NAVIGATING NEXT-GENERATION

NETWORKS
Modernize at Your Own Pace

Key Challenges

Information is the lifeblood of any mission. The readiness

of people and organizations to do the work required by
the mission depends more and more on a reliable, resilient,
and secure network to access and share information.
However, much of todays network architecture was
developed and implemented years to decades ago.
In many cases, existing application-specific networks have
created complex legacy systems that are not optimized for
todays dynamic network requirements and are unable to
take advantage of new technologies that can advance the
speed and reliability of mission-readiness.
Many U.S. government agenciesparticularly Department of Defense (DoD) and
Department of Energy (DoE) installationsoperate private networks. This ecosystem
of networks supports a variety of applications, including both TDM- and IP-based, in a
variety of environments including base communications networks, base security, and
range operations. Some government departments also provide connectivity services
for other organizations that may be using their facilities. The host departments may be
required to provide a specific amount of bandwidth for a set period of time, and once
the guest agency has completed their work at the facility, the network is taken down.
While the guest network is in operation, however, it needs to provide guaranteed
security and performance.
Range

Range
Test
Area

Ethernet

TDM

Data Center/MCN

TDM

CORE
WAN
Provider

SONET
OC48/OC192
(2.5G/10G)

TDM
TDM

Test
Area

Data Center/MCN

Figure 1. Common architecture for base environments

A

Application Note

>

Supportability: SONET/SDH
gear is often at its end of life
and increasingly lacks vendor
technical support

>

Capacity: SONET/SDH network

capacity is limited to OC192/10G

>

Legacy applications: Continued

support for DS1/T1 TDM services

>

Availability: Need to maintain

SONET/SDHs reliability and
restoration times within 50
milliseconds or less

>

Agility: Capability to temporarily

create and then take down
network segments

>

Scalability: Support for highcapacity Ethernet circuits or

100GbE and higher

As illustrated in Figure 1, SONET and SDH networks are

traditionally the foundational transport infrastructure for base
networks and provide capacity to applications and guests. In
many cases, a guest or specific end-user organization or
application would be provided with paired fiber as the basis
to build their own network to meet segmentation- or
application-specific requirements.

Modernizing Networks without

Abandoning Legacy Applications

The SONET/SDH Migration Dilemma

While SONET/SDH has long been the workhorse technology
in many government networks, maintaining these legacy
networks requires overcoming numerous technological
and business hurdles. For example, some of the original
SONET/SDH network equipment suppliers may no longer
exist, which means agencies have to resort to secondary
markets to access parts as spares or upgrades. In addition,
the networking equipment itself may no longer be supported
by the manufacturer, eliminating access to required software
upgrades for new features and/or bug fixes, as well as
technical support.
From a capacity perspective, SONET/SDH networks are built
to OC192/10G specifications, which means that end-users
running one single 10GbE service could consume all network
capacity, as could ten 1GbE services. While the underlying
fiber can support much higher capacity, a SONET/SDH-based
infrastructure itself cannot.
While the writing may be on the wall for SONET/SDH
networks, like all network operators, government agencies
are still attempting to make their current equipment last as
long as it can. In addition, government network operators
want to make sure any new technology they choose continues
to offer SONET/SDHs many benefits.
For example, although SONET/SDH
has limitations in terms of
capacity and availability of
Range
equipment, it is very reliable
and offers fast restoration.
Government agencies also
Range
want to ensure any solution
they deploy can deliver similar
Test
performance, availability,
Area
and resiliency. And while
government network
Test
operators might prefer to
Area
upgrade their entire network,
budget limitations make this
approach unfeasible.

In addition, some legacy TDM applications running on

government networks simply are not ready to be modernized.
Agencies also want to add capacity, but as they convert to
packet-based applications, they want to ensure that move is
compatible with future technology and does not enter them
into a revolving door of infrastructure forklift upgrades.

Just as missions have transformed, so has network technology

and the approach to network architecture. Networks can
no longer can be rigid, inflexible, and static. Modernization
could mean doing more of the same, but a better approach
is to transition from patching the network to network
transformation.
In most cases, it is impractical to completely replace an entire
network at once. However, it is possible to modernize
networks while maintaining support for critical TDM-based
applications. Cienas Ethernet and Packet-Optical solutions
enable network operators to maintain support for legacy
TDM applications, increase network scale, simplify
management, and achieve SONET/SDH-like performance and
resiliency. Ciena network technologies can support legacy
DS1 services as well as packet, video, and specialized
applications seamlessly in a future-proof ecosystem that
enables modernization of applications without network
infrastructure forklift.

A Path to Modernization
As illustrated in Figure 2, agencies can achieve modernization
of a base or range network by implementing a combination of
Ethernet at access points and a packet-optical core.

TDM

Data Center/MCN

TDM
TDM

1G/10G
Packet
(G.8032)

100G
Packet/OTN Ring
(G.8032/MPLS-TP/OTN)

TDM

CORE
WAN
Provider

Data Center/MCN
Figure 2. Modernization approach to base networks

>

Incorporates flexible transport options including G.8032

rings, 802.1q VLANs, 802.1ad Provider VLANs (Q-in-Q),
MPLS, MPLS-TP, and PBB-TE

>

 rovides highly accurate synchronization support with

P
SyncE and 1588v2 PTP protocols, backed up by an onboard
Stratum 3E oscillator

>

 upports extended temperature range (-40C to +65C) ETSIS

cabinet-compliant in a compact, 1RU configuration

Key Benefits of Modernization:

>

Resiliency: 50ms restoration or less

>

H
 igh availability: 99.999 percent or greater

>

I mproved capacity: 100G+

>

R
 educed footprint/less power

>

L
 ower-cost equipment

>

Environmentally hardened Ethernet endpoints

>

F
 uture-proof (can manage DS-1 and packet)

Ciena recommends starting with the access points, which are

often the oldest and most problematic elements in legacy
government networks.

Aggregate
If volume dictates, it may be necessary to bundle this access
traffic for transport using a Layer 2 device such as the 5160
Service Aggregation Switch. Cienas 5160 changes the
economics of 10GbE services, aggregating large quantities of
data while meeting stringent SLAs in a small 1RU form factor.
5160 Features

Access

>

JITC-certified

Replacing these end-of-life access points with an advanced

Carrier Ethernet packet switch, such as the JITC-certified
3932 Service Delivery Switch, can be a good starting point.
Cienas 3932 is an advanced Carrier Ethernet packet switch
focused on high-bandwidth, multi-service applications that
require sophisticated Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities.
In addition to its industry-leading Ethernet capabilities, the
3932 provides multiservice transport over Ethernet networks,
employing pseudowire emulation to enable traditional TDM,
ATM, and native Ethernet traffic to be carried over metro
backhaul and core data networks. Its multiservice capability,
alongside multiple timing synchronization options, provides
the ideal solution for evolving legacy TDM-based services to
a next-generation packet networking environment.

>

 eatures industry-leading 10GbE density in a non-blocking,

F
wire-speed architecture with 24 10GbE/1GbE multi-rate
SFP+ ports

>

 ffers dual hot-swappable AC or DC power in a highO

availability, temperature-hardened 1RU package

>

 rovides for highly accurate synchronization support with

P
SyncE and 1588v2 PTP protocols, backed up by an on-board
Stratum 3E oscillator

Ciena recommends starting with the access points, which are

often the oldest and most problematic elements in legacy
government networks.

Figure 3. 3932 Service Delivery Switch

3932 Features
>

JITC-certified

>

Flexible port configurations:

- 2 SFP+ NNI, 4 SFP/RJ-45 UNI,
- 16 DS1 UNI ports

Figure 4. 5160 Service Aggregation Switch

Core
Within the core of the multiservice network, Optical Transport
Networking (OTN) delivers the high-speed, high-bandwidth
networking and intelligence to modernize the SONET/SDH
network. By supporting legacy technologies such as SONET/
SDH running concurrently with other clients on the same
network infrastructure, migration from SONET/SDH can
happen on the agencys terms without requiring wholesale
replacement of underlying optical network infrastructure.
Cienas 6500 Packet-Optical Platform integrates three
comprehensive networking layerspacket, OTN, and flexible
WaveLogic Photonicsinto a single platform. The 6500 offers
a FIPS-certified, protocol-agnostic, wire-speed encryption
solution integrated into the WaveLogic line module with
various client interfaces to support 10G/40G/100G/200G
speeds and a variety of traffic needs.

Figure 5. 6500 Family

Cienas WaveLogic Encryption solution includes MyCryptoTool,

a dedicated encryption management interface that securely
connects to the cryptographic module and provides mutual
authentication, limiting access to authorized security personnel
of a specific end-customer. Thus one entity can manage the
links, provisioning, administration and performance monitoring
of the network, but only the end-customer will have control of
and visibility into the encryption parameters.
6500 Features
>

JITC-certified

>

 rovides industry-leading 10G, 40G, and 100G coherent and

P
control plane capabilities for scale and service differentiation

>

 tilizes hybrid OTN and packet switching technologies for

U
the most efficient use of network resources

>

 ffers an always-on, wire-speed, protocol agnostic FIPS

O
certified encryption solution

>

 ffers embedded and discrete software tools to increase

O
programmability, visibility, and control of the optical network

>

O ffers various chassis, power, and configuration options

Ready to modernize your network?

Learn more
www.ciena.com/government

A Network that Meets Agency Needs Today and Tomorrow

There are several benefits to the approach Ciena
recommends. First, it enables government agencies to get
much more capacity out of their existing fiber infrastructure.
This solution offers scalable capacity for both existing and
future requirements. Agencies might need 40G or 100G
today; this solution has the ability to scale to 100G and

beyond, ensuring the investment will last and deliver needed

capacity well into the future.
Second, this solution can handle all an agencys existing
applications. It offers low-cost access endpoints that support
both TDM- and packet-based applications. In addition, the
protocol-agnostic transport component of the network
provides a variety of traffic separation options.
Third, it provides a future-proof path for network upgrades.
The Ciena solutions support for multiple protocols enables
government agencies to migrate their legacy TDM
applications to packet without the dreaded forklift upgrade.
Applications can be migrated to new technology as resources
allow, and the network can evolve as requirements change
and at whatever pace is sustainable.
Fourth, the Ciena solution architecture relies on proven
G.8032 technology. This provides protection and restoration
parameters similar to SONET/SDH, without requiring the
redundant fiber or networking equipment of other
approaches. Government network operators need not
sacrifice reliability to achieve the capacity gains they need.
Finally, this approach supports all existing network security
measures while enabling agencies to perform traffic
segmentation to add another level of security.

Connect now with a network specialist

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