New degree of engineering

NetCore Systems is developing a new toolkit for its Everest integrated asynchronous transfer mode/Internet protocol switch that is designed to engineer the traffic on IP networks. The aim is to help IP network operators avoid clogging some parts of the network while underusing others.

Typically, IP routing looks for the shortest path through the network. But if a significant amount of traffic originates at one point and terminates at another, the shortest route between those two points will become congested.

Many IP networks use an underlying ATM structure to help resolve such problems, but that requires traffic engineers to look at traffic reports and manually instruct the ATM switches to move traffic off overloaded routes. NetCore's Everest Trek/Basic IP toolkit allows network operators to turn more of that functionality over to the Everest switch.

Trek will allow operators to incorporate IP routing with constraint-based routing, which uses ATM to test for factors such as congestion, said John Shaw, NetCore marketing vice president. That combination allows Everest to perform explicit routing, where traffic flows are moved to specific paths to avoid congestion.

Trek offers an alternative to the forthcoming multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) standard, said Dave Passmore, research director at NetReference. But it's difficult to judge how many carriers will choose an ATM-based solution such as Trek over MPLS's IP focus.

"A lot will be based on whether a carrier is disposed toward ATM or not," Passmore said.

Shaw said Trek should have an advantage because of its early 1999 delivery date, while the MPLS equivalent is a couple of years away. "MPLS hasn't added traffic engineering yet," he said. "And it's requiring new boxes and new protocols.