* Speculation on what comes after an IP-VPN that rides over MPLS
One question we’re often asked is “what comes next?” Today we’d like to speculate on what we think comes next after the enterprise-based, IP-VPN that rides an MPLS backbone. We think the answer to this question has everything to do with convergence because until the edge-to-edge access network is converged, network management of more advanced services like VoIP is problematic.
But before we give you our answer, let’s look at one of the problems service providers and enterprise alike face – the issue of having too many access technologies in their networks and the challenge of trying to find a common denominator to connect the networks together without a complete change to one single technology.
Another issue facing large multisite enterprise managers is the lack of a single packet-based access technology that is; a) universally available across all sites; b) is easy and inexpensive to manage; and c) can support the increasingly large bandwidth requirements demanded for wide-area connectivity.
For example, an enterprise might be able to buy frame relay at all locations, but might find it lacking ease of management for IP-centric applications and ultimate bandwidth capacity.
Similarly, Ethernet-over-fiber might be easy to manage and provide all the needed bandwidth – but unless an enterprise is lucky enough to have all their locations “on-net” on a single service provider’s Metro-Ethernet service, then the costs to link the Metro-E service together and the integration needed across multiple provider’s services may not be at all attractive.
While a private dark fiber connection or private (TDM) lease lines may provide ultimate ease of use, the costs to supply needed bandwidth and the efficient use of that expensive bandwidth will likely eliminate this option.
So back to our original question – what comes after an IP-VPN that rides over MPLS? We think eventually the common access denominator will become Metro Ethernet over fiber riding an IP-VPN MPLS edge and an MPLS backbone. But until Metro Ethernet becomes as universally available as frame relay and until the Metro Ethernet rings are interconnected across long distances, our best answer to the question is “whatever has lots of bandwidth, is cheap and easy for the enterprise to manage, and can be used to provide Layer 2 and Layer 3 access service interworking across multiple sites.”
Next time, we’ll discuss one “two word” option that just might define our long-winded answer.
