Leased-Line Aggregation
Leased-line aggregation includes “fixed-access” circuits generally focused on connecting business customers to a service provider network. Products or services offered over such circuits usually fall into one of two categories: Internet access and virtual private networks (VPNs).
Three main access mediums exist for the leased-line space—time-division multiplexing (TDM) circuits in the form of point-to-point connections, Frame Relay permanent virtual circuits (PVCs), and ATM PVCs. As with the broadband application space, Ethernet is becoming more prevalent, with many providers offering alternative high-speed applications with the technology.
Internet Access and VPNs
Access medium and Layer 2 protocol selection are extremely important to the service provider—they ultimately define the infrastructure, scalability, performance, and cost of a network. However, many customers of service providers do not buy access circuits—these are just a means to an end product, such as Internet access or VPNs.
Internet Access
Internet access has been the mainstay for service providers over the past five years with literally tens of thousands of businesses worldwide connecting through access networks to the Internet.
VPNs
VPNs have become a critical business driver as organizations worldwide rely more on the distribution of Web-based information and applications. Most enterprise and medium-sized businesses now offer intranet-based services for everyday operations, and service providers want to be part of this next wave of IT by offering outsourced services. Much of the high revenue growth over the coming years for the service provider will come from the VPN market.
Many protocols and follow-on applications have been driven by the VPN requirements including protocols and applications. Cisco has been at the forefront defining such technologies and standards. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is the leading technology used to build scalable VPNs. Many of the world’s largest service providers have built extensive MPLS networks with Cisco products, and are now offering VPN services to thousands of business organizations.
The Cisco 10000 Series offers a comprehensive and scalable MPLS feature set and is a leading provider-edge router in the Cisco portfolio. The product’s MPLS capabilities span both leased-line and broadband applications, the latter being a growth market in remote working environments. Broad MPLS feature support is becoming increasingly important as the market matures. The integration of leased-line and broadband capabilities is critical to meet the needs of service providers wishing to consolidate infrastructure at the network edge.
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