Birth of the mini-core

Juniper, Riverstone unleash routers for metro access Metropolitan area networks are changing, assuming more characteristics of core networks but with very different requirements. The new e-business-based ecosystem is pushing the need for network intelligence and high-speed routing out to the edge. Service providers are building mini-cores within the metro backbone to put content closer to customers. And along with speed, those service providers also are demanding more flexibility and security.

Addressing the demand for high-speed routing in the metro space, Juniper Networks took a step outside its usual realm in the core to unveil two new routers, the M5 and M10. Both offer T-1 to OC-48 capabilities.

"Because the current solutions available in the dedicated access market lack the features and the performance needed for our customers, it was a natural evolution for us to extend our strength in the core to the access layer of the network," said Scott Kriens, president and CEO of Juniper.

Across all its M-series routers, Juniper will include T-1 and channelized DS-3 interfaces. The equipment provider also released a new version of its JUNOS Internet software, JUNOS 4.1, which includes rate-limiting capabilities that allow service providers to automatically adjust bandwidth levels on a per-customer basis.

Juniper's M5 and M10 routers are deployed by APEX Network Technology, AduroNet, Broadband Office, Fusion Communications, IPergy and Verio. Broadband Office, which uses Juniper's other core routers, chose to deploy the new routers to meet the increasing demand for bandwidth from the backbone, said Johnson Agogbua, vice president of engineering for Broadband Office.

"In the old model, you have the core network,"Agogbua said."The Internet has grown so rapidly, it's put a strain on the metro. The high capacity you are used to seeing from the core has moved to the edge."

The kinds of bandwidth that service providers use today seemed impossible 10 years ago. And three years from now, the same amount of bandwidth will be ubiquitous, said Lawrence Gasman, president of Communications Industry Researchers. "There's an ongoing debate over the original routers that are supposed to sit in the core," Gasman said. "Now there's a view that there should be optical switches in the core."

Routers instead would move to the edge of the network where, thanks to the massive growth in bandwidth demand, they will soon route OC-192 instead of simple T-1s, he said.

Even at the T-1-level, though, metro access routers assume more responsibility. River-stone Networks unveiled its RS 3000 optical metro access router, aimed at building local exchange carriers and metro service providers. The RS 3000 combines copperbased access with optical capabilities to give service providers better control over traffic using multiprotocol label switching. The platform can use wave division multiplexing, 10BaseT or 100BaseT Ethernet, gigabit Ether-net, Sonet, ATM and more to deliver services.

"It does more than just transport," said Ed Chang, senior director of product marketing for Riverstone. "We recognize what's in the light."

Telseon uses Riverstone's router to give customers bandwidth control, said Vesna Swartz, vice president of marketing for Telseon. With target customers such as IP long-haul carriers that need access to metro networks and service providers that want to deliver applications and content, Telseon needed a platform that allows for intelligence at the edge in addition to speed, security and flexibility, Swartz said.

Last week, Qwest Communications inked an optical switch deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars with Tellium to reduce operating costs, free up capacity for new services and offer point-and-click provisioning.

Tellium's platform, the Aurora Optical Switch, can deliver 1.28 Tb/s, with interfaces that scale from OC-48 up to OC-768. It offers the scalability and interfaces necessary to handle Qwest's hundreds of thousands of wavelengths, said a Qwest spokeswoman.

Qwest also will use Tellium's StarNet operating system and wavelength management system.

"What it comes down to is Qwest's whole strategy to be a next generation optical leader, and they're choosing Tellium as a partner that can keep up with them," said Harry Carr, chairman and CEO for Tellium.

Qwest worked with Tellium for the past two years during the development of Aurora."That work has paid off because now we have a piece of equipment that meets our needs," added Qwest's spokeswoman.

Tellium plans to ship the equipment to Qwest in the first quarter of 2001.