Why Choose An MPLS VPN?

How do companies communicate among geographically diverse business sites securely? They use private networks or virtually private networks. MPLS networks are emerging as the virtually private networks of choice. Let’s see why.

The ultimate in performance and security is the totally private network. Private means for your use only. You don’t buy a private network, you build one. Many companies have done this by setting up a star network with a central router at their headquarters location. Each remote location connects to headquarters over a private point to point line, such as a T1, DS3, OC3 or Ethernet private line. It is up to the IT staff to manage this network and make sure all locations have the bandwidth and ability to reach other locations that they need.

What’s wrong with this? Not a thing if you have infinitely deep pockets. The cost of all those private line services mounts up as more locations are added. Don’t forget the staffing cost to keep everything running. You’ll need to buy lines that have enough bandwidth to meet peak loads, meaning that most of the time they’ll be running at a fraction of the maximum capacity. You’ll be paying for that maximum capacity as if you were using in continuously.

The staggering cost of proprietary private networks has encouraged many companies to look for lower cost alternatives that still get the job done. One alluring option is to piggyback on the public Internet, arguably the largest and lowest cost network solution in the world. You could just connect all your sites over the Internet, but that makes management squeamish for good reason. The unregulated Internet is something like the Old West, with stagecoach robbers lurking behind every rock. In this case it’s cyber criminals and curious hackers drooling at the thought of rifling through your corporate files.

Does this mean that using the Internet for wide ranging connectivity is an unacceptable option? No, not at all. The trick to using an unprotected public resource like the Internet is to install your own security. You do this by encrypting your packets so that they are unreadable to anyone who is not authorized. It’s SSL encryption that makes it possible to buy and sell on the Web with confidence. The general term for using encryption to protect data on a public network is tunneling.

So, is tunneling through the Internet to get from site to site the best cost solution? Yes, if cost and/or the ability to connect with the public at large is your highest priority. But what about performance? Ah, I’m afraid the Internet does leave something to be desired in that regard. Bandwidth, latency, jitter, and bit errors are completely uncontrolled. You may not care if all you are doing is serving up Web pages to people on DSL or Cable connections. But trying to optimize productivity when you are running your critical corporate data to corporate offices, factories and warehouses around the world can turn into an exercise in frustration. Oh, you want to establish high quality two-way video and telephone connections on the same network? Good luck with that.

This is where MPLS VPN networks rush in to save the day. An MPLS network is not for the general public. You have to pay more than Internet prices to use it and it only serves its clients. What you get for the extra cost is a privately run high performance network that is carefully engineered to support voice, video and data. There’s no encryption as we think of it on the Internet, but an MPLS network is considered to be a VPN. Why is that?

The answer is in the technology. MPLS stands for Multi-Protocol Label Switching. IP routers are not used to direct packets from place to place. Instead, each packet gets a special label as a wrapper. That label is used to route the packet instead of the IP header information. Labels are added as packets enter the network and removed as they leave. In a sense, the packets are protected by their labels in that they only travel paths set up in advance by the network operator and are unreadable by other clients or external snoops.

Most of the time, MPLS technology and network operators provide enough security that encryption isn’t needed. Even so, if you are particularly sensitive about the privacy of your data you can always encrypt your packets before they enter the network and decrypt them on the other end.

The reason that MPLS VPN networks are replacing proprietary point to point networks is that they offer a significant cost reduction. While you have all the bandwidth you need, any unused resources are available to support other clients of the network. The cost of the entire network is spread over the total user base, which makes the pricing attractive for you.

Are you in need of a multi-location business network or simply want to check pricing to see if you are spending too much now? If so, check MPLS VPN network availability and pricing now. For comparison, you can also get pricing on private point to point lines and IP VPN networks using the Internet.

Our New Name and Look

You may have noticed something different on our blog today. Both the name and the look have changed. T1 Rex’s Business Telecom Explainer is now Telexplainer. It's shorter, easier to remember and more representative of the content and services we present. Six years ago, T1 lines were the mainstay of business telecommunications. Now it’s all about Ethernet, MPLS networks and cloud services.

Similarly, we felt it was time to update the look of the blog to something more contemporary. Templates and coding standards have changed during the decade. CSS, widgets and gadgets are taking over from plain text and hard-coded HTML. You can get presentations today that were all but impossible back when.

Another big change has been the rise of social networking. In addition to RSS feeds, you can now follow us on Twitter. Feel free to share what you discover here with links to your favorite social network or email to your friends and colleagues. We’ve made that easy with a “Share This” widget on every post.

Business technology, including anything Internet, continues to evolve. We intend to evolve with it, while still bringing you easy to understand articles about telecommunication and networking technology. We’re also proud to be partnered with Telarus, Inc. They are arguably the pre-eminent telecom broker, representing dozens of competitive carriers with voice and data services worldwide.

Thank you for reading these articles and coming back, day after day. Your comments are always welcome. Please send them to John (at) Telexplainer.com

MPLS Bandwidth A Bargain

MPLS networks are becoming more and more of a standard telecom service offering. If you have multiple locations to link, you need to know about MPLS. Why? Because you could be saving a bundle over your current connectivity solution.

You’ve heard of cloud networks? MPLS is a cloud networking technology. This is different that cloud computing or cloud storage because MPLS is only about making connections. Whether you do anything within the cloud is another matter. This is about transport, or getting packets from point to point.

MPLS networks are privately owned and operated. If you want to get on the MPLS network, you’ll need to make arrangements with a MPLS service provider. It’s not like the Internet, which is open to anyone and everyone. The advantage of this premium-grade bandwidth service is that the MPLS network operator can guarantee bandwidth and quality of service.

But doesn’t premium-grade mean premium price? Not really. You need to compare apples to apples. In this case, you need to compare what you pay to use the MPLS network with what it costs to maintain the same quality connections another way. Traditionally, that other way has been proprietary company networks constructed from dedicated point to point lines or Frame Relay Networks.

Frame Relay is actually the ancestor to MPLS. It was developed for the same purpose. That was to connect geographically diverse locations with reliable and secure data links. Frame Relay networks served us well for decades. But they were designed in an era of much lower bandwidths, prior to the onslaught of audio, video and massive file sizes.

MPLS is the upgrade to Frame Relay. It can handle anything you need to transport in any format. The letters M-P-L-S stands for Multi-Protocol Label Switching. Multi-Protocol means that this network can handle voice, data, video and even TDM services such as switched circuit telephony. The built-in quality of service mechanisms ensure that each service gets the network characteristics it needs. You don’t have to worry about large data transfers causing your phone calls to drop.

The bargain pricing offered by MPLS networks is that the cloud is efficiently utilized to handle traffic from multiple clients. That way, you are only paying for what you need. You can always add more locations or bandwidth if the need arises. Try doing that with proprietary networks.

Does MPLS offer a cost savings for your operations? Find out with a MPLS network competitive price quote. It’s fast, easy and free.

Ethernet Internet Is a Reality

Internet access has come a long way since the days of 300 baud modems. But regardless of speed, Internet connectivity has always been through a conversion process from some protocol to the Ethernet that runs on company LANs and PC network cards. If only one could get to the Internet via Ethernet itself. Well, now you can.

Last mile access via Ethernet is rapidly gaining popularity in metropolitan areas. Why? Primarily because of the cost savings, although ease of network interfacing is also a consideration.

An Ethernet access connection is often called Metro Ethernet service because it is intended primarily for use within city or downtown portion of a city. A more generic term is Carrier Ethernet. As a core networking technology, Ethernet for WAN (Wide Area Networks) provides a direct extension of your company network across town, across the country, or to other networks such as the Internet.

DIA or Dedicated Internet Access is the gold standard for business connections to the Internet. Dedicated means that you have exclusive use of the line and it's bandwidth back to the Internet. Consumer grade services, such as DSL, WiFi, and Cable broadband, are all shared services. With shared services, the quality of your service is highly dependent on what your neighbors are doing online. With dedicated access, any contention for service will be limited to your own company.

T1 lines are standard for DIA service at 1.5 Mbps. They can be bonded up to 10 or 12 Mbps. Beyond that you need fiber optic services, such as OC3 or DS3 over SONET. These can be pricey services, especially when the local telephone company is involved in providing the complete service or last mile access.

Ethernet access connections are something new. Many competitive carriers have their own fiber optic networks and will directly connect you for 10, 100, or 1000 Mbps Ethernet service. You'll get a better price because they do not share facilities with the telcos.

Another option is EoC or Ethernet over Copper. You can get up to 45 Mbps Ethernet service, including dedicated Internet access, if you are located nearby a carrier point of presence. Service is delivered over multiple twisted copper pair using an advanced modulation scheme.

I mentioned ease of network Interface. With Metro Ethernet service your access connection is a standard RJ-45 jack, just like the ones you'd expect to find on a switch or router. What's coming into that jack is the same Ethernet protocol that you are running on your LAN.

Is your location eligible for Metro Ethernet service over copper or fiber optic cable? Find out how close the nearest Ethernet connection point is to your location. Then get a quote and see how much Ethernet access can save you over your current Internet or point to point network service.

Why Ethernet is Cheaper

You may already know that T1 and DS3 line service prices have plunged over the last few years. But are you aware that there is an even better bargain available for companies that need bandwidths of 10 Mbps or more? It's a networking technology that you already know. It's Ethernet.

But isn't Ethernet a local area network protocol? Yes, but now it's a wide area network protocol as well. It goes by the names Ethernet WAN, Metro Ethernet, Carrier Ethernet and Ethernet Transport. All of these refer to an Ethernet connection provided by a carrier that plugs into your network router or switch. No special equipment is needed for you to use an Ethernet WAN connection. You just plug into the RJ45 connector and you have signal.

Ethernet in the WAN may seem like the height of convenience and probably worth paying a premium for. But the irony is that Ethernet service is cheaper, not more expensive, than traditional copper or fiber wireline services. How much cheaper? If all you need is a T1 line or T1 PRI for your PBX, then you are likely to get your lowest total cost with those services. But once you need to expand bandwidth for dedicated Internet service or point to point data transfers, Ethernet starts getting competitive. At the T1 line or DS3 service level of 45 Mbps, you might find a Fast Ethernet connection both faster and cheaper. The bandwidth of Fast Ethernet is 100 Mbps but the price might be half or less than a DS3 connection.

The difference is even more dramatic when you move up to Gigabit Ethernet or GigE service. That's 1,000 Mbps, a bandwidth that has been cost prohibitive for all but the largest companies. Up to now, anyway. SONET fiber optic service at the OC-24 level of 1.244 Mbps isn't all that common. Most likely you would need an OC-48 pipe running at 2.488 Gbps to transport your Gigabit bandwidth requirement. Costs can easily be into six figures per month for that level of optical transport. Bring in GigE service and you're 1,000 Mbps may be had for up to an order of magnitude less.

This can't be right, can it? Amazing as it sounds, Ethernet WAN bandwidth really is a huge bargain. The reason for this comes down to competitive carriers. If you need SONET service, at least the last mile fiber connection is likely to be provided by the incumbent local telephone company. Telcos developed the TDM or Time Division Multiplexing technologies that include SONET to bundle hundreds and thousands of telephone calls into compact digital trunk lines. They have a huge legacy investment in building out TDM networks.

But Ethernet is something new. It originated as a data networking rather than a telephony technology. Newer competitive carriers who built their regional and national fiber optic networks for IP data transport are leading the adoption of Ethernet as a metropolitan and long distance carrier service. They are completely separate from the telephone companies and provide all the connections, including the access jack at your business location.

The cost savings are thanks to very aggressive service providers who see Ethernet as the end-to-end digital service of the future and are anxious to build out their networks and acquire new business customers. Carriers such as XO communications, Telnes, Level 3 Communications, MegaPath, Cavalier, Nuvox and Time Warner Telecom are offering excellent rates on the type of bandwidth you need for video, high resolution image transmission, and CAD/CAM data downloads, to name a few Mbps-hungry applications.

So what are the best prices for various tiers of Ethernet service and which carriers serve your business location? You can find out easily with a quick online service query through Shop For Ethernet. In seconds, you'll get a map showing your location and how close you are to the nearest buildings already "lit" for fiber optic Ethernet service.