Save more money, thanks to managed CSU/DSUs (Part 1)
 
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If you have a frame relay network using "dumb" T-1 channel service unit/data service units, is it worthwhile to junk your existing equipment and replace it with new-generation intelligent CSU/DSUs that have network analysis capabilities? Absolutely.
The sad but true story is that if your company is like most, you have set your committed information rate (CIR) based on a seat-of-the-pants guess about bandwidth needs. Odds are that when you installed your service, you threw a dart at a CIR, happened to save a lot of money, and traffic arrived from Point A to Point B just fine. But the fine-tuning afforded by the use of a managed CSU/DSU can save you even more.
Assume that you have a point-to-point application running on permanent virtual circuits (PVC) with a CIR of 384K bit/sec in each direction. But this application is actually a client/server application, with the majority of the traffic flowing in one direction. Using advanced management tools in conjunction with new-generation CSU/DSUs, you discover that you need 256K bit/sec CIR in the "heavy traffic" direction and just 64K bit/sec in the "light" direction. Using AT&T's tariff pricing as an example, reducing the CIR to these levels saves $421 per month.
In addition, now you only require a pair of 256K bit/sec ports, rather than a pair of 384K bit/sec ports. This saves another $590 per month.
Your monthly tab drops from $2,999 to $1,988, a savings of $1,011. On an annual basis, this adds up to more than $12,000.
Steven Taylor, consultant and broadband packet evangelist, and Joanie Wexler, an independent networking technology editor and writer, team up to bring you this analysis and commentary. Taylor specializes in education and market analysis, and Wexler adds incisive reporting and research. For more detailed information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter, connect to http://www.webtorials.com, the first Web site dedicated exclusively to market studies and technology tutorials in the Broadband Packet areas of Frame Relay, ATM, and IP. Feedback and additional topic ideas are welcome. Please contact taylor@webtorials.com or joanie_wexler@mindspring.com.
Determining if CIR is for you:
A comparison between the CSU and the DSU:
CSU/DSUs:
Network World on Frame Relay, 3/30/98.
from Astrocom.
from Motorola's frame relay resource page
