Ethernet is service provider terms can be delivered from speeds starting from 1mb all the way up to 1Gb+.

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1 Carrier Ethernet vs. (Standard) Ethernet The Ethernet Evolution. The Basics What is Ethernet? Ethernet (technical term is IEEE 802.3) has set the standard in how service providers connect customers to the internet and between their sites. Ethernet is a networking technology and transparent in the transport of data traffic, so can carry any traffic type. Ethernet terminates using RJ-45. It is also a familiar technology also used in the LAN environment. Ethernet is beginning to permanently replace other technologies like SDH, SONET, Frame-relay as more service providers adopt Ethernet as the preferred medium. The reason why Ethernet has become a preference is because, it is more cost effective to deploy, support for higher bandwidths with finer granularity is greater and more possible and Ethernet is a familiar technology, so easy to connect to the customer premises. Ethernet is service provider terms can be delivered from speeds starting from 1mb all the way up to 1Gb+. Ethernet today Ethernet is an accomplished technology and with the help from Ethernet vendors such as Cisco, Juniper and alike, Ethernet has become a very easy and comprehensive technology to deploy and manage. Ethernet today is the most widely used connectivity technology giving businesses internet access, site-to-site and site-to-multisite connectivity. Service Providers are deploying Ethernet at a faster rate than ever before. Today you will not normally buy anything other than Ethernet simply because other technologies are not available or the costs and bandwidth availability is prohibitive. Today a 10mb Ethernet leased line is very normal, you could call it standard. In SDH, SONET terms, 10mb was a rarity. Ethernet did have inherent drawbacks, but with today s advancements Ethernet is even more appealing thanks to Carrier Ethernet. When we talk about MPLS and Layer3, we generally associated them with Standard Ethernet. Although MPLS is a toolkit/technology, it has been used for a very long time, but more so in the deployment of Standard Ethernet services and solutions. With the introduction of Pseudo-Wire, E-Line, E-LAN and E-Tree you no longer use just MPLS or Layer3 at all. Instead you use VPLS and Layer2 Carrier Ethernet to create these newer Layer2 services and solutions (E-Line, E-LAN and E-Tree). VPLS is part of the MPLS toolkit. Why Carrier Ethernet? Carrier Ethernet is an evolution of standard Ethernet. Carrier Ethernet is the Next Generation of Ethernet networking, combining standards written by MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum) and additional tools/diagnostics which have always been missing from standard Ethernet, but were available on legacy technologies such as SDH/SONET. Large service providers are evolving their own Ethernet infrastructures into Carrier Ethernet Networks giving them distinct advantages in what is now a competitive market, giving Ethernet the maturity and roundedness it required. Another reason is so they comply with global MEF standards. MEF unite and build consensus amongst all the vendors and services providers on ethernet service definition, technical specification and interoperability. There has never really been a standard and although Ethernet is a mature technology, it is still new in the world of internet connectivity. So we are all still learning and with new advancements, we as people want to know that we are buying into a real technology. MEF gives you this reassurance. At the same time as service providers we want to understand where Ethernet is going and

2 what Ethernet can delivery. Following MEF standards service providers can build Carrier Ethernet networks to this standard, thus giving the service provider reassurance that they are following globally known methodology. There are 5 attributes which make up and give meaning to Carrier Ethernet, thanks to MEF and Carrier Ethernet hardware vendors such as Ciena. Attribute 1: Standardised Services E-Line, E-LAN provides transparent, private line, virtual private line and multi-point to multi-point LAN services. A ubiquitous service providing globally & locally via standardized equipment Requires no changes to customer LAN equipment or networks and accommodates existing network connectivity such as, time-sensitive, TDM traffic and signaling Ideally suited to converged voice, video & data networks Wide choice and granularity of bandwidth and quality of service options Attribute 2: Scalability The ability for millions to use a network service that is ideal for the widest variety of business, information, communications and entertainment applications with voice, video and data Spans Access & Metro to National & Global Services over a wide variety of physical infrastructures implemented by a wide range of Service Providers Scalability of bandwidth from 1Mbps to 10Gbps and beyond, in granular increments Attribute 3: Reliability The ability for the network to detect & recover from incidents without impacting users Meeting the most demanding quality and availability requirements Rapid recovery time when problems do occur, as low as 50ms

3 Attribute 4: Quality of Service Wide choice and granularity of bandwidth and quality of service options Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that deliver end-to-end performance matching the requirements for voice, video and data over converged business and residential networks Provisioning via SLAs that provide end-to-end performance based on CIR, frame loss, delay and delay variation characteristics Attribute 5: Service Management The ability to monitor, diagnose and centrally manage the network, using standards-based vendor independent implementations Carrier-class OAM Rapid service provisioning In more simplistic terms: In the Enterprise, The attractions to the IT departments are control, reliability, performance, scalability, cost reduction and simplicity of implementation for organizations that are usually under-resourced. For Out of Office Use, the ubiquitous nature of Carrier Ethernet services are seen as an ideal way to deliver out-of-office seamless business connectivity, information/internet, entertainment and voice/video communications. These are made compelling by the underlying favourable attributes for converged networking at low cost. For better or worse, the days of going home to an offline, disconnected world are gone for ever. Today we demand any application, any connectivity, on almost any device, whether accessing information or entertainment delivered via voice, video or data. We need to be in the office when we re at home, and connected to our home when we re at work. Wherever we are, we want always to be able to connect, any time, 24/7/365, on demand - and the performance better be good wherever we are in the world. And of course, we want it all to be delivered as one service. All the characteristics of Carrier Ethernet mean that it is poised to be that one service

4 Benefits summary of Carrier Ethernet Benefits of Carrier Ethernet Unprecedented Scalability Faster Application Deployment Unprecedented Reach Data Center & Server Consolidation Ideal for Converged Networks High Bandwidth, Increments on Demand Independently Certified Performance Certified Services, Predictability Cost Reduction, Revenue Acceleration Simple Implementation Service Level Management Cost Trend Impact of Carrier Ethernet Ethernet Everywhere Customer Satisfaction Saves application costs, admin overheads Saves Duplicated Costs Low Latency, Frame Delay Variation Save costs enables new applications Reliable Planning Risk Reduction, Dependable QoS Cost Reduction, Revenue Acceleration Saves Resources, Stress User Control Down Legacy Up Some examples of what advantages certain vertical markets gain through a Carrier Ethernet deployment. Carrier Ethernet's Relevance by Vertical Markets Market Sector Application Profile Top Applications Health Care Regulatory issues Imaging driving storage HIPAA compliance Performance and scalability requirements TCO/ROI critical Finance Data Integrity via distributed, closely-controlled, simplified architectures Compliance, SOX, SEC, GLB, etc. Education Increased demands of community partnerships using educational infrastructure, TCO/ROI critical Research Government Web Based applications Flexible SLAs TCO/ROI

5 Media Scalability, Reach, Convergence demands on low latency, high performance networks Video, Streaming Media Services available through Carrier Ethernet and their key markets and applications: Service Key Markets Key Applications EPL Healthcare, Financials, Pharmaceuticals Medical Imaging, Data Center Connectivity, Business Continuity, CAD Engineering, Dedicated reserved bandwidth, small number of sites to interconnect EVPL ELAN EVPL VPLS Ethernet Access Large Enterprise Customers, Finance Local/Regional Government, Primary & Secondary Education Local/Regional Government, Education, Healthcare, Citywide Regional applications Finance, Retail, Professional Services, Manufacturing Small, Medium, and Large Enterprises Convergence, VoIP, Video, Financial data, Multiple locations to interconnect, International reach, Videoconferencing Collaboration, Multi-site connectivity, cost efficiency, Administration, Easy to manage Multipoint Ethernet VoIP, Video, Point-to-Point Intra-Metro Connectivity, Classes of Service Corporate networking, VoIP, Video, Photo Imaging, Legacy WAN s Requiring Increased Bandwidth, Centralized applications evolving to distributed networking Internet Access, High-bandwidth access to IP-based corporate networking Definition of the three support Ethernet Service Types which make up Layer 2 (L2) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) defined by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) is as follows: E-Line - point-to-point service. E-LAN - multiple point service. E-Tree - point-to-multipoint service.