Do You Need Bandwidth on Demand?

By: John Shepler

When you order a bandwidth service, you are expected to know the bandwidth your network requires and select the best option to deliver it. But, what if your requirements are somewhat fuzzy or subject to change? What if you are moving from an in-house IT data center to cloud computing or cloud communication services? What happens if you get it wrong?

The Limitation of Standard BW Services
Traditional line contracts are for a fixed amount of bandwidth for a set number of years. A DS3 bandwidth connection gives you 45 Mbps bi-directionally at all times. You have the security of knowing that the line speed will be there when you need it. You are also paying for the line to sit there doing nothing when you don’t.

Overprovisioning
This can lead to overprovisioning to ensure that you’ll never run out of capacity. You might only need half the capacity most of the year. Then the holiday rush hits and the network becomes congested at times. The worst situation is when you experience a sudden unexpected wealth of new business and you can’t serve the customers… because you don’t have the capacity.

Making Changes is Slow
When things start to pick up, you can order more bandwidth and keep your fingers crossed that it will be in place before your current line starts to sputter. That’s a problem with traditional telecom services because they are so specific. A T1 line is 1.5 Mbps, a DS3 connection is 45 Mbps, an OC-3 fiber service is 155 Mbps. There is a big gap between service levels and it takes equipment changes to move from one service type to another. That can translate into weeks and even months to make a change.

The Ethernet Advantage
Carrier Ethernet offers a lot more flexibility. If you have a Gigabit Ethernet port installed, you can order 100 Mbps, 200 Mbps, 400 Mbps or some other bandwidth and know that you can upgrade quickly when needed. A GigE port will run at any speed up to 1000 Mbps. You have the option to both upgrade and downgrade your service with just a phone call to your provider. How long does this take? Since there are no equipment changes needed, you may be looking at anywhere between a few hours and a few days max.

Consider Your Port
Of course, you’ll need to think ahead just a bit to know what size port to install. They are typically one of the standard Ethernet speeds of 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps and 10 Gbps. It’s also possible to get a 100 Gbps port installed in certain locations if you really need this much capacity. Most business users need a 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet port or a 1,000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet port.

Bandwidth Bursting is Better
Additional flexibility is provided by a feature called “bandwidth bursting.” Bursting means that you have some ability to get extra capacity automatically on a short term basis. Not all line services offer this ability. It’s more typical on MPLS IP VPN networks. The capacity is already available on the network. You are simply paying for a committed information rate (CIR). It you need more, you get more and simply pay for the excess used during the month.

Bandwidth on Demand For The Most Flexibility
Bandwidth-on-Demand takes this idea a step further. This is a dynamic network design that can give you more capacity on the fly. You don’t have to plan ahead or settle for a “best effort” by the provider. Bandwidth-on-Demand gives you extra capacity on the fly at the quality of service (QoS) level you’ve pre-selected. XO Communications, a worldwide leader in WAN bandwidth solutions, is offering this service for organizations that need to accommodate unanticipated capacity needs. They are promoting it especially for cloud and multi-cloud service environments.

What Do You Need Now?
Could your operation benefit from Bandwidth-on-Demand, burstable bandwidth or easily scalable Ethernet bandwidth? Get quick quotes and recommendation on flexible bandwidth solutions now.


Note: Image of Gamma Ray burst courtesy of NASA on WIkimedia Commons.

Fiber Optic vs Copper 50 Mbps

Companies looking to connect multiple employees to the Internet or transfer large files, especially high resolution digital images, need more than single digit bandwidth. They traditionally have traded in their T1 lines for DS3 service at 45 Mbps. There are more options now for bandwidth levels around 50 Mbps using both copper and fiber optic connections.

DS3 is thought of as a copper wireline service because you connect to it with a pair of small diameter coaxial cables. The familiar BNC connectors are the standard interface for DS3 modules. It’s rare, though, that your DS3 service is being transported by copper. DS3 service ran on T3 lines when it was invented. These could be large rigid coax or even microwave transmission. Now it’s common to bring DS3 to your door or to the curb outside using fiber optic cable. DS3 doesn’t natively run on fiber. Instead, it is multiplexed onto an OC-3 SONET service over the fiber. A single OC-3 can transport three DS3 services. They are dropped off at their destinations using an add/drop multiplexer.

45 Mbps DS3 service is well established and readily available. It’s facing competition, however, from fixed wireless microwave transmission, Ethernet over Copper and Ethernet over Fiber services. Fixed wireless is typically found in the downtown business districts of major metropolitan areas. The transmission distance is short and you need line of sight from the provider’s tower to your building. If it works at all, you can easily get 50 Mbps or higher bandwidths delivered wirelessly.

Ethernet over Copper started out as a way to get more bandwidth at lower costs than T1 lines. The beauty of Ethernet over Copper (EoC) is that it uses the very same twisted pair copper telco wiring that transports T1. What’s different is the terminal equipment on each end that employes a different modulation scheme than T1 uses. EoC has a simpler interface to your network because it is already in the Ethernet protocol and doesn’t need a conversion to connect to nearly all local networks. Even the connector used in the handoff from WAN to LAN is the familiar RJ-45. Just plug it into your router and you’re good to go.

Does it work? Ethernet is growing every year as a T1 line replacement. Entry level bandwidth is 2 or 3 Mbps instead of T1’s 1.5 Mbps. The prices are similar, so you can wind up getting 50 to 100% more bandwidth for the same money. The real excitement, however, is that single digital bandwidths is where Ethernet over Copper starts. It extends to 10, 20, 30 and even 50 Mbps or higher. In rare cases, you can get 100 Mbps or 200 Mbps bandwidth delivered over twisted pair copper.

What’s the trick? The technology trades distance for speed. Very close to the telco central office, you get high bandwidths. A few miles away, the bandwidth has degraded to the point that service is impractical. That sounds worse than it is in reality because many, if not most, business locations are within a couple of miles of the office that terminates their copper lines. If that office is set up with EoC equipment, you may well get 50 Mbps over 8 pair of twisted copper wires at a cost that is less than you’ll pay for DS3 service.

The next step up is Ethernet over Fiber or EoF. Like EoC, EoF keeps the signals in the Ethernet protocol end to end. There are no conversions necessary to meet traditional telecom transmission standards. As you might suspect, fiber optic cables can bring in just about any bandwidth you want. That’s 1 Gbps for sure and often 10 Gbps. Some carriers can now supply 40 Gbps if you need that much. I’m sure that 100 Gbps isn’t far behind. In fact, most core networks are now upgrading to 100 Gbps as a standard.

Certainly 50 Mbps Ethernet over Fiber service is no trick. If your building is already lit for fiber optic service or nearby, construction costs will be little to none. If the nearest fiber is some distance away, there are going to be significant costs to connect you. Sometimes the carrier will incur the costs themselves if they think there is enough bandwidth to be sold in that location. Otherwise, you get the bill.

Let’s say that you can get Ethernet over Fiber but don’t need and certainly don’t want to pay for anything like Gigabit Ethernet. The thing to do then is have a Fast Ethernet or 100 Mbps port installed. You can get whatever bandwidth you want up to and including 100 Mbps over that FastE port. An advantage of Ethernet services is that they are easy to scale. Order the 50 Mbps you need today and crank that up to 75 or 100 Mbps when the time comes that you need a bandwidth boost. It will be fast and easy with EoF.

Are you interested in higher bandwidths than you can get with T1 or bonded T1 service, but concerned about the costs involved? Get current pricing and availability of 50 Mbps fiber and copper options for your business location. You may be pleasantly surprised with your service options.

Ethernet over Copper Reviving The Local Loop

There’s been a decline in utilization of local loops as of late. Most of it is the result of residential users dropping their analog phone service in favor of going totally wireless or a combination of wireless and VoIP. This has given some phone companies the idea that local loops should just be decommissioned totally. There have even been feelers to the FCC on this idea. Sadly, the idea of decommissioning copper is coming at exactly the same time as technology advances are breathing new life into the local loop.

Someday all telecom connections to the building may be fiber. That day is not today by any means. Something like a mere 12% of all business locations are currently lit for fiber optic service. Some could be but the demand isn’t there. Others might be except for the construction costs. Others still are nowhere near a fiber point of presence and won’t be in the near future.

That leaves copper as the most popular way to bring telecom services into a facility. The standardized connection is the local loop. This is a pair of small diameter plastic insulated copper wires that are twisted together to reduce noise and crosstalk pickup. One end of the copper pair terminates at a network interface device mounted on or inside the building to be served. The other end runs to the nearest central office location up to a few miles away.

Residential local loops or subscriber lines typically have two copper pair or four wires in a small diameter cable. Business locations can have dozens of individual pairs in a binder cable. Each pair can carry one analog telephone line. Two pair can provide 24 digital phone lines or a broadband data line. A dry pair has no signal at all. It is an unpowered circuit between two points. This local loop is owned by the incumbent local phone company but can be leased by competitive carriers.

What competitive carriers are doing is deploying a new bandwidth technology on the local loops that they lease. It’s called Ethernet over Copper for good reason. The last mile connection is two or more local loops connected to EoC equipment at both ends of the line. One electronics box is mounted at the central office. The other is installed in your building.

What does Ethernet over Copper offer? It’s a way to deliver higher bandwidth than you can generally get with T1 lines, another user of the local loop. T1 lines are provisioned on one or two copper pair and deliver 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth. You need an interface box called a CSU/DSU to convert that to an Ethernet protocol that will connect to your LAN. Often the CSU/DSU is a circuit card that plugs into an edge router rather than a separate box. With Ethernet over Copper, that circuit interface is unnecessary. The signal from your service provider is already in Ethernet protocol.

EoC services are available from 2 Mbps on up to 200 Mbps. The 2 and 3 Mbps levels are good replacements for T1 lines as they offer more bandwidth at about the same price. Many companies are now upgrading to 10 or 20 Mbps as more sophisticated online applications are bandwidth hungry. Also, more content from the Internet is now video which benefits from higher bandwidth connections.

The higher Ethernet over Copper bandwidths can replace DS3 services (45 Mbps) and even fiber optic lines at the OC-3 (155 Mbps) level. In addition to a considerable savings on the monthly lease cost, these bandwidths can help a company avoid fiber optic construction costs and still get the line speed they require. By the time fractional or full Gigabit bandwidth is needed, your building may be lit for fiber optic services.

EoC is strictly a business location service as of now. Cable broadband serves the residential market that hasn’t kept a local loop in service for DSL. Businesses, however, have more demand for copper wireline circuits than ever before. Plunging costs on T1 lines and EoC services are causing even small convenience stores and other retailers to rethink satellite links in favor of higher bandwidth, highly reliable and reasonably priced copper-based connections.

Could your business benefit from more bandwidth at lower prices that you’d expect? Find out what Ethernet over Copper bandwidth services are available for your location or locations and how much they cost with an immediate online quote. You may be surprised that you can easily upgrade without having to pay more.