge

2- Too many choices to choose from

3- Budgetary constraints


Most people dread the thought of having to deal with the phone company! Why? Because they expect to:

■ Talk with four or five providers;

■ Compare pricing;

■ Get confused;

■ Become totally frustrated when they don't get what they expected!

To make the entire process easier, ensure appropriate planning and design as a forethought, and save time & money comparing providers ..... I recommend using the free assistance available through DS3 Bandwidth

Read More

How To Build A Cell Phone Signal Booster

1. Learn the basics of how it all works. Signal Boosters (aka Repeaters, Amplifiers) all work using the same method. There is a booster connected by a cable to an outside antenna, which communicates with the towers. There is also a cable running from the booster to an inside antenna, which communicates with your device. Sometimes the inside antenns is built-in to the booster. The signal booster receives the signal from the tower with a higher sensitivity than your cell phone (or data card) and adds power as it sends the signal through to your phone. It also works the other way around, sending 4-6 times as much power to the tower than your portable device can by itself.

2. Choose the booster kit that best suits your needs. For a portable solution that you can carry your office, car and home, try the Wilson Sleek or Mobile Professional. To improver the signal in a room or a house, try the Wilson SOHO or DB Pro. There are many other options, but these are some very popular options. For more info, go to the Wilson Electronics website or call them.

3. Install the outside antenna. For portable antennas, this can be as easy as placing the magnetic antenna on a metal surface, such as a car roof or filing cabinet near a window. For home/building mount antennas, you can screw them onto the roofing trim/chimney or clamp it around a pole.

4. From there, run the antenna cable to where the booster will be placed. Usually near a power source, this can be on your desk, in the attic, in a closet, under a vehicle seat, etc.

5. Install the inside antenna. Often you can stick a portable antenna near the headrest or on the dash of your vehicle or just set on your desk or table at the office or home. For larger systems, like the SOHO or DB Pro, you can leave the inside antenna in the attic, mount it on the wall or in a closet.

6. Run a cable from your inside antenna to the booster. If the inside antenna is built-in to the booster, then of course this step is not required.

7. Now the final step - Connecting it all up. Plug the outside antenna cable into the booster where it says "outside antenna" and plug the inside antenna cable where it says "inside antenna". Connect the power cord into the A/C outlet or cigarette lighter plug and also into the booster.

8. The light(s) on the booster should be a steady green and you should see more bars right away! If that's not the case for any reason, there is probably an easy fix. Just call the tech support number written on the amp.

Read More

Android vs iPhone ..... Who Will Win?

In the battle of iPhone vs Android, it is hard to tell who will win in the end. But since Apple will never license its software (at least for as long as Jobs is alive) I am pretty sure they will both have a share.

The PC market explosion was driven by the cost benefits of standardizing hardware, which took PCs from specialized workstations to household items. But the mobile hardware market is already more or less standardized and prices aren't that high. I bet Apple could launch an "emerging markets iPhone" in terms of pricing, they just don't want to for the risk of cannibalization right now.

So Android's value proposition comes from the ability to vary the hardware configuration and user interfaces while maintaining a common platform. That could be attractive, but only if and when vendors other than Apple can find at least a niche where their portfolio of devices are better. Right now I am not seeing it, but I think its mostly due to poor execution, oversized organizations (the old mobile vendors) and inexperience with user interface differentiation (the PC vendors).

Maybe the most interesting aspect to the question is: what will become of the other operating systems? Windows Mobile, Java, Symbian, LiMo, Bada, Maemo, Blackberry, Palm WebOS come to mind. Can there really be a third and fourth platform when there is also the mobile web (HTML5 etc) to contend with? I think the line goes at max 3, and that puts them all at risk.

Domination has many different means but here's the Woz take on the matter (according to cnet.com):

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak thinks that the iPhone is tops in overall quality but also that when all's said and done, Google's Android platform will reign supreme in the mobile market.

"The Apple phone has very few weaknesses," Wozniak told Netherlands newspaper De Telegraaf in an interview (translation) posted recently. "When it comes to quality, the iPhone is leading."

Wozniak also said, however, that "Android phones have more features" and deliver more buying options for those who don't want to be limited to a single device. In addition, Wozniak told the publication that like Windows in the desktop OS space, Google's mobile platform will become the "dominant" option in its own market.

Read More

Google is My Landlord?

My jaw dropped when I heard the news. 'Google Signs Deal to Buy 111 Eighth Avenue.' This is the second most sought after carrier hotel in the NYC market - some would argue that it has surpassed 60 Hudson Street in demand for space, due to the buildings ability to attract data and IP providers from back in the day. Google, who was a tenant of the building, has made its move to purchase it for $1.8 billion - making it the biggest real estate deal of the year. The company outbid more than a dozen other bidders.

Why buy such a huge building - taking up an entire city block near Manhattan's meatpacking district?

• The building has 2.9 million square feet - more than the Empire State Building.
• It is the third largest building in NYC
• Sits atop one of the main fiber optic hubs in New York City (the Hudson Street Ninth Avenue 'fiber highway')
• Massive telecommunications tenant list

I used to work for Telx, the Interconnection company. In 2007, Telx acquired the meet-me-room on the 15th floor from NYC Connect (owned by Taconic Realty Partners - one of the - almost previous- owners of the building). Telx now has space on the 3rd, 8th, 14th and 15th Floors of 111 8th Avenue - and all I can think of is 'Google is my landlord!'

Not only does Google control the rankings of websites positioned on the web - basically acting as a landlord for the Internet - but now the company is expanding directly into my backyard, my ears are perked and I'm listening.

In order to try to understand why they bought the building, I took a look at what data center facilities they already have. But that isn't an easy task. Back in 2008, Rich Miller of Data Center Knowledge, stated that Google is rather secretive about its data centers. No one really knows for sure how many facilities the companies have, though, Miller is aware of at least 12 within the US (now 13), three under construction in Europe and potentially five others. The company also leases space in 3rd party facilities across the US. Since the article was written, Google held a Data Center Efficiency Summit where it unveiled its Data Center Container, and a video tour of one of its data centers. Data Center Knowledge has dedicated a whole 'channel' to Google on its website - which you can visit here.

I am fascinated by the move. I assume the company has quietly been buying up network assets - because what's the use of a data center if you can't get in or out of it. And with multiple DC's across the world, the company will certainly need to connect them for redundancy, cloud computing, resiliency, content delivery and more.

So we know Google is a fabulous search engine, Google TV, Google Phone, Google Email, Google OS, Google Video - what's next? Google 3D?

Posted by: Ilissa Miller, Managing Partner of Jaymie Scotto & Associates. You can read more by visiting Telecom News Now at: www.jaymiescotto.com/jsablog

Read More

Is Switching To A Virtual PBX System A Good Idea?

Today there are more hosted PBX companies than ever. The allure to starting these companies is low cost. It used to cost silly money to start a "voip" company but today you can for a few thousand dollars. So be weary of the good deal because the website looks good. There are some reputable carriers!

In the end these are some important questions to ask your potential provider:

1) What kind of redundancy do you have on your voice services on the back end? If that SIP or PRI connection goes down what happens to my calls?

2) What kind of redundancy to you have on your equipment? Redundant servers in different colocations?

3) Will you do a network assessment of my current set up? In other words is my bandwidth sufficient? Are my switches, routers, and cabling, etc sufficient?

4) If I have "no dial tone" will you assume 100% responsibility or do I need to call my internet provider first?

5) If my service stinks what type of "out clause" will you provide? I recommend my clients to ask for a 30-90 day period to make sure you like the service.

6) Do you offer a "down-turn clause" meaning if I need to downsize the # of phones I have I can without penalty.

Ordering a "virtual PBX" can be dangerous if you don't know what to look out for. But if you do negotiate a good product it can be an awesome experience. The flexibility of a good voip system is awesome--having every feature available to you at such a low cost is incredible. I would highly recommend it to some of my customers, but it all depends upon what your needs are.

For help navigating all the questions and concerns you'll encounter ..... take advantage of the free assistance available through Business VoIP Solutions

Read More

3rd-party Software = 3rd-party trouble!

Working in computers and telecom for so many years has taught me one thing – 3rd party software usually equates to 3rd party trouble.   Passing the buck, finger pointing, and not taking responsibility abounds when we attempt to bring a 3rd-party solution into the mix.  How effective is another piece of software or hardware is going to work for an organization depends on the features and integration that product will bring to the table.  Let’s look at this from the telecom perspective.

Say you have a phone system and you need to have logging or recording, but the phone equipment manufacturer does not provide this as a standard feature.  You or your vendor are left with finding a 3rd party product that integrates with the current environment.  Then the question – do you need line-side or station-side recording?  Do you need to have CDR information to be recorded with the call?  Do you have the need to monitor the calls in real time through the phone or a computer?  How do you manage what is being recorded and can it be based on the programming of the phone system?  Once you begin asking the questions, the gates of ignorance are opened!  After you do select and install the 3rd-party logging system, then the real fun begins – who do you call when it does not work?  The recording people say it is due to the way the PRI is sending the data, the manufacturer says it is because the software vendor did not write to the latest release and the customer says take it all back until it works.

While you have to admit, a company that only does one thing like call logging from VPI probably does it very well and has a plethora of features for most any application.  They also have experience working with many manufactures so they should know how to deal with the issues that arise in implementation and debugging.  One part of the equation that is always left out is the requirements for more hardware or software licensing on the phone system side to add these solutions to the current environment.   

The flip-side of this is finding a product like the Interactive Intelligence platform that has all the feature sets you need built-in.  While these features will be comparable to the 3rd-party app in 90% of the implementations, you have to assume that the phone system manufacturer will not be able to address every need of every customer, but will hit probably 100% of the features that 80% of the market needs – the old 20/80 rule of any piece of software.  One huge advantage of finding these solutions is that you have a single source and a single person to blame.  If it is broke, only the manufacturer is involved in finding and fixing the problem and no one else can be made responsible for their own software. 

While this scenario is simple, extend it to Call Accounting, Call Center, or Unified Messaging.  As the features become more complex, finding a vendor that can do it all “in skin” is difficult, and usually comes with a price proportional to the features offered by the phone vendor.  Bottom line – how much headache will you put up with to get the features you want and how much do you trust your vendor to integrate everything correctly?  Remember, that neither the phone manufacturer nor the 3rd party vendor will help you to make this all work together. 

Robert Wakefield-Carl, QoS Telesys

Read More

The Cloud .... System Administrator vs. Network Administrator –Who Wins?

Excellent Article From Jack Bezalel at Professional Mastermind ..... "The Cloud: System Administrator vs. Network Administrator – who wins?"

One of my friends told me once, he uses a small little secret to tell whether a person he is talking to, is a network administrator or a system administrator.

He would ask them to tell him the details of most important computer in their network. If the answer was something like “oxygen.mycomp.com” he would know this is a system administrator and if the answer looked like “150.144.100.100″ then a network administrator.

Well, why would it be important to know this?

It seems each one belongs to a different technological and emotional world.

Network Administrators deal with cabling, ISP pricing, physical limitations of the equipment as well as the nature of geography. They live in the world of small bits that serve a massive operation.

System Administrators deal with users, applications, operating systems, databases.

Sure, both System Administrators and Network Administrators care about all of those components, but their daily activity and focus is different.

Maybe one analogy could be describing the computing environment as if it is a car. We could then claim the System Administrator would be driving the car which the Network Administrator has built.

And this difference in the world view, can cause friction.

I have seen many cases in the past 27 years where the network administrator team was almost at war against the system administrator team and vice versa.

Publicly the arguments were about uncontrolled bandwidth usage (said the network administrator) vs. user needs and computing power that require the proportional network capacity.

Of course there were other topics on board, but we’ll summarize it by saying, many times the user would feel like the abandoned kid of a couple that are going through divorce – as in the movie “Kramer vs. Kramer”.

The Cloud presents a huge need for computer systems as well as networks.

Looking at the cloud implementation I am involved in, one of the main subjects is how to provide seamless and quick access to the data and applications on systems running in many different locations.

One very prominent need is for additional Network Capacity. The whole Server Consolidation game actually means that users will need to go through the Wide Area Network to get the same service they were getting locally.

So the system administrator would be asking for additional network bandwidth while the network administrator would be asking for process optimization, pointing to the considerable cost of the WAN and the physical and geographic limitations while trying to push more data via the WAN.

Who do you think will or should win this battle?

What are your major networking challenges?

How can both system administrators and network administrators find the path to the solutions for server consolidation the challenges of the cloud?

Read More

Mobile Service Alerts .....Bill or Regulation Shock?

From Neil Ende, Managing Partner, Technology Law Group

The FCC recently proposed rules that would require mobile service providers to provide usage alerts and information to assist consumers in avoiding unexpected charges on their bills. Specifically, the FCC’s proposed rules would require mobile service providers to inform their customers about their usage, such as by voice or text alerts when a subscriber is approaching or begins incurring overage or roaming charges, and provide clear disclosure of the available tools subscribers can use to limit usage and review their usage history. The FCC’s recent Bill Shock Survey found that 30 million Americans have experienced unexpected increases in their monthly bills that are not caused by changes in their service plans.

Predictably, industry commenters contend that mandatory usage alerts and cut-off mechanisms are unnecessary because ....

1) the wireless industry currently provides consumers with usage controls and alerts, text messages, and dialing shortcuts to check account balances to avoid bill shock,

2) an industry-wide regulation will harm consumers by limiting choice and diminishing incentives to develop additional tools, and

3) it would be costly to adjust existing billing systems to implement any new usage alert requirements.

State and consumer commenters contend, however, that mandatory requirements are necessary because currently available tools are limited by additional fees, self-enrollment requirements, active monitoring requirements, and they are applied inconsistently.

The FCC seeks comments on the scope and limits of the proposed rules.

For example, should prepaid mobile services, in which customers pay in advance, be exempt from any usage alert requirements?

Should the rules apply to all communications services provided by mobile wireless providers, including voice, text, and data services?

Should exclusively mobile data service providers be exempt?

Does the FCC have the authority to establish the proposed rules? For example, several Title III provisions of the Telecommunications Act authorize the FCC to establish license conditions in the public interest. Even if the FCC does have the authority to implement such regulations, should it do so? Are such regulations appropriate or even necessary for competitive mobile services? Will they avoid mobile service bill shock or just shock the competitive mobile service industry with costly regulation?

We welcome your thoughts! Please feel free to comment at our interactive blog at blog.tlgdc.com.

Read More

How A T1 Line Works

When trying to convince your boss that your company needs T1 bandwidth to help solve a network issue and meet business function requirements …. it comes in handy to know just how a T1 line works. Without that understanding you’re more likely to lose the argument and remain stuck with whatever dinosaur set-up you’re trying to move away from. As your company’s go-to IT person … you can’t afford to lose those battles.

You already know that there are many flavors of T1. But you need not go into that with your boss. If necessary you can adequately describe in simple terms the difference between fractional, full, and bonded … as well as the general aspects of point-to-point and MPLS architecture. For the purposes of making your main point … just stick with describing the basic single point-to-point T1 line.

For a generic point-to-point T1 circuit, part by part, generically speaking it works like this from the premises back.

Your router CSU/DSU DS1 signal connects to a SmartJack aka a Highcap Remote Unit (HRU) mounted in the Network Customer Terminating Equipment (NCTE) also known as the mounting which converts the DS1 signal to a T1 for transport.

From there it is connected by either a single pair or two depending on the technology utilized to the central office repeater shelf where a Highcap Line Unit (HLU) is installed which converts the T1 signal back to a DS1 and also provides 186 or 130 volts over the copper pair(s) to power the HRU.

From the CO repeater shelf the DS1 signal along with 27 others are passed to a Digital Access Crossconnect System (DACS) or muxed up to a DS3 and then to the DACS which provides mapping of the DS1 signals and remote testing capabilities.

Out of the DACS the signal is most commonly a DS3 or higher and passed to another MUX along with other DS3’s for conversion to an OCx for interoffice transport.

At the other end the process is reversed.

As far as a T1 switching device at the provider end … depending on the type of circuit, there are fast packet switches, frame relay switches and routers.

Now your boss may turn glassy eyed halfway through your technical diatribe above …. but that’s alright. You have shown a thorough knowledge of the workings behind what you want … a T1 line based network. That should be enough to impress upon him or her that you know what you’re talking about from the technical side. From there … all you need to do is address the cost benefit. For that simply show the impact of your current poor performing network on the core functions of the business …. compared to the improvement(s) gained with the network architecture you’re recommending.

If you need assistance with setting up the right solution for your voice/data network applications …. take advantage of the free help available at DS3 Bandwidth. They can guide you through the process whether it’s T1 line based, DS3 circuit, SONET, Business Ethernet, or wireless …. including MPLS, Point-to-Point, bonded, burstable, and more.

Read More

Will The Sprint – Clearwire Venture Survive?

Many saw this coming years ago when Sprint dumped their broadband wireless division and the $1B of spectrum they had (old MMDS). But Craig McCaw's wealth and deep pockets were/are behind Clearwire. He was behind Teledesic, the expensive low earth orbit adventure-flop. These things apparently are more like expensive hobbies to him!

The one to ponder is Sprint. My own opinion is that before Sprint bought Nextel, it was near collapse. The acquisition gave them a honeymoon with the investment world. Then Sprint needed another dodge. Their merger with MCI flopped, and good thing it did, as Mr. MCI went to prison. Now the WiMax adventure by Sprint, XOhm tries to apply the $B debt they have on the books from the MMDS spectrum acquisitions of many tiny licensees. MCI had the rest of the spectrum in the US, for WiMax in 2.5GHz.

Then the march to LTE by everyone except Sprint (and Xohm/Clearwire) came to light.

Poor Sprint - they are CDMA as is Verizon. But Verizon doesn't want to pay much for Sprint's network or spectrum- Verizon doesn't need it unless it was a a fire sale price. Which it may be.

If Clearwire tries a metamorphosis from WiMax (16e) to LTE, they would recapitalize their WiMax system to LTE before even finishing a national launch! This sounds like how AT&T Wireless (SBC-renamed) has operated since deregulation: Technology du jour.

So don't rush out and buy any Sprint stock.

For more on this situation check out this article at MuniWireless:

Clearwire In Deep Financial Trouble …. May Not Survive

Read More

DR, Redundancy, Backup, Fail-over: What does it all mean?

So many customers when choosing a new phone system always ask about redundancy and disaster recovery, but they really are asking about back or fail-over.  Most have no concept of true redundancy and DR entails or how you can implement in a communications systems.   Start with trunking.

If you look at your trunking, how do you have redundancy at any level when most connections come in through a single LEC, even though you may have separate CLEC’s.  One option is SIP but you still have data that usually is single LEC-based copper or a fiber connection.  If you can divide your services between wireless, copper, and fiber, you have better chance of redundancy, but fail-over is then an issue as most secondary carriers will not be able to send the original DNIS digits to you as the original carrier.  Having a single carrier will allow this across different trunks, even in separate locations, so that is an option as is SIP over different carriers, but retargeting SIP trunks is not easily accomplished with most providers.  Some customer believe that if they put all their eggs into a data center, they are protected and don’t need to think about redundancy, but the question arises of business continuity when the MPLS to the data center fails.

Phone sets are another issue.  If you are still deploying digital sets and haven’t moved to SIP – good luck!  While there are systems out that can redirect calls to other units in a network, for DR, not having IP sets is the same as expecting agents to take their computer with them to work at home if the corporate site is down.  SIP sets offer the ability to register to multiple locations, meaning if your main site goes down, sets can use alternate routing to other servers or even be taken to other sites and brought up on the DR servers.  With soft phones and remote number login, all you need is a web browser and a phone line or cell phone to stay connected to the office and your customers through a secondary DR server.

Phone systems of the past was not very redundant or able to provide full DR.  Some had simple fail-over and most offered backup, but instantaneous redundancy with full mirroring of information has only been around for a few years at most.  Today’s servers can be stacked, dispersed, and stored (virtually) anywhere and be able to take over automatically or with very little intervention from system administrators.  One important factor to look at when choosing a phone system is if they applications servers like voicemail, IVR, or speech servers have full redundancy that work with the DR capabilities of the actual phone system  -- though with systems like the ININ CIC server, all applications are in one box, so there consistent and replicated databases and functions no matter what server you are on.   If a switchover to a backup server does occur, planning must be in place to redirect trunks, re-register phones, and allow clients to reconnect to the new server.  Without this, no amount of DR work will work.

At a hardware level, DR and redundancy includes insuring good, off-site backups, RAID configurations on the hard drives, redundancy power supplies, dual-NICS, and all the other protection you can give your servers to survive the longest in a disaster situation.   If you look outside of the actual phone platform, what about the networks – do you have dual switch fabric in place?  Do you use spanning between multiple switches and routers?  Do you have dual routers in place with complete capabilities to route your inbound and outbound traffic. 

Obviously thinking about DR to this level can give any IT manager an ulcer in not time at all.  It is important to include experts at all levels in your DR plan, starting first with your phone vender since telecommunications is the life-blood of any company – no one can survive without communicating to the outside world and customers.  It is far more important to have people answering questions on the top of there head for an inbound call center than to have a web site up in the middle of a disaster.  So many companies take the other approach – build Fort Knox for their data silos and plan for complete redundancy at a DR site, but still count on their single PRI, single voicemail computer, single phone system to get them through a disaster or major outage. 

There are many consultants that can help you think through your DR and redundancy plans, but don’t go overboard.  Remember that people in a disaster will not be thinking about how they should be answering the next call, but how to reached their loved ones the fastest.  Plan all you like but remember the people factor in the equation.

Robert Wakefield-Carl, QoS Telesys

Read More

FCC Investigating Google Wi-Fi Screw Up

At the tail end of last month, the FTC dropped their inquiry into the Google Wi-Fi Street View kerfuffle, satisfied by Google's argument that their collection of user Wi-Fi data was a screw up, the data wasn't particularly useful, and that Google had made changes to prevent this from happening again. That supports studies from earlier this year showing that Google vehicles were moving too quickly, and changing channels too frequently, to really collect much useful information from the unsecured hotspots passed.

You can learn more as well as weigh in with comments at Broadband Reports:

Google WiFi Privacy Issue

Read More

Ethernet, M&A, Data Center Expansions Sum It All Up

Each week I take stock on the major headlines hitting the wires in the world of telecom. The news this past week has been chock full of companies announcing global Ethernet deployments, data center expansions and a variety of partnerships including some interesting M&A activity. A few companies jumped out in the headlines this past week - so I will use this space to tell you a bit about what they are doing.

Leading the pack with at least three different announcements was AboveNet. The company had consecutive announcements regarding market expansions in Chicago, London and the Baltimore/Washington DC corridor. All announcements touted the company's Carrier Ethernet capabilities. AboveNet is offering low-latency, high bandwidth connectivity within these key markets and beyond. The company is also connected to a number of Ethernet Exchange providers which further extends its reach and accessibility to the market.

Another interesting announcement came from Tata Communications. Tata has announced that it has launched a next-generation Ethernet network. Their announcement had a few differentiators. Tata is using PBB (Provider Backbone Bridging) Technology across its network globally. Powered by Cisco, they are offering scalable Ethernet worldwide. What makes this interesting is that PBB technology is not new. And while Ethernet Exchanges continue to make a splash, Tata is looking to get to market on its own. Tata may be the first provider to use PBB technology globally, but back on June 25, 2009, PacketExchange (then Mzima Networks) announced its deployment of PBB technology using Ciena's Carrier Ethernet Service Delivery pack. PacketExchange's announcement was not global, but was one of the first to deploy PBB-TE.

Finally, to complete the Ethernet news highlights, Neutral Tandem announced that it has completed the integration of its network with Tinet, creating the largest global Ethernet exchange. This news came out at Light Reading Ethernet's Expo held at the beginning of November 2010, but worth noting again.

Moving on to data center expansions - a lot of news highlights to share!

Net2EZ , a managed data center provider expanded its footprint into New Jersey at Dupont Fabros' NJ1 data center in Piscataway, NJ.

CyrusOne expanded its colocation footprint in Dallas, adding 65,000 square feet of data center space.

Facebook announced it is building a new, $450 million data center facility in North Carolina. Just think of all of the live feeds, pictures, videos and messages that will be stored here!

Finally - big news from Apple. You think $450M is a lot? Apple plans to build a massive new $1 billion data center as a hub for an all-streaming broadcast network. Now that's big - on a variety of levels!

With Ethernet network expansions, Data Center build-outs the market is still seeing quite a bit of M&A activity. I'm going to touch on a few before I go a little deeper into the announced acquisition of Arbinet by Primus.

- EMC to buy Isilon
- Windstream Corp to acquire Hosted Solutions
- Softlayer finalizes its acquisition of The Planet, becoming the third largest host of web servers
- Cbeyond acquires MaximumASP
- Carlyle to acquire Syniverse

and more - including - Primus Telecommunications intends to acquire Arbinet Corporation in a stock-for-stock transaction. The acquisition by Primus makes perfect sense for both companies. The acquisition will allow each company to leverage the assets of the other to become a much larger entity, better able to compete in the increasing competitive carrier market. We all know minute rates continue to fall at the same rate that demand for VoIP is increasing - companies need to find a way to compete more efficiently. Together, the companies will be able to lower their cost structure, provide enhanced product and services (including leveraging Arbinet's IP data exchange which provides a cost-effective quality service ideal for VoIP providers), and expand their international reach - collectively. The fact of the matter is that 1+1=3 in this scenario - which will make for a more interesting global carrier marketplace increasing the value and quality of services for all.

I have left out a lot as there is no way I can cover it all. I still have a lot to say and will continue my coverage on Telecom News Now. I'm preparing a thanksgiving blog that will give you something to feast on! Until then....

Read More

AT&T Strikes Settlement Over Wireless Taxes ….. Directs Users To Settlement Website

AT&T has settled a class action lawsuit claiming that the company charged wireless users certain Internet taxes on their mobile service bills that were in violation of the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act and other laws. On Thursday November 11 AT&T contacted customers, sending them to a website that states users may be eligible for refunds if they paid for smartphone or mobile data services between November 1, 2005 up to and including September 7, 2010. According to the wording of the settlement, AT&T has agreed to prepare and process tax refund claims with the various impacted states and counties.

But don't hold your breath for the money …. It could be a LONG wait.

You can learn more as well as weigh in with comments at Broadband Reports:
AT&T Settlement On Class Action Lawsuit

Read More

November Broadband Vendor News From Telarus

November Telarus Vendor News

1. AboveNet

* AboveNet has selected ancotel's Frankfurt facility to expand its network in Europe beyond its existing locations in London, Paris and Amsterdam.

* AboveNet has announced that the Core Wave services are available for carrier and enterprise customers in the New York metro area. The core wave services offer customers a cost-effective, dedicated and versatile data transport solution for connections in major metro business centers.

* AboveNet announced it is expanding its network into the Baltimore Washington Corridor. Three new fiber optic loops will specifically serve enterprise and carrier customers in and between the Columbia Gateway, Annapolis Junction and Maryland's National Business Park.

2. AT&T - AT&T Inc., through its financing subsidiary AT&T Capital Services, is providing loans to small businesses looking to deploy new wireless solutions or upgrade existing ones.

3. Broad Sky Networks - Broad Sky Networks announced their Enterprise HX. This new satellite service is available on Horizon's 1, SatMex 6 and Galaxy 16. Broad Sky Networks also announced the launch of their new iBeam service capable of point to point speeds of 100MB to a full 1GB for distances with direct line of sight up to 1 mile.

4. Broadview Networks - Broadview Networks announced a partnership with Callfinity to integrate its ContextIP contact center and call recording technologies with Broadview's silhouette hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system. As a result, silhouette service provider customers can make use of Callfinity's industry-leading call routing, queuing, recording, and reporting functionality as an integrated solution for their small-to-medium business customers.

5. Level 3 Communications

* Level 3 Communications announced that, in response to increased demand, it will now offer uncompressed high-definition (HD) video transport services between Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and New York City, giving customers in these cities the ability to transmit live video with a previously unattainable level of clarity and quality.

* Level 3 Communications, Inc. announced the introduction of its Converged Business Network service, offering its enterprise customers a comprehensive solution to handle all their voice, Internet and data networking needs through one carrier, one circuit and with one bill.

* Level 3 Communications, Inc. welcomed President Obama's announcement of his intent to appoint James Q. Crowe, the company's chief executive officer, to the position of Chair of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

* Level 3 Communications, Inc. announced that it has enhanced its managed services capabilities through a new agreement with Presidio Networked Solutions, a leading provider of professional and managed services solutions. Working with Presidio, Level 3 will leverage equipment from industry hardware vendors such as ADTRAN, Cisco, Fortinet, and Riverbed Technology in support of its managed services solutions.

* Level 3 Communications, Inc. announced its work with London-based Stream UK to offer a joint live-streaming solution for enterprise customers using the Adobe Flash Platform with support for HTTP. The solution allows business customers to stream live events within corporate environments while eliminating previous issues with firewall configuration and strain on the business's network.

6. MegaPath - As MegaPath begins to integrate the assets of the former Speakeasy and Covad into its fold, the new managed service local exchange carrier is offering a free Cisco SPA 303-3 IP phone to any new business customer that signs up for its unlimited or global Hosted Voice calling plans.

7. PAETEC - PAETEC has announced an Ethernet Expansion in Seattle, WA, Tuxedo, NY, Braselton, GA, Jefferson, GA, Colorado Springs, Oxford, Maine, Sacramento, California and Norfolk, VA.

8. Smoothstone - Smoothstone announced the launch of Mobile Connect, an application designed specifically for Apple's iPhone. Enterprises, through the newly launched application, will be allowed to extend the reach of their corporate communications services to mobile employees.

9. Telx

* Telx announced that it has nearly doubled the footprint of its data center at the 111 8th Avenue facility in New York City.

* Telx announced the deployment of the Telx Ethernet Exchange service at five U.S. locations: 60 Hudson Street and 111 8th Avenue in New York City; 350 East Cermak Street in Chicago; 56 Marietta Street in Atlanta, and 200 Paul St. in San Francisco. These locations, combined with the 14 Ethernet Exchange locations offered through the Telx relationship with Neutral Tandem (NASDAQ: TNDM), gives customers the largest Ethernet Exchange coverage in the U.S. Charter Customer participants include KDDI, Expereo, FiberLight, Intelepeer, Intellifiber Networks, IPNetZone, OneSource, Packet Exchange and RRSat.

* Telx announced that it has launched its enhanced Web-based customer portal, enabling colocation, interconnection, Internet Exchange, Dedicated Internet Access and Ethernet Exchange users to manage services and view highly-detailed inventories of their space, power, connectivity and bandwidth.

10. tw telecom - tw telecom and Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) have teamed on providing metro network resources needed to build a powerful network called SCinet. This network has been designed to deliver more than 260 gigabits per second (Gbps) in bandwidth.

11. Windstream - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it has given Windstream $7.3 million to extend broadband Internet access into unserved areas of rural Arkansas. Windstream will match the grant with $2.4 million of its money.

12. XO Communications

* XO Communications has expanded its network coverage across Charlotte, N.C., more than doubling its addressable market across the metropolitan area.

* XO Communications surpasses a million business VoIP users.

* XO Communications announced that it is offering advanced IP-based communications, managed network and hosted IT services to businesses across the Rochester and Buffalo metropolitan areas.

To take advantage of any of the above offers simply request assistance and a free quote at:

Deals On Dedicated Bandwidth Solutions

Read More

TDM to SIP - no savings until consultant engaged

This video will provide you with a list of GREAT questions to ask your potential SIP provider that will help you find a qualified provider from amongst the hundreds out there. You also get an email with an attached list of questions to ask to qualify a SIP provider

It will also prove that relying on SIP providers for an appropriate solution is a wish.

The video (results are shown on slide 6 at 3 minutes) reviews the initial results of a mid sized business requesting pricing for SIP Trunks to replace their existing LD T1s and Local PRI. After the inital round of quotes none saved money with SIP. Consultant engaged and average price of quotes dropped 25% and final offer saved the client 35% from existing telecom costs.

Read More

What is a USF Charge

There is a lot of confusion about USF. The FCC does not require companies to charge USF. Many companies are required to pay into USF and are allowed to recover their contributions from customers. Companies pay into USF based on information included on their quarterly and annual FCC 499 reports. If your client is paying into USF, then it is a business decision whether to pass the cost on to customers. The FCC was scheduled to release some proposed rules this quarter on changes to the USF contributions and might require more companies to contribute. It would be months and maybe years before the proposed rules become effective. Hope this helps.

Thanks to Jerry Weikle at Weikle & Co.

Great explanation

Read More

How To Get The Best Pricing On Dedicated Bandwidth For Your Business

You're looking for pricing on dedicated bandwidth for your company's voice and/or data network. It may be T1, DS3, OC3 or ethernet based. It could be for fractional, bonded, burstable, point-to-point, PRI, integrated, or MPLS. Whatever you're need is ... the search experience can be frustrating and painful.

The traditional method of finding a price on bandwidth is to call all the carriers individually, play telephone tag trying to find the right person, get pricing in several days, then compile all the information. This process can literally take WEEKS. Or alternatively, simply call the LEC (Local Exchange Carrier, aka the phone company) and get a price.

Are you seeing the two major problems with this traditional approach?

The first problem is that the price being quoted is most likely "sticker price". Argh! If you are shopping for a car, do you base your purchase decision on the price tag in the window? Hopefully not, because that is RARELY the price you need to pay to get that car!

The other problem is TIME. Where or how are you going to "write off" the 40-80 hours of time that you spend just trying to get pricing from multiple carriers, where the pricing is not going to be "bottom line" pricing anyway?

Here's the solution .... get real time quotes from multiple providers (over 30) all at the same time. With our low price guarantee. INCLUDING additional in depth research and support to ensure you're getting the most cost effective solution for whatever application requirements you're targeting.

An official pricing proposal can be generated within minutes with down-to-the-nickel pricing, including detailed information such as the cost of IP's, installation charges, loop costs, per-minute costs for intrastate and interstate calls (if a voice or integrated circuit), router (if not included), etc.

TIME IS MONEY, and any astute business person realizes this. So if you trade 40-80 hours of non-billable manpower without a low price guarantee for a few minutes of time with us, and end up with a pricing proposal that contains detailed information complete with a Low Price Guarantee which states that this is the lowest price that these carriers will offer for this circuit, are you seeing the benefit this has for you?

We're talking the base definition of "no brainer".

So .... simply request your quotes via the link provided below.

DS3 Bandwidth

Read More

Movistar New Player In Mexico Telecom

Movistar has obtained a concession to operate a public telecommunications network nationwide, to offer pay television and satellite data services.

This came as part of the decision of the Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) to deal with 18 issues in telecommunications. It awarded 10 grants of public telecommunications networks, 8 to provide pay television services to benefit communities in the states of Baja California, Chiapas, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Querétaro and Veracruz, and one more satellite data services at national level and an additional allowance with basic telephony services and the provision of long distance capacity to cover people in Aguascalientes, Jalisco and Guanajuato.

Moreover, modified 7 concession titles, among which are authorizations to provide additional services in towns of the State of Mexico, Queretaro and Tamaulipas. Lastly, awarded frequency bands for official use to the National Institute of Historical Studies of Revolutions in Mexico, a body within the Ministry of Education.

Read More

To CPE or Host–That is the Question

I have many customers asking me about virtualization, virtual desktops, and hosted solutions, but when it comes to phone systems, there is not much choice for any of these.  While this will most likely change and even reverse in the next 3 to 5 years, there is still not a big advantage to hosted solutions and most systems don’t support virtualization at this point.  There are several reasons for this and why you should be careful when looking at hosted solutions.

Control and responsibility

The biggest different between having CPE and Hosted phone systems is control and who takes responsibility for the equipment and programming upkeep.  With most hosted solutions, vendors will give web access to the programming to allow for small changes like phone assignments, user names, passwords, and workgroup assignments.  For the business that does not want to spend resources getting trained on the system, this is ideal, because any workgroup leader can make changes.  The hosted company is responsible for the server, updates, backups, and billing.  Responsibility is two-fold in a hosted environment – the vendor takes responsibility for the reliability of the server and the customer is responsible for connectivity and local equipment.  On the flip side, having CPE means you are in charge of everything, meaning if you can’t pay your bills, you still can make and receive phone calls – not so with the stinted hosted vendor.

Flexibility

This comes in two flavors – flexible environments and customization.  A hosted solution gives you the ability to change the number of phones very quickly or move people from one office to another without redeploying much more than a phone or gateway.  Also with most hosted solutions, you usually have access to a the full functionality of the product without any upgrades or much investment on your part.  CPE however gives you much of the same flexibility, but only after some up-front purchase.  You can still move people around, re-deploy phones to other office, and grow or shrink your system as needs arise, but you usually get the added feature of customizing your system more than the vendor would allow in a shared environment.  Imagine if a vendor allowed customization of the server for 100 customers.  Next update to the system software would mean testing it against each of those 100 customized environments before deploying to the server farms hosting the applications.  Now extend that to 1000’s of customers and you can see why most hosted vendors only give you limited control and access to the server software.  If your company has not changed much in 5 years and you were happy with your old key system, then hosted might be your preference, but if you see unknown growth or applications and need specialized functionality, then CPE is a must. 

Price

Sales people with that “is is only $25 per month per phone” routine make hosted solutions sound very cost-effective.  Not bad when you have 20 phones, but if you have 100, that means $2500 a month in fees perpetually.  A lease on a similar CPE system would probably be about half that and you own the stuff in the end.  Why is it nice to write off the monthly as a business expense rather than a capital expenditure, it is usually a decision about whether the company has the up-front investment for the equipment or if the company is eligible  for a lease.  No matter what the choice, it is important to look at an overall ROI including investment, monthly recurring costs, annual maintenance, and upgrade costs.

Who to Turn To?

One other strong factor for your decision should be ongoing support and maintenance.  Are you going to have the people on staff to train new individuals or will the hosted vendor do this?  Do you have to keep up the software at the desktop or will the hosted system do this automatically?  Who is responsible for your local phones and gateways and insuring good quality on your local LAN?  If you have CPE, you know you can turn to your phone vendor for all of this.  How much do you want to invest in time and effort to keep your phone system running efficiently?

Final Word

Whether you choose hosted or CPE for your next phone system is a hard choice since any option for most companies means changing out their entire phone system, but in 3 years time when most companies have already purchased SIP gateways and industry-standard phones, switching from CPE to Hosted will be a simple and more-likely option.   Whatever your decision, make sure it is based on your company’s needs and a good ROI model, not on sweet talk from a sales guy!

Robert Wakefield-Carl, QoS Telesys

Read More

How To Determine The Best Solution For A New Voice/Data Network

Follow this process when designing on a new, upgraded, or replacement voice/data network. Gather information addressing each of the points listed and go from there ....

First .... start with what you have, what it does well (and what it doesnt).

What does the current system cost?

Is there something coming that will change your requirements? Any network change is much easier to justify if your current network will not do the job.

Any "weird" requirements (OK - wrong phrase) - non IP protocols, attached devices which are not natively IP such as ATM machines, tills, IBM controllers and the like.

External comms - extranet links, external CC authorisation are sometimes an issue in a bank network.

Reliability, availability, worst case down time, need for backup link, disaster recovery......

That helps set the parameters for what you might want from a new network.

The following assumes you are planning to rent a carrier type MPLS IP type service rather than L2 or build your own...

Find a good provider or two with the right footprint to provide roughly what you want and ask for some budgetary numbers - they will do a much better job with the info you have collected.

It is also worth asking your current T1 provider if they can supply an MPLS network if you are still happy with them - migration is often easier when the same people support old and new networks.

When it comes to tradeoffs then a lot depends on where you operate (e.g. North America).

For example these are the basic positives when selecting MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching).....

MPLS has lots of access link choices - conventional T1 / DS3 etc type circuits also including DSL and Ethernet.

More flexibility - MPLS by default gives you an "any to any" topology, but it can be set up to force traffic thru one or a few hub sites if you need that.

The service could include managed routers at your sites, or you can provide and look after those. You might want to run these yourself - e.g. to encrypt traffic so the provider cannot snoop on your financial info.

Cost effective international links (relative to international T1 at least).

Service "break out" in the MPLS cloud - typically data centre access, IP Telephony external access, Internet access.

Multiple logical networks on one set of physical links - partition different department traffic, or an internal network from an extranet and so on.

One flip side that hasnt been mentioned is that your provider will need to co-operate in managing the IP addressing of your WAN. That may be an advantage or the opposite depending on how you run the current network.

Migration of a big network can be complicated and operational changes like this are always an issue - I prefer to start with planning (as above), as sometimes how you get there defines the best compromise for the final design.

If you'd like free assistance with the entire process ... including finding the provider offering the best fit solution for your applications and specific locations .... simply request help here:

Dedicated Bandwidth Solutions

Read More

Telecom Earnings and the Week in Review

The week ending November 5, 2010 was a busy week in the Telecom world. Some of the earning reports indicated that service providers are experiencing both growth and churn - as buyers seek 'higher' ground for services in a growing competitive market. This week earnings week, Internap (INAP), tw telecom (TWTC), PAETEC (PAET), Cbeyond (CBEY), Cogent (CCOI) adn Abovenet (ABVT) all had their earning calls and releases. The good news is that ratings from industry analysts, such as Cowen state neutral to outperform - showing a net-net positive affect for growth opportunities.

In other news round-up, M&A activity continued as Windstream Corp (WIN) annonced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with ABRY Partners to acquire managed hosting provider Hosted Solutions in an all-cash transaction valued at $310 million.

Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBC) also announced its recent acquisitoin of US video fiber network operator Genesis Network. The company expects to lever Global Crossing's international IP connectivity network to build a solid presence in the video transport arena.

Interesting news also came from Telx, the interconnection company. While at FIA in Chicago, the company shared a booth with Interxion, a European-based colocation provider. This week the two companies announced a partnership for global financial colocation which will help colo customers easily locate expansion space on either-side of the Atlantic.

A sweet spot this week was also the Light Reading Ethernet Expo. The picture indicates a packed room for the keynote presentations. Each presentation arena sat over 350 people and were both nearly at capacity for the duration of the 2-day event. The buzz was tremendous and companies explored Ethernet technologies, Ethernet Exchanges, Ethernet delivery solutions, ntework providers and more. A variety of news releases associated with Ethernet were also announced during the Ethernet Expo in NYC this past week. Some of the headlines read: AT&T Gets to 40G Carrier Ethernet, Neutral Tandem and Tinet Connect, Forming Largest Global Ethernet Exchange, Colt connects TO CENX's Carrier Ethernet Exchange in London and New York. Leading industry bloggers such as Telecom Ramblings (Rob Powell) and Data Center Knowledge (Rich Miller) picked up on the bevvy of news as well. Of course the 4 leading Ethernet Exchange providers; CENX, Equinix, Neutral Tandem and Telx all had to turn-up the mic. One of the most impressive announcements came from Neutral Tandem. Just one month after it closed its acquisition of Tinet, a global tier-1 IP backbone provider and wholesale Ethernet and MPLS network operator, the company announced its network integration completion. The combined entity now offers over 100 Points of Presence on its global Ethernet Exchange network solution, propelling the company into the #1 spot in the global Ethernet Exchange Market.

Other news came from Chicago, where the FIA show (as mentioned earlier in association with the Telx/Interxion announcement), Futures Industry Association educated global financial traders on better ways to transport their trading data. Hibernia Atlantic announced that its Transatlantic Cable has seen quite an uptake in Global Financial companies utlizing its network due to its low latency guarantees, quality, uptime and quick delivery.

A busy week indeed and I promise you that this post didn't even cover half of it. A lot is happening out there and I can guarantee you there is more activity to come. The weeks before Thanksgiving are going to continue to be a whirlwind as companies position themselves for the year-end as they plan for the new year.

Read More

More On The Pros And Cons Of MPLS Migration

Cons or Negatives ....

1) First of all you won't find too many "cons" but let me share a few with you that we had run into. First off SOMETIMES the pricing on Frame is so low it's very difficult to justify on price alone to make such a change. Of course when you see the "pros" they typically outweigh a hundred bucks a site or whatever.

2) Typical pains of migration might be your 2nd "con". Anytime you are making a move from one technology to another there will be some issues. Anyone who says there will be no issues is a salesperson in a bad way. The fact is you are installing a new circuit, new equipment, etc. Did they tell you the dmarc had to be extended at EVERY site?

3) The third and I think final issue is having to negotiate a new contract. You are probably out of contract and are feeling free as a bird, aren't you? Well if you want MPLS you are going to have to recommit to more than likely a standard 24 or 36 month agreement. If you are getting free equipment and free activation more than likely you'll be looking at 36 months with most carriers.

Now let's talk about the "pros" or the positives. There are many and I guarantee you I am going to miss many positives just because I am writing off the cuff here.

Pros or Positives ....

1) Pricing is often a huge plus. Yes, I know I said pricing is sometimes a negative. But typically you'll save money on converting a large Frame network with all the PVC charges and outdated Frame bundle pricing to a slick MPLS network. Especially if you are coming off Frame from your typical carriers like Qwest, for example.

2) Better communication between sites. MPLS is fully meshed so each site can communicate to the other site! There's much more to this positive and would take a book to explain it all.

3) Faster internet, more bandwidth, more "throughput" are all benefits of converting to MPLS from Frame Relay. Most of my Frame Relay customers had 1.5 Mbps with a CIR (committed information rate) often of half of that rate or less. That means the carrier will NOT guarantee a full T1 speed of 1.5 Mbps. So on an oversubscribed and congested network, for example a bank, users were complaining that getting into their terminal servers and such was time consuming. They figured they were losing tens of thousands of dollars a month on this alone. This is a common irritation among Frame Relay customers.

4) You now have the option of converging your voice and data network. Converging your networks is the latest thing to do for many reasons. For exampleoing to SIP eventually to save big bucks on your voice network. MPLS is necessary to do this effectively.

5) Fully Meshed Network.

6) QoS.

7) Brand New Equipment.

8) Fast Re-route.

For additional assistance specific to designing just the right MPLS architecture for your network .... go to:

Design An MPLS Network

Read More

Ethernet Peering - The Carrier Quest For Geography Is Over

There has not been a lot of hub-bub about the fact that for the first time carriers can peer their etherent networks instead of using carrier to carrier network to network interfaces called E-NNI.

Why is this important? As a network or internet backboone provider, in order to connect to another carriers network, I used to have to buy a set bandwidth (usually large bandwidth) and cross connect to that single carrier. Using an E-NNI (Network to Network Interface). There was often issues to be engineering out because my ethernet might not be exacxtly the same as yours. Then I would have to sign a bunch of engineering and contract documents. It is very complex. I have to do that for each carrier I want to connect to.

Now I can buy the bandwidth I need and connect to many carriers all through one portal. Ethernet peering is now being offered at seveal telco hotels around the country and the world. Recently the rack and hosting providers have started to expand their offerings with this service.

The game hasn't changed but the field has! Welcome the new little guys to the world and their pricing. It will be interesting.

Read More

BroadBand Nation: Oh The Selection – What Phone Should I Go For Next

I am one of those guys that always has the latest and greatest, meaning living on the bleeding edge – dealing with misconceived GUI’s, unforeseen bugs, and no end of frustration.

When it comes to phones, I have had the latest Windows Mobile device out there, from the old CE and PPC devices to my latest HTC Windows Mobile 6.5 phone.

I have avoided the hyped-up iPhone for one reason – I am am Microsoft geek and never the two shall meet. My friend recently showed me his latest Android phone and I think I might become the latest convert to one of the fastest growing communications interfaces out there.

My questions is, which type of phone is really the best phone for me? I would evaluate the technologies and devices on several criteria, including user interface, speed, application availability, network coverage, and coolness.

1. User Interface

For as long as I can remember, I have had a phone based on Windows, and well it is Windows. Not the slickest, rather slow, and not very inventive, but you have to admit, it takes no training to use the phone if you have ever used a computer. Having full Office apps and access to a plethora of shareware I know and love, makes purchasing a Windows device a safe choice, especially when considering support for my back-end VPN and Exchange servers.

I have dabbled in the Palm and Blackberry technologies, but never really enjoyed the interfaces, so never bought one.

No one can say the iPhone interface is not cool, and I did have iPhone envy for the first months of the initial release until I discovered SPB and the mobile shell that converts my antiquated Windows interface to something as cool as the iPhone, but with some bells and whistles that only us MS people would adore. Even the latest version of the iPhone doesn’t offer much that my shareware offers, but of course they have it all built into the core interface, which is a big plus when I have to flash my phone after loading some stupid app that I can’t remove properly.

I was a happy camper until I saw the HTC G2, I just about fell over with jealousy for the slick interface, speedy menus, and built-in applications that put my HTC Pro 2 to shame.   The simplicity, yet functionality of the new Android system is exactly what a phone should be.

2. Speed

One thing I could always say about my Windows Mobile devices – they were never speedy. Several times a week, I am rebooting it (got an app on my front page for a soft boot); constantly waiting for contact lookups; and even the interminable waiting for the phone to switch from status to keypad so I can enter my conference ID. I always assumed that when I got the newer phone, that it would be faster, only to discover that the system only got more bloated and the phone was just keeping up with the software size -- not getting any faster. I have not met an iPhone fan that has told me they think their phone is slow, so I have to assume that is only my problem.

I would expect an appliance-based device like the Blackberry to be speedy since you don’t have to deal with tons of apps to slow your device down. The Android seems to have taken an entirely new approach, starting with a slim, quick interface that lets you bloat it yourself and to your own detriment.   I have not seen an Android phone yet that is not fast.

3. Application Support

Who has the most apps in their store – that seems to be the biggest challenging all the developers. While there are numerous sites that offer Windows shareware outside of the Microsoft Store, there is no doubt that Apple’s store far out apps them all essentially 100 to 1 with over 180,000 apps compared to about 30K for Android and 2K for MS. But when it comes down to it, how many of those apps are really useful – I am guessing no more than about 50 %.

Also, the iPhone has a slight advantage of a year or more over Android for developers, so with over 5K apps being added every month, you can be sure it will be a pretty even race in the near future.

One advantage the Android store has over Apple is costs – over 50% of the Android apps are free as opposed to only 25% of the Apple apps.  I am sure that no matter what phone I went to, I could find several time-consuming apps to waste my resources and days.

4. Network Coverage

You might say I live in a cellular black hole – only Sprint works worth anything in my house, and I have tried every carrier out there. That has been the one main reason for not choosing an iPhone sooner (that and the fact that I might be converted).

Making a deal with just one carrier did not seem like the smartest thing for me, especially when the carrier chosen by Apple is horrible where I live. I also could not figure out why Apple would bring out an iPhone 4 that does not work on 4G – then again, I never understood marketing people.

With Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Palm and Android, you get to choose your carrier, not being tethered to a single choice. With Sprint deploying 4G in my area this year, I am all over the possibility of a new Android on the new network for true mobile broadband. It might be fast enough to consider getting rid of my local DSL and just tether my computers to my phone when I am home.

With having multiple carriers and phone manufactures available for wishful owners, there is no wonder why Android growth has been 886%, surpassing iPhones as a percentage of the market in September with 27% as opposed to Apples 23%.

Since I am a long-time HTC fan, I am sure the G2 will fit my needs as long as Sprint carriers it or something similar – but that is the advantage of Android – choice.

5. Cool Factor

Blackberry – nice, Windows Mobile – functional, Palm – slick, iPhone – cool, Android – Superb. I am sure you can supply your own adjectives to this exercise, but when it comes down to it, cool only gets you more people looking at your phone, not making your communications easier! I am sure a Porsche is cool, but with 4 small kids, it is not the car for me.

I see several factors pushing my decision for an Android phone, but will it turn me to the dark side or bring me into the light? Whatever the outcome, I am sure I will be sufficiently “cooled”. Luckily, phones are so cheap, I can try Android without much expense before “upgrading” to a real ‘droid phone like the G2.

No matter what my choice and reasons, feel free to comment or make suggestions. That is what this forum is all about – discussing telecom-related issues and products in an open and interesting debate.

Robert Wakefield-Carl, QoS Telesys

Read More

Pros and Cons Of MPLS Migration

When considering a migration to a MPLS data network from your current architecture .... plenty of info is available on the Web. Some resources are given below ... Bluntly, there is no one right answer, it depends on the requirements of your organization. A few questions you need to ask to arrive at the answer are ...

1. Do you plan to ramp up your network ... scale up the number of subscribers? If yes, this a good option. It allows optimum bandwidth usage and is flexible with T1, T3, satellite, and wireless connections. Huge networks can be managed with lesser number of labels for packet forwarding, such that they scale to corporate firm’s network expansion.

2. Cost savings? I am assuming yes for this one ... Depending on the types of applications, MPLS reduces costs by up to 25% over comparable point to point T1 links. With voice (VOIP - voice over internet protocol) and video traffic (video/web conferencing), savings can rise to as much as 40%.

3.Ensure QoS ... One of the main benefits of MPLS networks is the ability to support QoS/CoS, important for companies that run VOIP, videoconferencing, ERP, CRM, etc.

4. What is your budget ...? MPLS is not cheap. Work out your ROI

5. Security ... An improperly configured MPLS network is hard to troubleshoot and leaks user routes.

These were some random thoughts in no particular order. For more detailed discussion of the process you should go through I recommend that you read this article:

Tips on How to Migrate to a MPLS Network Architecture For Your Business

Read More

The Phish Tracker Project

DSLReports.com maintains an ongoing database of phish investigations ..... seeded by members of their forum forwarding suspect phish emails they receive.

Please consider helping this project by joining DSLReports.com (it's free) .... and forwarding your phish emails (assuming you receive any).

More information can be found in the Scambusters forum and the phishtrack database page.

Here's the links:

* Scambusters forum

* Phishtrack database page

Read More

Nifty SIP Stuff

One thing that SIP promised is an open standard that allows for innovative products to be developed and will interoperate with the phone systems, handsets, and software – all based on SIP. There are several companies out there that have taken this to heart and come out with products that dazzle and charm with their usefulness and features.

1. SIP Phones Anywhere

When I first thought about it – I imagined a nightmare QoS issue and hideous compatibility issues, but after testing and implementing WiFi SIP phones from companies like Unidata, I have to say I am surprised at the ease and flexibility these phones offer. These compact and feature-rich phones will work on just about any SIP-based phone system or SIP service and can be used on just about any WiFi network in a matter of minutes. I recently took one of my WiFi phones to Taiwan with me and found open hotspots, connected my phone to the internet and made rather good calls over the Internet from my phone system in California. Sure, you get the quality you pay for, which at the time was nothing, but for a simple, cheap, easy solution, I could not argue. Vendors have all kinds of phones for WiFi and DECT that interoperate will and offer features like single registration for multiple phones, automatic base-station registration for roaming, and even a software phone that works on phones with both 3G and WiFi, offering you a SIP phone wherever and whenever you need it. Can’t wait until I can get a voice-activated SIP phone in a WiFi/Bluetooth headset so I can ditch my phone altogether! Anyone of you smart guys listening?

2. Lights, Ringers, Paging

One issue with SIP has been paging and replacement of night ringers and alert lights. With products like from companies like Cyberdata, that is a worry of the past. The paging gateway I saw gives you IP-based paging wherever you need it as long as there is data there. This fit right in for a customer I had that needed paging for a warehouse across the country where they only had IP phones off the main location. Popped one of the paging gateways in, connected it to the paging speakers, registered it up to the SIP server and now California can page the forklift driver in Indiana to go answer his phone at his desk. Next step is to give the driver a WiFi phone that he can carry around. Algo Solutions has some nifty SIP-based door phones, loud ringers, and altering lights that I quickly put in to a couple of manufacturing plants that just could not hear the anemic ring of their Polycom phones. Tired of getting analog lines for those door or gate phones? Try some of the new SIP-based ones – as long as you can pull a data line to the location or if you can’t use the Phybrige solution to provide data with POE up to 2500 feet over two CAT3 wires. Since all solutions support POE, you don’t even need power to run most of these devices, meaning you can position where you need with just a data cable instead of an electrical outlet.

3. Applications Galore

One of the real powers of SIP comes with applications that work supposedly seamlessly on the SIP standard.  Need a SIP phone for your iPad, there is an app for that.  Want to deploy a cost-effective conference bridge in your organization – load Quorum from  NCH Software.  Want a nearly free  jukebox for your music on hold, try the MOH player also from NCH.    How about a video soft phone for your laptop?   Eyebeam has one.  The best thing about all these applications is that most are inexpensive and nearly all offer trial versions that allow you to test in your environment before making the insubstantial investment.  With standards that are easy to follow and almost guaranteed compatibility, SIP software is the natural platform for creative developers.  These plug-in applications extend the capabilities of any SIP-based phone system to include things like Unified Messaging, Voicemail Transcription, Unified Communications, Collaboration, White Pages lookup, and other features that usually costs a lot on legacy systems.  Companies like Interactive Intelligence Next time you have a communications need, consider the world of SIP developers first. 

Using SIP goes well beyond basic all control and voicemail.  For the investments in a SIP-based system, the return is only going to be apparent when taking advantage of SIP equipment and software that will enhance the communications of your company.  The overhead management and implementation costs of soft PBX will probably never beat the legacy key systems, but for expandability, flexibility, and future possibilities, SIP is the way to go, no matter what your size – 10 users to 10,000 users. 

Robert Wakefield-Carl, QoS Telesys

Read More

Michael Gottwalt Selected As A PHONE Plus Top Channel Manager

Michael Gottwalt is the first master agent channel manager to be awarded this honor.

Washington D.C. – Sept. 20, 2010 -- PHONE+ magazine, a resource for the telecommunications indirect sales channel, announced at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Washington, D.C., Monday that Michael Gottwalt of Telarus has been selected as one a Top 15 Channel Manager. The results of this contest are published today on the PHONE+ Web site at www.phoneplusmag.com.

PHONE+ is proud to honor Michael Gottwalt as one of the Top 15 Channel Managers. These telecom professionals were nominated by master agents, subagents and independent agents and selected by a poll of PHONE+ readers Aug. 16-27.

“This year’s contest was especially competitive,” said PHONE+ Editor in Chief Khali Henderson. “There were 133 nominees and more than a thousand votes. The enthusiastic response is a testament to the value the channel places on the stand-out channel managers in the industry. PHONE+ is pleased to be able to recognize them for their excellence.”

“Telarus is extremely proud of Mike and the way he supports his agents with dedication and excellence,” added Adam Edwards, President of Telarus. “The real magic of Telarus is the personal and competent support that we provide to our agent partners. Mike takes a personal interest in the agents he supports. With many years as an agent himself, Mike is able to understand agents’ needs and offer them the level of service only a former agent could provide. We are proud to recognize Mike for a job well done!”

Michael Gottwalt and the other winners will be profiled in the November issue of PHONE+ magazine.

About PHONE+

PHONE+ magazine is the country’s leading publication for communication distribution channels. For more than two decades, PHONE+ has been the undisputed leader in providing news and analysis to alternate distribution channels serving the communications industry. It is the unrivaled resource for resellers, aggregators, agents, brokers, VARs, systems integrators, interconnects and dealers that provide network-based communications and computing services and associated CPE, applications and professional services. PHONE+ includes a monthly print publication, a Web resource (www.phoneplusmag.com) and a weekly newsletter.

About the Channel Partners Conference & Expo Hosted by PHONE+ magazine, the Channel Partners Conference & Expo is the telecom industry’s only event exclusively for the channel. The fall event is taking place this week in Washington DC. The spring conference is set for March 13-15, 2011, at the Aria in Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.channelpartnersconference.com.

About Telarus

Telarus is a leading master agent that caters to the needs of professional independent commercial telecom brokers. Telarus is contracted with the top carriers and pays top commissions to its partners, all while providing superior support and tools that enable sales growth. Established in 2002, Telarus has become a leading master agent in the telecom industry through its use of non-outsourced home grown technology, unsurpassed transparency, and the best people in the business. In short, we make selling more efficient and effective for our partners so they waste less time and get paid more. Today Telarus leverages GeoQuote, our patented real-time quote engine to provide near instant pricing for transactional services, allowing its sales support staff to focus on providing agents with assistance on large and complex solutions. Telarus, a privately held company with headquarters in Draper, Utah, was named the top master agent by the members of the Telecom Association in 2008 and 2009.

Read More