Frame relay
Frame relay is a connection-oriented protocol and well suited to a simple data switching infrastructure, unlike connectionless protocols such as IP.
Frame relay can guarantee bandwidth and throughput across the network using a technique called committed information rate. Properly engineered, frame relay can act like a private line. But, unlike a time division multiplexed (TDM) private line, frame relay has the advantage of statistical multiplexing, so unused bandwidth can be shared between multiple users.
Frame relay also supports variable length frames and can easily encapsulate a variety of protocols, including both SNA and IP. For this reason, both mainframe traffic and LAN traffic can be easily interspersed on the same physical connection.
Frame relay has evolved to become the mainstay of distributed networking WAN data traffic, solving the problem of wasted bandwidth inherent in sending data over a TDM core.
From Frame relay to the rescue, Network World Convergence Newlsetter, 08/21/00.
Additional resources
Frame relay tutorials
Tutorials on a variety of specific frame relay issues from Alliance Datacom.
Frame Relay ForumVendor group.
Topic: ATM/Frame Relay
Latest ATM news, analysis and newsletters from Network World Fusion.
Add a comment
