Dish network for the enterprise

Hughes Network Systems provides satellite-based WAN links for remote offices and disaster recovery

Despite the widespread availability of wired broadband, there are still scenarios where an enterprise might consider satellite connectivity. And that led us to conduct a groundbreaking test of the Hughes VSAT service.

After all, there are locations where Internet connections are simply unavailable, are supported by POTS modem lines, or have single (and perhaps not very reliable) data circuits.

Furthermore, satellite links can serve as an effective backup in the event of natural disasters (and backhoes) that make primary Internet circuits disappear.

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Despite the widespread availability of wired broadband, there are still scenarios where an enterprise might consider satellite connectivity. And that led us to conduct a groundbreaking test of the Hughes VSAT service.

After all, there are locations where Internet connections are simply unavailable, are supported by POTS modem lines, or have single (and perhaps not very reliable) data circuits.

Furthermore, satellite links can serve as an effective backup in the event of natural disasters (and backhoes) that make primary Internet circuits disappear.

The satellite dish as a digital circuit seems like a long way to send packets (44,000 miles roundtrip), but we connected Hughes to our lab in two scenarios -- as a fault tolerance availability link and as a sole Internet circuit emulating a branch office/site connection -- and found the speed and service to be acceptable if you tune it properly. And tuning applications for the latencies interjected by satellite links is what Hughes technicians do.

Click to see: Scorecard

The tuning specifically involves applications, as some applications are abnormally latency sensitive, or in the case of Microsoft's Active Directory authentication process — very chatty. The chattiness of various protocols, a ping-pong effect, is exacerbated by the latency of the circuit path, which is typically around 600 milliseconds. Compared to most WAN links, 600ms is a lifetime.

Dealing with latency and common application or service process response under such latencies is the sort of problem that Hughes engineers like to dig their teeth into.

How it all played out

At first, we asked to take a broad look at how VSAT works, using varying applications. It turns out Hughes just doesn't work with customers that way and for a rational reason, we found. They're more reality-based, rather than theoretical.

There are two offerings Hughes makes; one is an ala carte offering where you get a dish, and account, and have a jolly good time (with access to best practices and guides). The other way is vastly more sophisticated, and for enterprise clients, that's the process we eventually undertook.

Hughes works with clients to map out the usage of the Ku-band VSAT satellite uplink/downlinks, combined with other components, especially applications and authentication components of a client's network. When we started talking to Hughes in this way — network diagrams with specific applications (and revisions) and locales — suddenly the lights went on and things started to hum.

The Hughes business process beyond dish installation, which is often done by contractors, is to design the network, examine and potentially patch or optimize applications and services, then pilot a prototype link, which then becomes fine-tuned to alleviate real problems (generally latency-based) or potential ones, like the kind that are found in growth.

When we submitted two scenarios to Hughes, their business processes started to digest them immediately for suggestions and modifications.

The first scenario was a link whose sole Internet circuit would be via local Ethernet, coupled then to a Hughes datalink to our cabinet in nFrame's ISP network operations center (NOC) in Indianapolis. This scenario emulated a remote branch office network of a small size: eight users. The branch office circuit would link the workgroup's resources, including Microsoft's SharePoint, to SharePoint host via the satellite link to our emulated data center inside a well-connected NOC. Users in this scenario would be Windows-based, and would authenticate locally.