MPLS set to replace traditional circuits

MPLS set to replace traditional circuits

MPLS and ethernet options are set to replace traditional SONET/SDH, it has been suggested.

Market research firm Infonetics Research stated that this is one likely eventuality as network transformation efforts get underway. Other changes include ever increasing bit rate, which are rising from 10 Gigabit(G), to 40G and eventually to 100G.

As a growing number of businesses look towards cloud computing, large bandwidth and reliable networks are becoming increasingly important. Indeed, Google alone is receiving sign-ups from around 3,000 companies a day for its range of cloud computing tools. Email, web services and calendar applications are proving particularly popular with firms primarily located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Small and medium-sized businesses are the biggest users, perhaps because companies with under ten users are not required to pay to access the Standard Edition of the Google service.

Meanwhile, Andrew Schmitt, Infonetics analyst, has suggested that the shift towards 100G technology will take place faster than the earlier move towards 40G. Shipping could really start to gather pace as early as 2013, but if China starts to pick up more 100G ports, the shift could take place even earlier.

Mr Schmitt remarked that the 40G technology will be squeezed on both sides. From above, it will be pressured by cost-competitive 100G solutions, while underneath, low-cost tunable XFP solutions will present a real threat.

He added: “Once this transition is underway, vendors will differentiate themselves not just by the availability of 100G WDM technology, but by the ability to tame these fat pipes with effective switching technology, be it OTN switching or full-blown IP/MPLS switching.”

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