Controlling the wave: Management allows customers to see the light

Sycamore Networks is expected to announce at Supercomm the Silvx Optical Network Management System - about six months after the company's launch and the introduction of its SN 6000 and SN 8000 product lines. The Silvx system comes in two forms: SilvxSource, a node-resident network management system, and SilvxManager, a large-scale version that manages multiple smaller networks.

Silvx offers end-to-end optical management, performance monitoring and provisioning capabilities. Carriers can set up the system so end users get a partitioned view of the network and have access to network monitoring, capacity and provisioning.

Sycamore's goal is to make the transport more valuable and offer a "quality of network management system," said Jeff Kiel, director of marketing for Sycamore. "We're transforming the optical network from pipes to paths."

Silvx uses a metadata architecture to "divorce the application and the database awareness of what the data is," Kiel said. Metadata allows Silvx to manage networks with multiple versions of software and different services, simplifying the upgrade process.

The metadata feature is the "most dramatic" component within Silvx, said Tom Nolle, president of CIMI Corp. "Metadata defines the data elements and the behavior together, not just a data field," he said. "By using the metadata concept, you can upgrade nodes to handle new features and fields without all the regression testing, and without bringing software down."

Millennium Optical Networks has deployed SilvxSource in two New York locations, said Peter Tierney, president and chief operating officer. "It adds a layer of security, intelligence and protection for them," he said. "It's another tool for the customer to see into the network."

Williams Communications is looking at SilvxSource and SilvxManager, but hasn't deployed the system, said Wayne Price, chief technical officer. "We want provisioning to be as automated as possible. This allows people to manage their own capacity across my network," he said. "This is not just a capacity play, but making the waves smarter. The next logical extension of that is to provide [virtual private networks]."

FlashNet last week announced an e-mail-only service geared toward people not interested in all the bells and whistles of a full-blown computer. By simplifying e-mail, the company is aiming for customers that would otherwise not be interested in Internet services.

Customers will access their e-mail using Cidco's MailStation, a device consisting of a 2.5 x 6-inch screen and a keyboard (see related story on page 28). The device costs $129, and the e-mail service is $9.95 a month with two mailboxes.

Current subscribers to FlashNet's Internet service can add the service for $2.95 a month.

"FlashNet's No. 1 objective is to bring the Internet to the masses," said Ellen Foreman, vice president of marketing at FlashNet. "We saw this as a way to bring the Internet to people who don't plan on having a PC."

Flashnet also expects business travelers who only need e-mail from the road to be a potential market.

Trying to work into every possible market for the Internet is common among Internet service providers, said Youssef Squali, Internet analyst with Ladenburg Thalman and Associates. "FlashNet, like a lot of other ISPs, is trying to offer access to the Internet in as many ways as they can," he said.

Whether or not there is a market for a stand-alone e-mail device has yet to be proved, but the company has been known to try different things.

"They clearly are not committing much capital to try these things, so if it doesn't work, it isn't a huge loss," Squali said.