Metro Ethernet

[rhltechie]

Hi All,

I was approached recently by my provider with this technology. I have no first hand knowledge of it and wonder if anyone else does. did it work well? any "gotcha" things to let others in on?

TIA,

R

[pkhatri]

Hi,

Metro Ethernet is really the way the access network is going these days. It offers some great advantages such as higher speeds, multipoint connectivity etc. One thing you do need to look at carefully is the SLAs offered by your provider but then, that is true with any sort of service you buy. You might also want to consider whether the provider offers QoS with the service, giving you the ability to prioritise some of your traffic over others...

Paresh

[rhltechie]

Very good information Paresh. Do you know how these metro ethernet networks work with mpls? is there a need to have any sort of ip sec tunnel into the cloud? or does the connection enter straight in? also,is it really that simple, that all you really need is an available ethernet connection?

[bhedlund]

Some providers offer a completely transparent link, merely transporting the exact frame from point A to point B, a virtual dark fiber service. Where as some offerings require that you use a specific DOT1Q Vlan tag to use the circuit.

Please rate all helpful posts.

Regards,

Brad

[pkhatri]

You don't need to do anything special even if you are using MPLS. As Brad mentioned, you get a number of different types of services - a popular one is transparent LAN service, which will transparently transport all your traffic, even if its 802.1q-tagged...

Paresh