Kentrox puts new spin on DSUs/CSUs

PORTLAND, ORE. - DSUs/ CSUs are getting so smart they deserve a new name.

That's the view of ADC Kentrox, which pronounced DSUs/CSUs dead and introduced a new product called the ServicePoint service delivery unit (SDU) to replace them.

ServicePoint performs the functions of a traditional dumb DSU/CSU - it terminates WAN circuits and establishes interfaces to LAN gear at customer sites - but the product also monitors the use of WAN circuits to see what traffic types and which users are eating up bandwidth. Additionally, ServicePoint software monitors the performance of frame relay circuits to ensure they meet the delay, throughput and availability guarantees written into frame relay carriers' service-level agreements.

By mid-1999, Kentrox will introduce control software for ServicePoint gear that will enforce usage policies. For example, applications could be limited to using a certain amount of bandwidth. The control software will also set which applications get priority during congested periods.

Kentrox also plans to add software support for ATM and IP traffic.

Because network managers will have more information about traffic going over the WAN link, they will be better able to decide how big those links should be. That will let net managers optimize performance on the link without wasting money by purchasing too much bandwidth, Kentrox representatives say.

If used in its simplest form as just a circuit termination point, ServicePoint SDU is four to six times more expensive than simple DSUs/CSUs, which cost $300 to $500. But customers may be willing to pay the price if they expect their WAN needs to change, says Christopher Nicoll, a senior research analyst at Current Analysis in Sterling, Va.

"It's more expensive because of the added flexibility. What you're banking on is that you're not going to leave it out there for basic line termination," Nicoll says.

ServicePoint will compete with Visual Networks' Visual UpTime frame relay network probes and software on the basis of its monitoring capabilities, Nicoll says. But ServicePoint also enables customers to shape traffic as it enters the WAN, he says.

ServicePoint will fit well in a network that already has a large router the customer doesn't want to tamper with, according to to Todd Inch, manager of communications for the IT division of network implementer Cotelligent in San Francisco.

But other customers might be better off buying a $3,000 router with DSU/CSU and policy management features built in, Inch says. The net manager says he would consider using ServicePoint in the future because of the product's flexibility.

ServicePoint is available in two hardware configurations. ServicePoint 2040 has a T-1 WAN port as well as a V.35 port. ServicePoint 2140 has the same configuration plus a T-1 add/drop port to connect to a PBX. ServicePoint 2040 costs $1,695 as a termination unit and $2,495 with monitoring software included. ServicePoint 2140 costs $2,195 as a termination unit and $2,995 with monitoring software included. Both are available now.

The units with control software have not been priced. All of the software packages can be downloaded in-band to the ServicePoint units after they are installed in customers' nets.

Kentrox: (800) 733-5511