Packet Apr01

10G Is Here!
New Cisco 12400

Quadruples Capacity
Case Study:
US Postal Agency
Cisco AVVID Gets
Stamp of Approval
Cisco Innovators
People and Products
Behind the Internet
ci sco.com/ go/ packet
IP+Optical
Networks
Services at the
Speed of Light
CI SCO SYSTEMS USERS MAGAZI NE SECOND QUARTER 2001
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CovFinal.tx 4/24/01 08:20 AM Page 1
W
vico:v )o )nv first
from the editor column
from the second editor-in-
chief in Packets 13- year
history. I took the reins last issue from my
esteemed predecessor, Joanna Holmes. An
overwhelming number of you are new to
Packet too. Over the last 18 months,
Packets reader ranks swelled from 20,000
to more than 110,000 subscribers!
So, welcome to your magazine. Our
mission is to help you get the most from
your Cisco investment and take better
advantage of todays Internet technologies.
Cisco is a heavy user of its own Internet
technology, always with a mind toward
increasing productivit y and reducing
operation costs. I thought you might be
interested to hear how we at Packet take
advantage of some of that technology.
I live and work in Portland, a small,
seaside city in southern Maine. Our edi-
torial staff is in San Jose, California. Our
printing vendor is in Los Angeles. And we
have writers spread out from Florida to
Fiji (no kidding).
I have an IP phone in San Jose, which
is set to forward calls seamlessly to my
phone in Portland or my cell phone when
Im on the road. A Web-based application
makes managing these features a snap.
For data, I use a cable modem and self-
managed virtual private network software
that I downloaded from Ciscos intranet. It
provides me with Triple DES secure access
to my e-mail account and Ciscos intranet.
Because I still do a bit of traveling on busi-
ness, I use a free Web-based fax service
that redirects faxes to my e-mail inbox.
That way, I can receive faxes no matter
where I go.
Telecommuting is just coming into
vogue thanks to todays Internet technol-
ogy. Just imagine what well be able to do
when IP-based services travel at the speed
of light on IP+Optical networks. Forget
about that costly business trip; send your
hologram instead! Lectures and classes
seen today by a limited few could be vir-
tuallyattended by an entire generation of
the worlds population.
The magazine youre holding in your
hand may one day contain articles that
pertain only to you, uploaded to your elec-
tronic book, complete with video supple-
ments and animated diagrams. Or perhaps
youll print and bind your personalized
issue on the same device your children use
to get the latest edition of Harry Potter
they purchase online.
With virtually unlimited bandwidth
delivering IP services, IP+Optical net-
works will indeed change the way we
work, live, play, and learn. So, welcome.
Welcome to the future.
f r om t he e di t or
Welcome to the Future
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COVE R I L L UST R AT I ON
S P E C I AL T HANKS TO T HE F OL L OWI NG
CONT R I B UTOR S : Jvxxivvv B~vvivv, D~viu B~u:,
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ADVE RT I S I NG I NF OR MAT I ON:
Kvis)vx Bvvc:~x, 408 525-2542
kbergman@cisco.com
View Packet magazine at cisco.com/go/packet.
P UB L I S HE R I NF OR MAT I ON:
Packet magazine is published quarterly by Cisco
Systems and distributed free of charge to users of
Cisco products.
Direct address corrections and other correspondence to
packet@cisco.com or to Packet in care of:
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, California, 95134-1706
USA
Phone: 408 526-4000
CCIE, CCNP, IGX, IP/TV, MGX, Packet, and PIX are trademarks,
and Aironet, BPX, Catalyst, Cisco IOS, the Cisco Powered Network
logo, the Cisco Systems logo, IOS, and LightStream are registered
trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc., in the USA and certain other
countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this publication are the
property of their respective owners.
Packet, copyright 2001 by Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in the USA.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or by any
means, without prior written permission from Cisco Systems, Inc.
This publication is distributed on an as-isbasis, without warranty of
any kind either express or implied, including but not limited to the
implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose,
or noninfringement. This publication could contain technical inaccu-
racies or typographical errors. Later issues may modify or update
information provided in this issue. Neither the publisher nor any con-
tributor shall have any liability to any person for any loss or damage
caused directly or indirectly by the information contained herein.
This magazine is printed on recycled paper.
10%
TOTAL RECOVERED FIBER
D~viu A. B~ii
Editor-in-chief, Packet
SECOND QUARTER 2001 PACKET 1
Reprinted with permission from Packet magazine (Volume 13, No. 2), copyright 2001 by Cisco Systems,Inc. All rights reserved.
01A_Editor.txxp 4/24/01 06:39 AM Page 1
Deeply Indebted
This is just a note to let you know how
much I enjoyed the First Quarter 2001 issue
of Packet. I found the article on HomeSide
Lending [End-to-End Confidence, page
78] very interesting because I have my
home mortgage with HomeSide. It was
great to learn more about the company
that gets so much money from me every
month.
Your magazine covers network design
options and gives me great ideas on how
to improve existing networks. Please keep
me on the list to receive your magazine
for as long as you can.
Eric Umphress, Lockheed Martin Corporation
eric.w.umphress@cummins.com
Tutorials Please
Congratulations on a very professional
magazine. I like its format, look, and
feel. If you are thinking about some new
features, I would like to see short tutori-
als. The list of tutorial topics is endless,
but some of my suggestions are how to
lock down your router, how do I know
my switch is working well?, and what
is IPv6? As an IT manager, I often dont
have the time to read books and attend
courses, so a mini course would be very
nice.
Rich Lisanti, US Army Research Development
Acquisition Information Systems Activity
rich.lisanti@rdaisa.army.mil
Seamless Roaming
I am greatly impressed by what I read
about the Cisco Aironet 350 in your
Packet Online weekly update [The Cisco
Aironet 350 Series Access Point for
Wireless LANs]. However, I still want to
find out how communication occurs
between the two access points.
Ifiok Moses, BT Limited, Nigeria
ifiok@btlimited.com
Following is a response from Lorie Jurkovich,
manager of marketing communications in
the Wireless Networking Business Unit at
Cisco. Eds.
Regarding communication between the two
access points, there are two areas to under-
stand: roaming and load balancing. As a
client roams across the wireless network, it
must establish and maintain an association
with an Aironet access point.
To ensure seamless roaming:
s
The client sends out a request for association
and immediately receives a response from
all access points within its coverage area.
s
The client decides which access point to
associate with based on signal quality,
strength, the number of users associated,
and the required number of hops to reach
the backbone.
s
After an association is established, the
clients Media Access Control (MAC) address
drops into the table of the selected access
point. If the client encounters difficulty, it
will roam for another access point. If no
other access point is available, the client
will lower its data transmission rate and try
to maintain connection.
s
After the client roams to another access
point, its MAC address drops into the table
of the new access point, which sends a
broadcast message basically stating that it
received MAC address X.
s
The original access point forwards any
data it had for the client to the other
access point, which responds by sending
the same to the client.
Load balancing is managed by maintaining
a constant flow of information between
the access points, client, and network.
Beacons and probe responses from the Cisco
Aironet access points contain additional
information, including the following:
s
The load that the access point is currently
handling
s
Number of hops from the backbone
s
Device type and name
s
Number of associated clients
s
Radio type
For current and archived Packet Online
weekly updates, visit the URL cisco.com/warp/
public/784/packet/weeklyupdate.html.
CISCO SYSTEMS SECOND QUARTER 2001 PACKET 3
Mail
We welcome your comments and questions. Reach us through
e-mail at packet-editors@cisco.com. Be sure to include your name,
company affiliation, and e-mail address. Letters may be edited for
clarity and length.
Note: The Packet editorial staff cannot provide help-desk services.
SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO PACKET
Instant Internet
Mobilizing the
Corporate Troop
IPsec or MPLS?
Why Service Providers
Should Use Both
DSL Lockdown
Securing Always-
On Access
Security in the
21st Century
Balancing Access and
Security in the Internet Age
CI SCO SYSTEMS USERS MAGAZI NE FI RST QUARTER 2001
03_mail.tp 4/24/01 06:37 AM Page 3
User Connection
C
oxsi uvv )nvsv s)~)i s)ics:
Approximately 90 percent of
all Cisco customer orders come
over the Internet through the
Cisco.com Web site. Roughly 80 percent of
customer support is handled via this site.
Ten million pages of content and data
presently make up Cisco.com. Needless to
say, managing one of the worlds busiest and
most informative Web sites is not without
its data flow and integration challenges.
Overcoming these challenges by making
it easier for Cisco customers and partners to
conduct business and find information on
Cisco.com is exactly what a team of business
and information technology (IT) experts at
Cisco is busily working on.
Employing an information architecture
called metadata framework (MDF) that
standardizes the way content is organized
and retrieved, the Cisco team is transform-
ing Cisco.com into a single-site architecture
that will link users directly to the information
and online tools relevant to their specific
needs. To ensure that Cisco.com addresses
the needs of all users, MDF is being devel-
oped with steady input from several sources
including Cisco subject matter experts and
Cisco partners and equipment users.
Our goal is to take Cisco.com from a
static system to a dynamic, customer-focused,
highly integrated system that makes it easier
for customers to manage their work and rela-
tionships with Cisco from a single interface,
says Mike Kirkwood, manager of the Internet
knowledge framework team at Cisco.
At its core, MDF is an information map
that manages and classifies data into standard
vocabularies and relationships. With MDF,
the Cisco.com Web site will be able to scale
quickly to keep up with burgeoning levels of
C
i s c o ~v v i u v xv vv s s ~x .
wheel t ruck feat uring hands- on
demonstrations of the latest Cisco con-
verged data, voice, and video technology
is rolling through cities across the US and
Canada. Cisco AVVID (Architecture for
Voice, Video and Integrated Data) is the
architecture that supports a variety of prod-
ucts and services that merge voice, video,
and data into a single network to provide
enterprises with greater productivity,
enhanced customer care, and reduced costs.
With the Cisco AVVID Express,
information technology managers can look
at, touch, and see Ciscos voice, video, and
data solutions firsthand,says Mike Kisch,
program manager for Cisco AVVID
Express. They can see for themselves what
Ciscos converged network solutions can do
for them.
In addition to hands-on converged net-
working demonstrations, Cisco AVVID
Express includes demos and literature on IP
telephony infrastructure for enterprise cam-
pus and branch offices; video solutions such
as IP/TV
and videoconferencing; wireless

technologies; Cisco IP phones; Cisco
AVVID applications such as Cisco IP con-
tact center, unified communications, and
voice applications; video customer testimo-
nials; and more.
Staffed by Cisco technical experts, the
Cisco AVVID Express roadshow has
reached more than 10,000 enterprise cus-
tomers in 80 US cities since it launched in
mid-September 2000playing a key role in
helping to spread the word about Cisco
AVVID solutions.
To learn more about Cisco AVVID
Express, visit the URL cisco.com/ go/
avvid/roadshow.
Taming a
Mountain of Data
Metadata framework underpins
upcoming Cisco.com redesign.
Cisco AVVID
Express Rolls to
Enterprise Doorsteps
Continued on page 12
May 810 NetWorld+Interop, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
May 811 Cable-Tec Expo 2001, Orlando, Florida, USA
June 48 SUPERCOMM 2001, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
June 1921 Securities Industry Association Conference, New York City,
New York, USA
June 2527 National Educational Computing Conference, Chicago, Illinois, USA
June 2529 Networkers, Los Angeles, California, USA
July 812 National Fiber-Optic Engineers Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
July 1620 Networkers, Chicago, Illinois, USA
c i s c o . c o m / w a r p / p u b l i c / 6 8 8 / e v e n t s . h t m l
Ci sco W or l d wi d e Even t s
03A_UserConn.txxp 4/24/01 09:07 AM Page 5
F
ov :os ) co:v~xi v s, )nv
question is not whether they will
adopt IP telephony but when. And
when information technology (IT)
managers begin to calculate the benefits of
having a single packet-based network that
consolidates data, voice, and video traffic,
they need to know the steps for migrating
and maintaining their existing networks to
IP telephony.
In February, the Cisco Technical
Assistance Center (TAC) released an online
assessment tool that helps enterprise cus-
tomers identify potential risks when plan-
ning and designing IP telephony networks
as well as a complementary solution guide
loaded with information about planning,
designing, implementing, and operating IP
telephony networks.
IP Telephony Readiness Assessment
The Web- based Cisco IP Telephony
Readiness Assessment tool helps enterprise
users understand the steps required to plan
and design an IP telephony network. An
interactive resource, the readiness assess-
ment tool leads users through a series of
questions specific to their planned LAN or
WAN IP telephony deployment model.
The tool generates a printable report that
identifies risks, comparing the users
responses to common network design
requirements, and provides planning and
design recommendations in several IP tele-
phony areas.
Among the areas covered are Cisco
AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video
and Integrated Data) high- availabilit y
campus design; capacity planning for IP
telephony; IP addressing; IP telephony
power protection; Cisco CallManager
version 3.0; and WAN design considera-
tions.
The assessment tool consists of approx-
imately 100 questions and takes roughly one
hour to complete. It s available free to reg-
istered users of Cisco.com and can be found
at the URL cisco.com/tac/iptelready.
us e r c onne c t i on
6 PACKET SECOND QUARTER 2001 CISCO SYSTEMS
Tech Ti ps
Learn about the new Cisco WT-2750 Multipoint Broadband Wireless System. Its all here:
frequently asked questions covering diagram of system components, frequency bands
used, modulation scheme, sample headend router configuration, and lots more.
cisco.com/warp/public/102/p2mp-faq.html
Get the basics of class-based weighted fair queuing (CBWFQ) on ATM. From definitions
to overcoming limitations, these Tech Notes provide an overview of traffic queuing using
CBWFQ technology.
cisco.com/warp/public/121/atm_cbwfq.html
Increase your knowledge of transitioning clients for the Cisco VPN 5000 Concentrator.
This white paper lays out the information needed to migrate from proprietary
STEP-based Microsoft Windows clients to Internet Key Exchange (IKE) clients supported
on the Cisco VPN 5000 Concentrator.
cisco.com/warp/public/471/step-to-ike.shtml
Configure and analyze clustering on Catalyst
2900XL and 3500XL switches. This primer

describes the basic configuration steps needed to form a cluster on Catalyst 2900XL and
3500XL series switches using the Cluster Management Suite. Included is basic knowledge
on how clustering works and how to do basic troubleshooting and analysis using show
commands and debug outputs.
cisco.com/warp/public/473/61.html
Integrate best practices into your high-availability network. Find out whats involved in
this compendium of white papers that define the processes, methodologies, and tools for
high-availability networks. Included are best practices for performance, service-level, and
capacity management; configuration management; new solution deployment; network
security policies; change management; and disaster recovery.
cisco.com/public/technotes/tech_features.shtml
Interested in configuring a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) virtual private network
(VPN)? The basics of configuring one are laid out in this document. Included is a sample
configuration of an MPLS VPN over ATM when Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) or Routing
Information Protocol (RIP) is present on your customers site.
cisco.com/warp/public/105/mpls_vpn_basic.html
Find out more about configuring Cisco Secure PIX Firewalls. These Cisco Secure PIX Firewall
sample configurations cover a lot of groundfrom how to configure a Cisco Secure PIX
Firewall to separate a corporate network from the Internet, to how to perform authentica-
tion and enabling on the PIX Firewall, to using IP Security (IPsec), and much more.
cisco.com/warp/public/110/index.shtml
Browse the top packet voice technical support issues. This Top Issues portion of the Cisco
Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Web site provides solutions to the most common prob-
lems information technology (IT) managers encounter regarding packet voice technolo-
gies. The issues are refreshed regularly and addressed by Cisco subject matter experts.
cisco.com/warp/public/788/top_issues/vox/vox_top_issues.shtml
Get the scoop on dial-on-demand routing (DDR). Learn from these case studies how to
use Cisco DDR to form a WAN from existing telephone lines.
cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ics/cs002.htm
For more Tech Tips from the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Web site,
visit the URL cisco.com/public/technotes/serv_tips.shtml.
Cisco TAC Adds IP Telephony Assessment Tool, Solution Guide
D
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Cisco Learning Solutions
Partner, is marching to a military
beat with innovative, intensive train-
ing boot camps for Cisco Certified
Network Professional (CCNP
)
instruction. An alternative to the
traditional six to eight weeks needed
to complete CCNP-recommended
courses, the accelerated boot camp
packs instruction for the same topics
and skills offered in the longer cur-
riculum into 12 grueling days.
The CCNP boot camp isnt
for the lighthearted, says Mike
Benson, an instructor with the US
Army Communications Electronics
Command (CECOM). Last October,
Benson organized a CCNP boot camp for
ten of his fellow CECOM networking
instructors at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville,
North Carolina.
Designed for information technology
(IT) professionals from all-sized businesses
and networking environments, the CCNP
boot camp offers lecture and hands-on labs
from 8 a.m. to approximately 7 p.m. for 12
consecutive days. Among the equipment in
the CCNP labs are Catalyst
5500 and 1900

series switches, Cisco 3640 and 1604 routers,
various modems, and ISDN equipment. Its
not unusual for participants to stretch their
training beyond the formal instruction hours.
At Fort Bragg, for instance, students often
discussed the days lesson over dinner, break-
ing into smaller discussion groups that some-
times lasted until midnight.
On the first day, we tell students that
these will be the hardest two weeks of their
lives, notes Steve Foy, one of the Global
Knowledge instructors who taught at Fort
Bragg. They have to study every night to
absorb the material required to pass the exams
for CCNP certification, which are adminis-
tered during the program.
Despite the rigorous schedule, the boot
camp format is proving to be a welcome alter-
native to the longer CCNP training courses.
Six to eight weeks is a lot of time for
employees to be away from their jobs,adds
Foy. Two weeks makes a lot more sense.
To date, Global Knowledge boot camp
attendees have averaged an 80 percent certi-
fication pass rateand 100 percent of the
Fort Bragg participants passed their exams to
become CCNP certified. While dedication
and hard work certainly come into play, expe-
rience is another key to the participantssuc-
cess. All ten attendees at Fort Bragg teach
basic networking, TCP/IP, fundamental and
advanced router configuration with emphasis
on Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) configu-
ration to nearly 1000 US soldiers stationed
around the world.
The caliber of the students at Fort
Bragg was high, says boot camp attendee
Brian Ayer. Most of the Army personnel
that we provide training to have
college degrees and have been
working in the field for a while.
Ayer gives high marks to the boot
camp instructors. They brought a
lot of real-life, work-related experi-
ences to the class. That made it
more compelling.
Those ten guys were fried after
it was over, admits Benson. But
they got educated effectively and
fast, and speed was particularly
important. The students were away
from their jobs around the US and
Germany for a fraction of the time it
would otherwise take them to get
CCNP certified.
Boot camps have a maximum
enrollment of 16 with two Cisco-certified
instructors, and CCNP attendees must
already have their Cisco Certified Network
Associate (CCNA
) certification. The
CCNP boot camp runs about twice a month
and is currently held at Global Knowledge
education centers in Washington, DC;
Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Raleigh,
North Carolina; Herndon, Virginia; Atlanta,
Georgia; Morristown, New Jersey; New York
City, New York; and San Jose and San
Francisco, California. Plans for CCNP boot
camps in Canada, Australia, the UK,
Germany, and France are under way with
other locations outside the US to follow.
Global Knowledge also runs five-day CCNA
boot camps about 18 times a month.
It s not an easy course of study, con-
cludes Rick Gregory, a Global Knowledge
training director. But there are enough
motivated, qualified people and companies
who appreciate the value of CCNP and
other Cisco Career Certifications to make
the boot camp a hot idea.
Are you fiercely mot ivat ed, a quick
st udy, and dont need a lot of sleep?
Find out more about t he CCNP
and CCNA boot camps at t he URL
am.globalknowledge.com.
Certification Reveille
Rigorous two-week boot camp is fast track to CCNP certification.
The CCNP boot camp isnt for
the lighthearted.
MI KE BENSON, I NSTRUCTOR WITH THE US ARMY
COMMUNI CATI ONS ELECTRONI CS COMMAND
S
i xcv )nv vxu ov 1999 wnvx
the Cisco Technical Assistance
Center (TAC) Web site launched,
a steadily increasing number of
information technology (IT) managers
from all-sized businesses have been using it
to resolve their low-priority network prob-
lems online.
According to findings from a recent sur-
vey conducted for Cisco by Walker
Information, five in ten customers surveyed
from 53 countries were able to completely or
mostly resolve their network problem them-
selves directly through the TAC Web site
without having to open a case via the TAC
Escalation Center. The online resolution
findings become more eye-opening consid-
ering that the number of dailyTAC sessions
averages upwards of 250,000.
Despite these solid results, however, the
technical content and breadth of knowledge
contained on the Cisco TAC Web site remains
to a large extent an untapped resource.
The goal of the TAC is to short-circuit
customersproblems as directly and quickly as
possible. And often the resolution is already
on the TAC Web site right at their fingertips,
but they just arent aware of it, says Sean
Iverson, marketing manager for the TAC. By
deploying more self-serve tools, were giving
customers direct access to the content needed
to resolve problems and improve network
performance faster themselves, wherever they
are in the world 24 hours a day.
In fact, much of the same information
and resources and many of the same systems
used by Cisco TAC engineers to support
customers worldwide over the phone are
available on the TAC Web site. In addition
to the more than 100 employees working for
the Cisco TAC Web team, 1200-plus Cisco
TAC engineers from the worldwide escala-
tion centers regularly contribute their
knowledge and expertise to support the
TAC Web site.
The technical content in our databases
and years of networking experience con-
tained in the Cisco engineers heads are
what make the online solution and trou-
bleshooting tools so valuable, stresses
Iverson. The tools wouldnt be useful with-
out the technical content to back them up.
Open a Case Online, Get Priority
The TAC Web site is designed to help Cisco
customers resolve lower-priority network
problems online instead of opening a case
by phone via the TAC Escalation Center.
If lower-priority problemsdefined by the
TAC as priority 3 and 4 casescant be
resolved online, you can still open a case on
the TAC Web site using the enhanced, inter-
active Case Open tool. And youre rewarded
for doing so. Priority 3 and 4 cases opened
online are now ensured a faster response from
the TAC than the same-priority cases opened
over the phone. (See sidebar for a summary
of the TAC priority levels.)
The Case Open tool has been enhanced
to not only diagnose technical issues but also
identify the online solutions available to
resolve your particular network problem
early in the case opening process. This new
auto-suggest functionality gives Cisco cus-
tomers the opportunity to resolve their pri-
ority 3 and 4 problems without delay. The
Case Open tool is available to all registered
users of Cisco.com with a valid Cisco service
contract and can be found at the URL
cisco.com/tac/caseopen.
Treasure Chest of Online Tools
A complete list of online TAC tools is
available to registered Cisco.com users at the
URL cisco.com/tac/tools. Included among
the many online tools and resources avail-
able on the Web site are the following:
s
Knowledge basesDetailed technical
solutions for the most frequently reported
networking problems worldwide; prod-
uct, technology, and solutions support
pages; an open question-and-answer
forum with responses from Cisco Certified
Internetwork Experts (CCIEs
).
s
ToolsCisco hardware and software
compatibility aids; software bug toolkit;
diagnostic troubleshooting assistance;
Cisco IOS
software feature-to-hardware
platform navigator; and more.
s
SoftwareDownloadable software and
firmware upgrades.
Additionally, in the past few months, the
TAC Web team has added a state-of-the-
art, interactive technical content search
tool; free TAC Web tools training; and IP
Get the Most from the Cisco TAC
Self-Serve Cisco TAC Web site is first line of defense for tech support.
The technical content in

our databases and years of
networking experience
contained in the Cisco
engineers heads are
what make the online
solution and troubleshooting
tools so valuable.
SEAN I VERSON
MARKETI NG MANAGER, CI SCO TAC
telephony network readiness assessment
and solution guide. For more on the latter,
see Cisco TAC Adds IP Telephony
Assessment Tool, Solution Guide,page 6.
Interactive Search Functionality
The new search tool shortens research ses-
sions by identifying relevant technical con-
tent in response to your queries. The
application also tracks the progress of
queries and allows you to add information
or start the session over. In the end, only
relevant documents are retrieved.
It s a great resource for quickly finding
information on such topics as booting or
starting up Cisco products; configuration,
installation, or upgrades for hardware,
firmware, or Cisco IOS software; connec-
tivity issues; network management appli-
cations; configuring new protocols on
products; locating information in the TAC
Web site knowledge bases; and much more.
The interactive search tool is available to
registered users of Cisco.com at the URL
cisco.com/kobayashi/support/kbase.shtml.
TAC Web Site Resource Training
The Cisco TAC Web Tools seminar is a free
Web-based program open to anyone who
wants to learn more about Cisco online
technical support resources. The seminar
provides training on how to use the online
technical resources of the TAC Web site
effectively to find critical information on
troubleshooting network issues, enhancing
networking skills, and designing and sup-
porting your network.
The one-hour online training presenta-
tion is accompanied by a live presenter on
the phone, who will answer questions about
the tools and content related to your specific
interests and network issues. Phone num-
bers outside the US are available. To view
training dates and register for the TAC
Web tools training seminar, visit the URL
cisco.evoke.com.
Cisco TAC, Continued from page 8
Cisco TAC Problem Priority Levels
Priority Level Problem Recommended Action
You need information on
Cisco product capabilities,
installation advice, or basic
product configuration data.
Your network performance is
degraded; network function-
ality is noticeably impaired,
but most business operations
continue.
Production network is severe-
ly degraded, impacting signif-
icant aspects of your business
operations.
Production network is down,
with the potential of causing
critical impact to business
operations if service is not
restored quickly.
Check out the extensive knowledge
bases (Top Issues, Product Support,
Technology Support, and Solutions
Support pages; Open Q&A Forum);
hardware and software compatibility
tools; troubleshooting assistant; soft-
ware bug toolkit; and other support
resources available at the TAC Web
site (cisco.com/tac).
If your problem isnt resolved, open
a case online using the Case Open
tool (cisco.com/tac/caseopen).
P4 and P3 cases opened online now
receive expedited handling over P4
and P3 cases opened by phone via the
TAC Escalation Center.
Contact the Cisco TAC Escalation
Center by phone and open a case
immediately. A directory of global
toll-free numbers is available at the
URL cisco.com/warp/public/687/
Directory/DirTAC.shtml.
Priority 4
(P4)
Priority 3
(P3)
Priority 2
(P2)
Priority 1
(P1)
w
w
w
w
C i s c o H e a d q u a r t e r s
Corporate Headquarters
Cisco Systems, Inc.
San Jose, California 95134-1706
USA
www.cisco.com
Tel: 408 526-4000, 800 553-NETS (6387)
Fax: 408 526-4100
European Headquarters
Cisco Systems Europe
11, Rue Camille Desmoulins
92782 Issy Les Moulineaux
Cedex 9
France
www-europe.cisco.com
Tel: 33 1 58 04 60 00
Fax: 33 1 58 04 61 00
Americas Headquarters
Cisco Systems, Inc.
San Jose, California 95134-1706
USA
www.cisco.com
Tel: 408 526-7660
Fax: 408 527-0883
Asia Headquarters
Cisco Systems Australia Pty., Ltd.
Level 17, 99 Walker Street
North Sydney
NSW 2059 Australia
www.cisco.com
Tel: 61 2 8448 7100
Fax: 61 2 9957 4350
ExiO Acquisition
Enhances Ciscos
Wireless Technology
Cisco plans to acquire ExiO Communi-
cations, Inc., a leading developer of in-build-
ing wireless technologies for corporate
networks based on Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA) technologies. The acquisi-
tion strengthens Ciscos commitment to
developing a fully converged network that
supports multiple wireless standards, includ-
ing CDMA and the Global System for
Mobile Communications (GSM) for inte-
grated voice and data services. In addition,
ExiOs wireless telephony solution builds on
Ciscos existing wireless technology that
enables enterprises to add the convenience of
mobility to voice-over-IP services.
ExiO has 38 employees in San Jose,
California, and Seoul, Korea. For more infor-
mation on Cisco acquisitions, visit the URL
cisco.com/warp/public/750/acquisition/.
IP Telephony Solution Guide
The new Cisco IP Telephony Solution
Guide provides an illustrative overview of
the full lifecycle of steps required to plan,
design, implement, and operate IP tele-
phony networks.
Detailed chapters help users assess the
readiness of their current networks for IP
telephony, understand different network
design models and their selection criteria,
analyze and troubleshoot IP telephony
network problems, and identify the opera-
tional support requirements of IP tele-
phony networks.
Totaling more than 350 pages, the com-
prehensive solution guide focuses on the
core components of an IP telephony net-
work including Cisco CallManager version
3.0, various Cisco gateways, and integration
with legacy telco networks.
The solution guide is available to all
registered and nonregistered users of
Cisco.com and can be found at the URL
cisco.com/tac/iptelsolguide.
IP Telephony, Continued from page 6
information, integrating data from a multi-
tude of sources and dynamically generating
related links. Based on a users personal pro-
file, the new information architecture will also
enable Cisco.com to present an interface
and navigation structure specific to users
and provide users with personalized content
and integrated applications.
The rapid growth of Cisco.com in its
present static system has resulted in data
flow barriers that often produce multiple,
and sometimes irrelevant, information
results. For example, notes Kirkwood,
there are roughly 30 different ways to
search for the Catalyst
6500 switch on
Cisco.com, with about 56 different ways
for the system to identify this product. The
common vocabulary, applications, and
organization resulting from a standardized
MDF consolidate the varying information
and identifiersproducing relevant results
to user searches, sophisticated user navi-
gation capabilities, and a foundation for
personalization.
Additionally, MDF and a centralized pro-
file repository of user data, including prefer-
ences and entitlement information, will enable
personalized content viewed through an easy-
to-navigate user interface or single-view dash-
board. For instance, a search for the Catalyst
6500 might also yield content on related
technologies, networking solutions, training
information, and online tools for the 6500.
MDF and related data repositories are
key facets of the redesigned Cisco.com Web
site, which is slated to launch in the second
half of this year.
Cisco.com, Continued from page 5
Join the Ranks Who Get
Their Copy of Packet Instantly.
At Packet magazine, we have an important goal: to
offer you the best possible information for the growth
and health of your network and business success.
If you regularly read Packet Online, join the more
than 40,000 network professionals worldwide who
are notified by e-mail when each new issue of Packet
is published on Cisco.com.
All Cisco customers are eligible to receive this free
service. In addition to the technology stories, case
studies, and new-product information contained in
each paper issue, our Web version includes weekly
updates and Packet Online exclusives.
Register to be an electronic reader of Packet at the
URL www.ciscopacket.com/reader.shtml.
If you would like to receive additional information on
Cisco services and products by e-mail, send a request
to packet@external.cisco.com using the subject line:
Cisco Services and Products.
Our goal is to take Cisco.com from a
static system to a dynamic, customer-
focused, highly integrated system that
makes it easier for customers to man-
age their work and relationships with
Cisco from a single interface.
MI KE KI RKWOOD, MANAGER OF THE
CI SCO I NTERNET KNOWLEDGE FRAMEWORK TEAM
Enterprise
S O L U T I O N S
C
o:vv )i )i vv vx)vvvvi s vs xvvu
networks that can streamline operations, man-
age supply chains, and extend connectivity to an
increasingly mobile work forceand the
Catalyst
4000 modular switch is helping them do just

that by bringing new value to the enterprise wiring closet
and branch office. By combining high functionality with
a price thats comparable to low-end switching solutions,
the Catalyst 4000 family of switches is meeting an
increasing number of companiesneeds.
The innovative architecture of the Catalyst 4000
family breaks new ground for modular-system price and
performance, advanced network services, and converged
networking in the wiring closet and branch office,says
Brad Danitz, a product line manager at Cisco.
Robust, Flexible Architecture
With module options spanning a range of port densi-
ties and functions, the Catalyst 4000 family is powered
by leading-edge ASIC technology offering wire-speed
Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching at 10, 100, and gigabit
switching speeds. This approach gives it the robust per-
formance and features of high-end modular switches at
a price that s comparable to low-end, stackable devices.
Our vision was to deliver a modular switching
platform that hits the same price point as fixed-
configuration switches, which is US$150 per port for
Layer 2 switching, notes Danitz. And were slightly
below that figure. The Catalyst 4000 uses a flexible
chassis and is capable of meeting network-element-
connectivity requirements of up to 240 Fast Ethernet
ports with gigabit uplinks.
The Catalyst 4000 foundation is a robust, flexible
architecture. The convergence of discrete components
into larger ASICs enables companies to realize higher
degrees of reliability and greater mean time between
failures. Hot-swappable line cards allow for faster
repair when a component needs to be replaced. And
because of its chassis configuration, users can add new
line cards or enhance the supervisor with higher layer
functionality while legacy line cards remain in place.
This versatility protects an enterprises investment,
ensuring that the switch keeps pace with technological
advancements and network demands.
In addition to greater manageability and versatility,
a flexible chassis configuration provides for a longer
window of deployment. A fixed-configuration switch is
typically limited in terms of how you can enhance it
with horizon technologies and evolving standards,
Danitz points out. One of the innovations of the
Catalyst 4000 is that the legacy line cards are forward-
compatible with future generations of the switch fabric.
Branching Out
Modular Catalyst 4000 switch
extends network convergence
to the enterprise wiring closet
and branch office.
MORE BANG FOR THE BOX: At a price comparable to low-end, stackable devices, the Catalyst
4000 family extends converged network services of a Catalyst-based backbone
to the enterprise wiring closet and branch office. The family includes the Catalyst 4006
with ports ready for WAN, IP telephony, and Layer 4 to Layer 7 Web switching.
Reprinted with permission from Packet magazine (Volume 13, No.2), copyright 2001 by Cisco Systems,Inc. All rights reserved.
04A_Enterprise.txp 4/24/01 08:18 AM Page 15
High Performance, Budget Friendly
According to James Richardson, senior vice president
in Ciscos Enterprise Line of Business, it s the archi-
tectural flexibility of the Catalyst 4000 that accounts
for its success. The 4000 chassis is fully compliant with
Cisco AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video and
Integrated Data) solutions. With the evolution of new
intelligent engines and line card options, the switch will
become more functional over time in terms of content,
security, and common infrastructure solutions, says
Richardson. It s this flexibility and unmatched price-
performance that makes the Catalyst 4000 a great
choice in the wiring closet.
Along with its aggres-
sively priced Layer 2
switching and optional
engines for Layer 3 switch-
ing, enterprises are bullish
about the Catalyst 4000s
inherent performance and
flexibility, adds Richardson.
In increasing numbers,
theyre choosing to deploy
Catalyst 4000 chassis
switches at the desktop
edge, often replacing the
competitions fixed stackable
switches. Additionally, Catalyst 6000 series switches at
the network core are an ideal complement to the
Catalyst 4000. Both switches run Catalyst Operating
System (CatOS) software and have similar feature sets
and the same default values. This compatibility allows
companies to build a cohesive switching infrastructure
using a combination of Catalyst systems.
The innovations that Cisco has packed into the
Catalyst 4000 family are substantial, says Joel
Conover, senior analyst for enterprise infrastructure at
Current Analysis, a Sterling, Virginia-based analysis
company. The Catalyst 4000 gives companies the
flexibility to grow their network infrastructure and
remain competitive on a limited budget, making it a
smart choice when it comes time to wire closets or
branch offices.
A Boost for Converged Networking
Advanced applications such as unified messaging, video
streaming, and packet telephony require highly intelli-
gent, converged network infrastructures. The Catalyst
4000 enables converged networking over integrated
LAN and WAN infrastructures. This capability is part of
a new access gateway module for the Catalyst 4000 fam-
ily that integrates powerful IP telephony functionality into
a single platform. The module can operate in one of three
modes: IP router, voice-over-IP gateway, or IP telephony.
As an IP router, the module provides inter-virtual
LAN (VLAN) and LAN-WAN routing, and the digi-
tal signal processor (DSP)-enabled Cisco IOS
firewall
provides perimeter security. As a voice-over-IP gateway,
the module supports toll bypass and H.323 version 2
voice gateway functions at the WAN edge. In IP tele-
phony mode, the module provides DSP-based voice
services for Cisco CallManager, including conferencing and
G.723.1, G.729a, and G.711 transcoding.
For example, network managers who deploy
inline power 10/ 100Base-
TX Ethernet switching
modules in a Catalyst 4000
chassis can position the
infrastructure for the addi-
tion of IP telephones.
Embedded intelligence
discriminates between IP
phones that require inline
power and devices that
dont. Inline power through
Ethernet connections to IP
phones eliminates the need
for power adapters and
uninterrupted power supply
(UPS) backup with each telephone set. The Catalyst
4000 family also allows for other Internet appliances to
be powered over the network.
Enhancing the Wiring Closet
In wiring closets, the Catalyst 4000 switches enhance
Layer 2 flexibility. Dual Gigabit Ethernet uplinks from
the supervisor engine support a high-availability sys-
tem architecture to the distribution layer, while
advanced Cisco IOS software features bring quality of
service (QoS), multicast, IP routing, and IP telephony
services closer to users.
By delivering Layer 3 switching, integrated WAN,
and advanced Cisco IOS software services including
QoS and security, the cost-effective Catalyst 4000
switches are a critical part of a scalable, highly available
network infrastructure that s ready to support emerg-
ing multiservice applications.
The Catalyst 4000 family is an important contrib-
utor in Ciscos efforts to provide more powerful prod-
uct solutions with high-end consistency and improved
ease-of-use simplicity,concludes Richardson.
For more information on the Catalyst 4000
family of switches, visit the URL cisco.com/ warp/
public/ cc/ pd/ si/ casi/ ca4000/ .
Enterprise
S O L U T I O N S
The innovations that Cisco has

packed into the Catalyst 4000 family
are substantial.It gives companies
the flexibility to grow their network
infrastructure and remain
competitive on a limited budget.
JOEL CONOVER,
SENI OR ANALYST FOR ENTERPRI SE I NFRASTRUCTURE,
CURRENT ANALYSI S
Catalyst 4000, Continued from page 15
04A_Enterprise.txp 4/24/01 08:18 AM Page 17
Enterprise
S O L U T I O N S
T
nv uxi)vu s)~)vs vos)~i svvvicv
Office of Inspector General (OIG) was cre-
ated by the US Congress in late 1996 to
investigate and eradicate waste, fraud, and
abuse in the US postal system. From a communica-
tions network perspective, this relatively young
watchdog government agency faced a formidable
challenge: At any given time, OIG employees work
from 15 offices across the US, and theyre constantly
on the move. The widely dispersed OIG sites cur-
rently have about 700 staff members. In addition,
because of the sensitive nature of the OIGs work,
secure communication was a big consideration in
choosing a networking platform for carrying all
types of traffic.
The OIGheaded by Inspector General Karla W.
Corcoranknew that an integrated IP network that
transported data, voice, and video was critical for max-
imum flexibility and control over cost, management,
and security when conducting audits and investiga-
tions. Corcoran also saw an integrated IP network as
a way to achieve flexibility both in terms of user access
capabilities and in giving the agency the agility to
quickly perform new installations and upgrades. For
example, the IP network offers mobile workers the
flexibility to connect to important agency information
via their intranet from wherever their assignments
take them. The OIG can handle telephony system
moves, adds, and changes with existing information
technology (IT) staff rather than having to outsource
these functions.
Voice over IP gives us a standards-based platform
for communication and the flexibility to enable our
workers to take their phones with them. They can plug
them in anywhere on the network and gain access to
Web-based data applications no matter where they are,
explains Robert Duffy, OIG telecommunications man-
ager. Since our workforce is on the road about 40 per-
cent of the time, that was important to us.
Similarly, unlike traditional circuit-based private-
branch exchanges (PBXs) and key systems, an IP tele-
phony system routes telephone calls directly to users
wherever they are. It s like follow-me roaming,
notes Duffy, and that s the service we need to deliver
to our workforce. An IP-based system also gives us a
uniform platform to process and store all of our voice
communication just as if it was a data packet.Finally,
having to manage a single network with a consistent
security policy and encryption appealed to the agency,
Duffy adds.
Converged Network Benefits
In October 1999, the OIG began designing and
implementing a Frame Relay-based WAN for its exist-
ing and future field offices based on services from Cisco
Powered Network provider WorldCom, Inc. As the
agencys growth revved up, the benefits of converged
servicesincluding cost savings, advancements in
voice technology, and ease of installationbecame
increasingly appealing.
Instead of wiring for two networks, voice and data,
we only had to wire a single network in field sites,says
OIG Wan Manager James Campbell. The WAN was
designed from the start to support future technologies.
We deployed T1 circuits to field locations, with a DS3
circuit deployed in our Arlington, Virginia, headquar-
ters to funnel traffic.
Future plans include moving the network from
point-to-point permanent virtual circuits (PVCs) to a
multipoint PVC architecture for additional redundancy.
The OIG planned for this capacity in anticipation of
adding first voice, then video, traffic to the network,
explains David Sidransky, OIG director of IT.
In May 2000, the OIG adopted H.323 as a voice-
over-IP (VoIP) standard, feeling confident that IP
standards for voice traffic compression technologies
had solidified. The OIG also began a 90-day trial
between its Arlington headquarters and Atlanta,
Georgia, offices during peak activity periods. The
setup included Cisco CallManager 3.02 management
software for IP telephony; a mix of Cisco 7910 and
7960 IP phones; a Cisco uOne unified messaging sys-
Postal Inspector General Stamps
Out Network Inefficiency
US government agency integrates data, voice, and video to slash
telecommunications costs by 40 percent and gain tight security.
04B_Enterprise.txp 4/24/01 06:46 AM Page 20
tem; and Cisco 2600 and 3600 multiservice WAN
routers. The Cisco routers support packetized voice
and associated compression, echo-cancellation, and
quality-of-service (QoS) technologies (see figure).
The Cisco CallManager server software and IP tele-
phones are components of the Cisco Architecture for
Voice, Video and Integrated Data (AVVID).
The Arlington-to-Atlanta Frame Relay PVC runs
at a 768-kbps committed information rate (CIR) that s
burstable to full T1 (1.5-Mbps) capacity. Packet voice
was added to the IP flows and was tested using
International Telecommunications Union (ITU)-T
G.711 algorithm for devices and signaling encoding for
64-kbps conversations to see what would happen in
terms of network congestion and voice quality degra-
dation. The trial revealed that nine 64-kbps simulta-
neous phone calls could be conducted. At the onset of
the tenth call, that call defaulted back to the public
switched telephone network (PSTN).
Long-distance calls are first routed through the
WAN back to local access (a Primary Rate Interface,
or PRI, circuit) in Arlington. If WAN traffic exceeds
CIR (estimated nine calls), traffic is routed through
a local-access circuit, explains Campbell. For redun-
dancy, in the event of WAN or PRI circuit failure,
H.323-compliant Cisco VG200 voice gateways are
deployed using foreign exchange station (FXS) and
foreign exchange office (FXO) modules to provide
access to the PSTN via POTS lines using Media
Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) and H.323.
To get more bang for its buck, the OIG plans to
implement ITU-T G.729 compression, which further
squeezes voice traffic to 8-kbps streams and increases
network efficiency and flexibility, says Duffy.
Early on in the testing, the OIG experienced
some problems with echo on the IP calls, but says this
has been rectified with the advent of more sophisti-
cated echo- cancellation techniques, including
increased use of QoS to achieve optimal voice traffic
prioritization and packet fragmentation for proper call
quality. Duffy says he considered it a major accom-
plishment when non-IT users were tested making
PSTN and VoIP telephone calls and didnt notice a
difference in voice qualitya condition, he notes, that
is status quo today.
Enterprise
S O L U T I O N S
DIAL E FOR
EFFICIENCY: OIG
Telecommunications
Manager Robert Duffy
(left) and Director of
Information Technology
David Sidransky were
part of a team who
have added IP voice
to their data WAN to
garner the cost and
control benefits
afforded by a single,
converged network.
QoS Considerations
The OIG currently has eight production VoIP sites and
plans to expand to 20. Six Cisco CallManager systems
and more than 300 Cisco IP phones are installed. To
ensure QoS for its traffic, the OIG is leveraging the
Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) and Weighted
Random Early Discard (WRED) features in the Cisco
3600 series routers.
WFQ is a QoS algorithm that queues traffic in router
memory buffers and then enables the transmission of
packets from each buffer in a round-robin type manner.
Traffic with a higher-priority markingsuch as VoIP,
which is particularly delay-sensitivereceives a higher
weight. This means that as packets are transmitted in a
round-robin fashion, a larger number of packets are taken
from the higher-priority queue than from other queues.
Voice traffic cant burst above CIR, since burst band-
width is not considered reliable and thus not suitable,
says Campbell. This heightened the need for tuning our
WAN using the QoS mechanisms WFQ and WRED.
WRED is a congestion control QoS mechanism. It
reduces the chances of tail drop (the discard of many
packets at the end of a transmission) by selectively
dropping packets when the output interface begins to
show signs of congestion. By dropping some packets
early rather than waiting until the buffer is full, this
QoS feature avoids dropping large numbers of packets
at once to ensure better session quality.
Rate of Return
The OIG estimates that it s saving about 40 percent on
equipment, installation, and maintenance at each site
with an integrated network. Support is critical, and we
designed the data network around the business needs of
the agency, which mandates that different types of voice
be handled and treated alike,claims Duffy. Were not
only saving in that regard, but were also gaining by
being able to leverage our existing knowledge base to
support the system. It s much easier to transverse a data
Enterprise
S O L U T I O N S
THE USPS OI G CONVERGED NETWORK
IP
IP
IP
IP
IP
IP
PSTN
PSTN
Phones
Cisco
CallManager
Cisco
CallManager
USPS OIGs
Frame Relay-
Based Intranet
Typical Remote Site
Temporary Site
Arlington, Virginia, Headquarters
IP
Phone
IP
Phone
IP
Phone
PC
PC
Application
Servers
Application
Servers
Video Server
Catalyst 6509
LAN Backbone
Switch
Catalyst 6509
LAN Backbone
Switch
Cisco 2620
Multiservice
Router
Cisco 2620
Multiservice
Router
Dialup for Off-Net
and Back-Up Calls
PBX
CONVERGENCE CALL:
With its scalable,
converged network,
the OIG is benefiting
its bottom line as well
as leveraging existing
human resources for
support. For example,
the agency can extend
the intelligence of a sin-
gle Cisco CallManager
server to multiple, clus-
tered sites using Cisco
2600 WAN router and
VG200 gateway connec-
tions. For added redun-
dancy, the Cisco 2600
can provide call routing
using the H.323 stan-
dard in the event of a
CallManager failure.
Postal Inspector General, Continued from page 21
person to voice than it is voice to data.
Part of the savings also comes from the agency
being able to use the Windows NT-based platform
server and workstation infrastructure it already had in
place. This architecture allows for simple integration
with IP soft phones and future enterprise Web-based
applications such as SAP and computer telephony
integration (CTI). Telecommunications moves, adds,
and changes are also simple with an IP-based system,
adds Campbell. The Cisco CallManager can auto-
configure a telephone based on its location within the
WAN. Users can move freely throughout the entire
organization and still maintain their direct-inward-dial
number and voice services, he explains.
With a traditional circuit-switched approach, wed
be spending about US$80,000 per site for a turnkey
solution including hardware, maintenance, training,
networking, and integrated voice mail, Duffy esti-
mates. Now, were closer to $50,000 per site, because
we can handle all the installations and upgrades our-
selves.He says the US$50,000 figure includes the cost
for training and acquisition of new IP skill sets.
In addition, Duffy says, by relying on in-house
expertise, we can get new systems up much more
quickly, which is another cost savings for a centralized
IT department. We can simply mirror and map what
we configured at one site and download it to another
CallManager.
Adds Campbell: By designing the LAN and
WAN infrastructure to support a converged network,
all field sites are merely replicas of each other. This
standardization allows for simplified troubleshooting
of existing sites while providing a template for addi-
tional sites as theyre deployed.
The OIG compared the cost of using a VoIP net-
work versus a circuit-switched network that collectively
received large volume discounts from carriers, accord-
ing to Sidransky. We could make phone calls for just
under 5 cents per minute using other services, while
a VoIP call at that time [2000] was about 3 cents,
Sidransky says.
The scalable nature of an IP-software based phone
system also benefits the OIG budget. In some circum-
stances, the agency can extend the intelligence of a sin-
gle CallManager server to multiple, clustered sites using
Cisco 2600 WAN router and VG200 gateway connec-
tions. Doing so precludes the agency from having to
maintain and manage CallManager servers in every
OIG location, notes Duffy.
Next Steps
The OIG plans to enhance its encryption to provide
further security across the network, says Sidransky. In
addition, the agency is likely to build a full-blown con-
tent delivery network (CDN) to leverage its network for
efficient, secure multimedia communications.
CDNs use distributed cache engines, load balanc-
ing, Web request redirection systems, IP Multicast, and
other technologies to optimize the use of network
bandwidth and ensure quick user response times for the
delivery of rich multimedia content. The OIG, in fact,
was poised to implement video across its network to
certain sites when this issue of Packet
went to press.
Ultimately, the postal service inspector general
envisions that the OIGs converged IP network will be
a single portal for all data applications and e-business
initiatives such as internal training, multicast, and
video streaming.
Readily embracing its communications network
has enabled the OIG to be nimble in accomplishing
audits and investigations with widely dispersed offices
and a highly mobile workforce. What s more, the
OIGs commitment to cutting-edge technology is vital
to meeting statutory responsibilities for preventing
waste, fraud, and abuse in the US postal system.
Enterprise
S O L U T I O N S
For more information on the products men-
tioned in this article, visit the following URLs:
s Cisco AVVID home page:
cisco.com/warp/public/779/largeent/avvid
s Cisco CallManager voice processing software:
cisco.com/warp/public/779/largeent/avvid/
products/call_process.html
s Cisco 3600 series routers:
cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/rt/3600/index.
shtml
FURTHER READI NG
Were committed
to cutting-edge
technologies that
reduce cost and
increase efficiency.
I NSPECTOR GENERAL
KARLA W. CORCORAN
Postal Inspector General, Continued from page 23
Enterprise
S O L U T I O N S
A
ccovuixc )o ix)vvx~)iox~i u~)~
Corporation (IDC), 45 million mobile
professionals worldwide average more than
280 million business trips a year. For most
of these folks, access to their corporate network while
on the move is a necessity. The Cisco Internet Mobile
Office initiative provides mobile business professionals
with secure, reliable, broadband network access in
venues including airports, convention centers, hotels,
coffee shops, and other public facilities worldwide. This
initiative furthers Ciscos vision of providing business
professionals with immediate access to the Internet and
their corporate networkwhether theyre at work, at
home, or on the move.
Cisco wired and wireless products and technologies in
LAN and WAN infrastructures, virtual private network
(VPN) security, broadband roaming, and end-to-end
management tools underscore the Cisco Internet Mobile
Office initiative, as do a team of Cisco-certified partner-
ships. Already there are more than 400 hot spots, public
locations where mobile professionals can access their net-
works through secure broadband Internet access.
Avoiding Downtime in Key Locations
Delayed or rerouted flights are common these days and
often result in long wait times. Telephone jacks in airports
rarely deliver the bandwidth needed for traveling workers
to accomplish complex tasks, and dialup wireless connec-
tions have been similarly slow and unreliable. However, the
Cisco Internet Mobile Office solutions architecture and
partnerships enable subscribers to access their network
using the Cisco Aironet
350 series wireless LAN prod-

uct (see figure). With a network interface card in their
computing device, business travelers can connect to the
Internet through access-point stations installed in airports
and other hot spots. Users gain access to the secure broad-
band network through subscriptions with one or more
preferred Cisco Internet Mobile Office service providers.
Global broadband roaming offers seamless roaming capa-
bilities and singular billing back to enterprises.
Wired and wireless technologies from Cisco include
secure VPN and IEEE 802.11b-compliant wireless
connectivity features such as identification, authentica-
tion, and encryption. Ciscos Microsoft Windows-com-
patible client uses IP Security (IPsec) standards to cre-
ate reliable VPN tunnel connections between mobile
users and their network. Organizations can add more
security features including Data Encryption Standard
(DES) and Triple DES (3DES) encryption, authenti-
cation with digital certificates, or Remote-Access Dial-
In User Service (RADIUS).
Like airport telephone jacks, hotel phone systems
often deliver limited bandwidth for dialup connections,
and misconfigured modems can make dialing into the
corporate network a headache. Here too, Cisco Aironet
wireless LAN products can provide easy, fast, secure
broadband access. Wired access is also available with the
Cisco Internet Mobile Office solution using Ciscos
newly announced Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE) tech-
nology. A broadband access technology, LRE delivers
Ethernet service over existing phone wires at 5 to 15
Mbps and distances from 3500 to 5000 feet. LRE
enables hotels and commercial multiunit buildings to
offer simultaneous voice, video, and data services when
they previously couldnt because of distance limitations,
older wiring infrastructures, or high costs.
Mobile users connect to in-room LRE customer-
premises equipment (CPE) using their computers
Ethernet adapter. Where theres a private-branch
exchange (PBX) on site, the Cisco LRE-48 POTS
Splitter allows LRE and voice traffic (POTS, ISDN,
and Cisco SmartPhone) to exist on the same phone line.
LRE-enabled Catalyst
2900 series LRE XL switches

segment traffic and deliver dedicated performance and
bandwidth. The Cisco Building Broadband Service
Manager (BBSM), which provides self-provisioning,
authentication, and automated billing, gives users an on-
ramp to the hotelsservice offerings. And it lets carri-
ers offer variable levels of bandwidth, so different types
of service can be offered at different price points.
Partners Complete the Solution
The Cisco Internet Mobile Office solution is backed by
a team of Cisco-certified service providers, solution inte-
grators, application service providers, and other enabling
technology partners. Cisco Powered Network providers
(for example, CAIS Internet, Global Digital Media,
Internet Mobile Office
Cisco technologies and partners provide users with secure,
end-to-end network access in public venues.
For a list of hot spots
by location, venue,
and Cisco partner,
visit the URL
cisco.com/warp/
public/779/smbiz/
cmo/hotspots.
04C_Enterprise.txp 4/24/01 06:34 AM Page 27
MobileStar, and Wayport) deliver the network infras-
tructure to help mobile professionals get connected
quickly and easily via wireless or wired links. Solutions
integrators such as Concourse Communications and
EDS work with service providers and enterprise IT man-
agers to assemble the right mix of Cisco technologies and
services tailored to meet a companys mobile needs.
Application service providers deliver specialized services
and tools that help mobile professionals get their work
done from anywhere. Mimeo, for instance, provides
enterprise document printing solutions that enable mobile
workers to print, bind, and deliver high-quality docu-
ments from any PC application. In addition, enabling
solutions provided by partners such as Global Broadband
Roaming let carriers and service providers deploy secure
broadband connections to multiple locations and users.
Cost-Effective Services, Lucrative Opportunity
Enterprise savings in dialup charges and the seamless
integration of services into an existing network infras-
tructure contribute to the Cisco Internet Mobile Office
solutions ease of use and cost-effectiveness, while Cisco
VPN features enabled by IPsec and other technologies
ensure secure, end-to-end connectivity. The solution
supports converged voice, video, and data applications,
and they can scale as needed.
Cisco is the only company that offers an end-to-
end solution for mobile business professionals that
combines all of the technology and service elements of
the Cisco Internet Mobile Office solution, says Beth
Vanni, director of market development in the
Commercial Line of Business at Cisco. Aside from the
leading technology Cisco provides, weve aggregated
service providers and many different kinds of other
partners together to provide a truly global network of
services for business travelers in areas that until recently
had limited or no network access.
For more information on the Cisco Internet
Mobile Office solution, visit the URL cisco.com/go/
mobileoffice or contact your Cisco representative.
Enterprise
S O L U T I O N S
WORKING TOGETHER
FOR MOBILITY: In
addition to Cisco wired
and wireless products
and technologies, part-
nerships with content,
integration, enabling
technology, and Cisco
Powered Network ser-
vice providers comprise
the Cisco Internet
Mobile Office solution.
CI SCO I NTERNET MOBI L E OFFI CE REFERENCE ARCHI TECTURE
Cisco 7100
Router
Airport
Hotel
Enterprise Network
Cisco
Secure PIX
500 Firewall
Cisco
VPN 3000
Concentrator
T1/T3
T1/T3 T1/T3
Internet
Cisco
Aironet 350
Access
Point
Meeting Rooms
Cisco LRE-48
POTS Splitter
Cisco 575
LRE CPE Cisco Aironet 350 NIC
and VPN 3000
Client Software on Laptops
Cisco
Aironet 350
Bridge
Catalyst
3524 XL
Catalyst
3524-PWR XL
Cisco
BBSM
Cisco
2600
Router
Cisco
2600
Router
Cisco
BBSM
Catalyst
2900 LRE XL
Catalyst
3524 XL
Business
Professionals
Broadband Roaming
Settlement System
Hotel
Rooms
Concourse Fiber Run
PBX
PSTN
Mobile Office, Continued from page 27
04C_Enterprise.txp 4/24/01 06:34 AM Page 29
W
i)n )nv ix)vouuc)iox
of the Cisco WT-2750
Mult ipoint Broadband
Wireless System, service
providers now have a wireless last-mile
alternative that opens the door to thousands
of new customers. The system makes point-
to-multipoint near line-of-sight wireless
networking a reality in areas where other
broadband technologies are unavailable.
Unlike traditional fixed wireless tech-
nologies, the WT-2750 utilizes Ciscos
own award-winning Vector Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiplexing
(VOFDM) technology, widely hailed for
its ability to overcome multipath interfer-
ence. So, for the first time, service providers
have a wireless system that can reach near
line-of-sight environments. With a range
of up to 30 miles, the Cisco WT-2750 is
highly cost effective, because hub equip-
ment can be leveraged to serve numerous
users over a large geographic area. What s
more, the WT-2750 integrates seamlessly
into Ciscos proven service provider and
subscriber router infrastructure, further
lowering costs and simplifying installation
and management.
Clearing the Multipath Hurdle
Traditional broadband fixed wireless tech-
nologies struggled to overcome problems
caused by radio frequency (RF) waves
bouncing off tall objects such as buildings
or low objects such as lakes and pave-
ments. The distance traveled by the orig-
inal signal is shorter than the bounced
signal; the resulting time differential
causes the two signals to be received,
overlapped, and merged into a single dis-
torted signal. The pri-
mary signal plus dupli-
cate or echoed images
caused by signals bounc-
ing off objects is called
multipath, and results in
intersymbol interference
or distortion of the
received signal.
In the past, your only
option was to deploy
fixed wireless in a very
tall place with a line-of-
sight path between the
transmitter and receiver
antennas. This approach
had limited coverage,
says Richard Hsieh,
manager of product mar-
keting in Ciscos Wireless
Access Business Unit.
But now Cisco has engineered the worlds
first near line-of-sight, point-to-multi-
point technology. VOFDM actually turns
the multipath effect into an advantage by
combining the bounced signals into a
stronger, unified transmission.
The VOFDM Advantage
VOFDM adds vector processing of multi-
ple signals to Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for wire-
less communications with the speed and
quality of wireline networks. Adding spa-
tial diversity is a widely accepted interfer-
ence cancellation technique for improving
performance in multipath environments.
Spatial diversity increases a systems toler-
ance to noise and multipath interference in
both upstream and downstream directions
in a point-to-multipoint system.
Last Mile
Multipoint Broadband Wireless
Leading Cisco technology surmounts near line-of-sight limitations.
05A_LastMile.txp 4/24/01 06:28 AM Page 31
l a s t mi l e
The subscriber units in systems that
use VOFDM are always in list ening
mode, and downstream transmission is
continuously being demodulated. The
subscriber unit s t ransmit only when
given a time slot by the base station. This
cont inuous downst ream t ransmission
works effectively in high delay spread and
time- varying environments. The burst
mode upst ream t ransmission enables
robust burst- mode demodulation even
in severe time- varying and delay spread
environments.
VOFDM technology increases the
transmission strength by combining mul-
tiple signals, greatly enhancing overall
wireless system performance, link quality,
and availability.
The Cisco WT-2750 system also uses
media access protocols of the Data Over
Cable Service Interface Specifications
(DOCSIS). Developed in 1998 by Cable
Labs, DOCSIS defines interface stan-
dards for cable modems and supporting
equipment. Cisco strongly believes in
leveraging DOCSIS, notes Hsieh, due to
its proven capability in delivering service
provider-class quality of service (QoS),
securit y, scalabilit y, manageabilit y, and
reliability.
A Wireless Network That Can Scale
The Cisco WT-2750 system gives service
providers a broadband solution that sup-
ports multiple spectrums. In the US,
Canada, and Australia, these spectrums
include 2.5 and 5.7 GHz , which support
such services as Multichannel Multipoint
Dist ribut ion Syst em (MMDS) and
Unlicensed Nat ional Informat ion
Infrast ruct ure (U- NII). MMDS was
originally used for TV broadcast ing.
Operating at a low frequency of 2.5 to
2.69 GHz, it s less susceptible to inter-
ference than other systems. Used in con-
junction with VOFDM, MMDS enables
non line- of- sight transmission of up to
30 miles.
Systems operating in the U-NII bands
do not require a US Federal Communica-
tions Commission (FCC) license. As an
unlicensed band, however, U-NII is more
susceptible to channel interference com-
pared to MMDS, akin to a shared line ver-
sus a dedicated line. U-NII users are limited
in the amount of power that can be emitted
by each network component. Three bands
have been defined in this spectrum: 5.15 to
5.25 GHz, 5.25 to 5.35 GHz (designated
for wireless LAN and other short-range
use), and 5.725 to 5.825 GHz (for wide-
area networking that reaches a greater dis-
tance with higher power). The Cisco
WT-2750 products operate in the third
U-NII band.
The WT-2750 Multipoint Broadband
Wireless System also includes point-to-
point capabilities built into the WT-2710
introduced by Cisco in November 2000.
Service providers can use the point-to-
point capability within the WT-2750 to
interconnect all of the headends of their
wireless networks to the point of presence
without relying on a carrier,explains Hsieh.
Providers can choose an optimal location
for their headend instead of having to put it
only where an incumbent local-exchange
carrier has a leased-line installation.
Leveraging Industry-Leading Platforms
The WT-2750 also lets service providers
use proven Cisco infrastructure. The head-
ends or hubs utilize a Cisco uBR7200
series universal broadband router with a
MUL TI PATH RECEPTI ON
Base Station
Subscriber
Cisco 2600 or 3600 Series
Router with
Cisco Network Module
Cisco uBR7200 Series
Universal Broadband Router with
Cisco Wireless Line Card
Service Provider Headend Subscriber Access Point
Signal Paths
FOLLOW THE
BOUNCING PATH:
In a multipath situation,
the receiver hears the
primary signal sent
directly from the trans-
mission facility, but also
sees secondary signals
that are bounced off
nearby objects. Using
Ciscos award-winning
VOFDM technology,
a broadband wireless
system can combat
extreme multipath
issues in near line-of-
sight environments.
l a s t mi l e
multipoint line card that delivers up to 22
Mbps downstream and 18 Mbps upstream
bandwidth per 6-MHz channel pair, each
supporting up to 1024 simultaneous users.
The Cisco uBR7200 series platform
presently garners 75 percent market share in
cable modem termination system (CMTS)
deployment worldwide.
Also necessary for deployment on the
hub end is an outdoor, point-to-multipoint
transceiver, which converts intermediate
frequency (IF) to RF for transmitting or
receiving voice or data with less chance of
signal loss.
At the users site, an antenna sends and
receives communications from a rooftop or
other external location. A cable connection
to the wiring closet links a Cisco 2600 or
3600 series router equipped with a multi-
point subscriber network module that also
delivers up to 22 Mbps downstream and 18
Mbps upstream bandwidth per 6-MHz
channel pair. Each user site also includes an
antenna; a power injector that combines an
IF and external, 24-volt DC source for
connection to the antenna; cables; and a
lightening protector at the point of entry
into the building.
We believe that the Cisco WT-2750 is
the inflection point for service providers
around the world to build wireless net-
works cost effectively, says Hsieh. It s a
great product for business customers as
well as residential users because of its
ability to provide guaranteed service levels.
With the increased coverage availability
and multipath problems resolved, service
providers can leverage the same installa-
tion for up to four times the market reach
compared to traditional line-of-sight-only
technology, adds Hsieh.
x x x
The Cisco WT- 2750 Multipoint
Broadband Wireless System is a giant step
forward in last-mile technology, allowing
service providers access to customers pre-
viously beyond the reach of other broad-
band technologies.
For more information on the WT-2750
and other Cisco broadband wireless
products, visit the URL cisco.com/ go/
wireless.
ADVANCING MULTIPOINT: The new Cisco WT-2750 Multipoint Broadband Wireless System includes a sub-
scriber network module, headend line card and transverter, power feed panel, and a multipoint duplexer.
Broadband Wireless Internet Forum
and Next-Generation Standards
Cisco is a founding member of the Broadband Wireless Internet Forum
(BWIF), the principal organization for creating and developing next-genera-
tion fixed wireless standards. Along with 50 industry-leading companies
worldwide and sponsorship from the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology
Organization (IEEE-ISTO), BWIF supports the development, promotion, and
compliance of open broadband fixed wireless specifications based on VOFDM
and DOCSIS.
Through active participation in the BWIF, Cisco is committed to establishing
product roadmaps that lower costs, simplify deployment of advanced
services, and ensure the availability of interoperable fixed wireless solutions.
For more information on the BWIF, visit the URL bwif.org.
VOFDM technology, a Cisco innovation, employs a processing technique that
combines frequency and spatial diversity for multipath fading and narrow-
band interference. It delivers higher spectral efficiency than existing solu-
tions such as Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), even in obstructed
paths or interference limited cells. VOFDM technology increases transmission
signal strength by combining multiple signals at the receiving endboost-
ing overall wireless system performance, link quality, and availability.
For more on VOFDM technology and multipath interference, see the white
paper, Overcoming Multipath in Non-Line of-Sight, High-Speed Microwave
Communication Links at the URL cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/witc/
wt2700/mulpt_wp.htm.
For more on Cable Labs DOCSIS, visit the URL cablemodem.com.
D
A
V
I
D

T
I
L
L
I
N
G
H
A
S
T
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
S
oxv) sun )vcnxoiocy n~s nvvx ~x
effective transport vehicle for voice traffic for
many years. But as data has overwhelmed
metro-area networks, the fixed, dialup circuits of
the SONET/SDH infrastructure have proven to be
inefficient. Service providers face a quandary: the
demand for legacy time-division multiplexing (TDM)
services such as DS1 and DS3 lines that SONET/SDH
served so well is not diminishing. According to JP
Morgan, the market for leased lines (DSO, DS1 and
OC-3) was worth US$30 billion in 2000 and will grow
to US$45 billion in 2004 before leveling off.
Yet service providers must now also support the
higher broadband optical speeds of OC-3/STM-1,
OC-12/STM-3, and OC-48/STM-16 and up while
also accommodating the rapidly growing Fast Ethernet
and Gigabit Ethernet that have quickly become popu-
lar on business and corporate LANs.
Service providers from greenfields to incumbent
local-exchange carriers (ILECs) are opting for a next-
generation solution, the Cisco ONS 15454, that sup-
ports TDM traffic while also providing support for
todays emerging technologies.
The metro market needs an optical transport
platform that will allow service providers to evolve
their TDM architectures to new world IP,says Chris
Vallee, product manager in the Cisco Optical
Transport Business Unit, and the ONS 15454 does
SONET Supercharged
Ciscos Metro Optical Transport Platform Provides Seamless Path
from TDM to New World IP.
07A_SPS.txp 4/24/01 07:00 AM Page 35
that. It not only supercharges SONET transport by
supporting any SONET bit rate in a single chassis, but
it also supports integrated DWDM [dense wave-
length-division multiplexing] and ITU Grid wave-
lengths as backbone options, and multiple service
interfaces on demand. These dramatic new capabilities
enable the ONS 15454 to reduce expensive collocation
and provisioning costs, while also delivering the levels
of bandwidth that analysts predict metro rings will
need in the coming years.
Optical Inroads
The Cisco ONS 15454 has fast become one of
Ciscos most popular platforms. To date, Cisco
shipped more than 25,000 ONS 15454s to over 500
customers and, in the process, surpassed Nortel as the
leader in the key OC-48 SONET transport market
by the end of 2000, according to a January 2001 RHK
report. Even greater market share is expected as the
ONS 15454 enables both greenfields and estab-
lished providers to transform the economics of their
operations.
In metro rings throughout the US East Coast,
LightWave Communications, Inc., a facilities-based
provider of broadband metropolitan access and long
distance services, has configured Gigabit Ethernet
interfaces, T1 and T3 interfaces, and DWDMall
on a single ONS 15454 platform. This is unprece-
dented in an industry where legacy SONET boxes
can only support one service type or one speed. With
the ONS 15454, a service provider can bring an
aggregated DS1, DS3, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit
Ethernet onto a SONET, ITU Grid Wavelength, or
DWDM backbone. No legacy SONET or metro
DWDM-only box can match this level of integration.
Because of the integrated capabilities of the ONS
15454 and its rapid provisioning capabilities,
LightWave has been able to offer services to its cus-
tomers at rates 30 percent less than competitors,
according to Mark Ricigliano, founder and chief
executive officer of LightWave.
Integrated Platform
The ONS 15454 has a unique hybrid backplane
architecture that consists of meshed SONET/SDH
and data planes. The SONET/SDH plane includes a
TDM cross connect that switches Virtual Tributaries
(VT) 1.5 into Synchronous Transport Signals (STS1s)
where they are converted into OCn optical signals.
The separate data plane performs packet and cell
switching and statistical multiplexing to move packet
traffic onto the SONET/SDH infrastructure.
With its innovative architecture, the ONS 15454
brings all the functionality of multiple SONET/SDH
multiplexers, optical networking, and switching net-
work elements together in one platform. It supports
OC-3/STM-1 to OC-192/STM-64 optical band-
width and optical services, all of which are deployed on
demand by exchanging a single card, eliminating the
need to lay new fiber to add capacity.
It also integrates DWDM. LightWave has config-
ured its metro rings with eight protected 2.5-Gbps
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
The Cisco ONS 15327: Pushing Supercharged
Optical Transport to the Metro Edge
While the ONS 15454 is ideal for medium- to high-circuit density in collocation facilities, Cisco has
recently introduced the ONS 15327 that brings supercharged SONET, integrated optical networking,
and on-demand multiservice aggregation capabilities directly to the metro edge, in a form factor of
only three rack units. Customers and businesses can now install a Cisco ONS 15327 on their premis-
es, allowing them to plug their Ethernet LANs directly into a metro-area network.
Because the ONS 15327 supports native Ethernet interfaces, businesses gain very high-speed
connectivity from their premises directly into the metro-area network.
Like the ONS 15454, the ONS 15327 also provides multiservice flexibility through its support of TDM,
optical, and Ethernet interfaces. It efficiently aggregates data, voice, and video services for super-
charged transport. Standard installation and service turn-up can be accomplished in as little as 20
minutes. With its extremely compact footprint, scalability to OC-48 and beyond, and low total cost of
ownership, the ONS 15327 delivers unprecedented profitability at the metro optical edge.
07A_SPS.txp 4/24/01 07:00 AM Page 36
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
(OC-48) wavelengths for a total aggregate bandwidth
of 20 Gbps.
While competing pure- DWDM boxes may
deliver more scalable bandwidth than the ONS
15454, they cannot match its breadth of service
from DS1 to DS3, OC-3, OC-12, OC-48, and
OC-192, as well as Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit
Ethernet, ATM, and video. Service providers require
this multiservice flexibility.
Service Velocity
Among the ONS 15454s most dramatic advancements
over legacy SONET/SDH platforms is its powerful
bandwidth management and rapid provisioning tools
that allow service providers to achieve remarkable
service velocitya rapid speed-to-service turn-up
that drastically reduces time-to-revenue for providers.
In a traditional SONET/ SDH network, config-
uring circuits entails a long, expensive, and hardware-
intensive physical process. In contrast, the ONS
15454 uses Cisco Transport Controller (CTC) to
provide integrated control over all ONS 15454s in a
ring. Each time an ONS 15454 is added to a net-
work, topology information is exchanged, and all
nodes become aware of the new node. These show up
on a graphical display on CTC. A simple, yet pow-
erful circuit-provisioning wizard in the point-and-
click graphical user interface (GUI) allows a
technician to then build end-to-end circuits in a mat-
ter of secondsa significant improvement over the
two to three weeks typically required with legacy
SONET/ SDH boxes.
Complementing CTC is Cisco Transport Manager
(CTM), a comprehensive element management solu-
tion that integrates fault-, configuration-, and perfor-
mance-management capabilities. CTM streamlines
and strengthens optical network operation, adminis-
tration, maintenance, and provisioning for Ciscos
ONS 15000 series metro optical platforms, allowing
service providers to effectively manage network growth
and rapidly configure revenue-generating services to
meet customersnetwork requirements.
The rapid provisioning of the ONS 15454 delivers
unprecedented profitability.A Cisco study was con-
ducted that compared the monthly operational costs of
5000 Cisco ONS 15454s versus 5000 traditional
ADMs. It found that circuit provisioning with the
ONS 15454 delivered the most dramatic savings. The
total cost to provision 10 circuits a month for each of
5000 ONS 15454s was US$500,000, while the cost to
provision the same number of circuits for 5000 tradi-
tional ADMs was US$4 million. The analysis was
based on the assumption that it requires a technician
one-tenth of an houror six minutesto provision a
circuit on the ONS 15454, while a traditional ADM
requires eight-tenths of an houror 48 minutes.
x x x
The ONS 15454and now the ONS 15327are
blazing a new path through the metro area. Without
requiring an upgrade of the transport infrastructure
or implementation of new technology, these products
are helping to transform the economics and service
delivery of service provider metro-area networks.
SEAMLESS PATH: The
Cisco ONS 15454 and
the ONS 15327 integrate
multiple services on a
high-speed SONET/SDH
backbone and evolve
the backbone to higher-
capacity forms of
optical transport.
SUPERCHARGED METRO OPTI CAL TRANSPORT
Core Edge
DWDM
IOF Network
OC-48/192
OC-12/48
OC-12/48
ONS 15454
Cisco
ONS 15454
Cisco
ONS 15454
Cisco
ONS 15454
Cisco
ONS 15327
Cisco
ONS 15327
Channel Bank
PBX
Router
To learn more about the technologies and
products mentioned in this article, visit Packet
Online at cisco.com/go/packet/supercharged.
s Cisco metro optical transport platforms
s Cisco IP+Optical solutions
s Cisco ONS 15327
s Cisco ONS 15454
FURTHER READI NG
07A_SPS.txp 4/24/01 07:00 AM Page 37
T
nv vi sv i x vnusi xvss ~vviic~)ioxs
requires service providers to offer both
increased bandwidth and enhanced network
services. Enterprise customers demand service-
level guarantees for business-critical processes such as
workforce optimization, supply chain management, e-
learning, e-commerce, and customer care. A service
providers ability to deliver differentiated services is just
as important as its capability to meet the demand for
bandwidth.
Many service providers are turning to optical net-
working technology to speed the creation and delivery
of services while delivering tiered pricing structures.
Not only does this equipment scale to support high data
transport rates, it pushes customer traffic aggregation
closer to the edge of the network, simplifying the
infrastructure and reducing the cost and complexity of
long-haul transport.
Successful service providers will be characterized
by delivery of a broad portfolio of unique services
over a common optical infrastructure, explains
Glenn Graham, product manager for the Cisco 7600
Optical Services Router (OSR). The ability to
deliver high-performance, complex services at the
edge of the network is what will enable breakaway
market leadership and differentiation for sustainable
competitive advantages.
Answering the Challenge
Ciscos new 7600 OSR provides the technology service
providers need to differentiate themselves not only by the
types of value-added services they offer, but also by the
routing performance their services can achieve. The
underlying infrastructure, employing the Cisco Supervisor
2 Multilayer Switching Feature Card (MSFC2), Policy
Feature Card (PFC2) and 256-Gbps crossbar switch fab-
ric, brings new and enhanced capabilities to the customer.
Services such as high-performance, hierarchical traffic
shaping, link sharing, and Destination Sensitive Services
are now possible on interfaces up to OC-48with no per-
formance degradation.
As a metropolitan-area network (MAN) and WAN
IP router, the Cisco 7600 OSR was designed to meet
the volume, capacity, and complexities of supporting
differentiated IP traffic. This design enables network
administrators to manage priorities, authorization and
access privileges, while simultaneously supporting
high-performance routing and network services. With
the Cisco 7600 OSR, services can be managed using
advanced policy systems for managing, shaping, polic-
ing and prioritizing trafficall while guaranteeing
bandwidth and service levels.
A prioritizedservice with guaranteed service lev-
els might be offered to business customers, enabling
service providers to charge a premium for business-
critical data,Graham explains. Residential users, by
contrast, might be content with best-effort service,
depending on their specific needs.
Maximizing Availability and Throughput
To achieve high performance, the Cisco 7600 OSR
employs Ciscos patented Parallel Express Forwarding
(PXF) technology, a packet-processing mechanism
based on software-programmable processors. The PXF
processors are dedicated to carrying out specific tasks
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
Service at the Speed of Light
Cisco 7600 Optical Services Router delivers edge services and
performance without compromise.
07B_SPS.txxp 4/24/01 06:58 AM Page 39
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
(services processing) at the edge of the network and
to scaling processing performance.
The PXF processors do the job of managing,
shaping, policing and prioritizing traffic at the net-
work edge, resulting, for example, in the ability to
deliver accelerated service performance with these ser-
vices enabled, Graham explains.
To meet changing software service requirements,
the programmable PXF IP processors support new
software services as they are developed. Through a
simple software download, new services can be eas-
ily added, or existing services can be enhanced. This
approach simplifies upgrades while extending the life
of the device, alleviating the need to replace router
hardware or upgrade ASICs.
To ensure high availability, the Cisco 7600 OSR
includes hardware redundancy features such as redun-
dant processors, switch fabrics, power supplies, cooling
systems, and clock circuitry.
To maximize throughput, the PXF IP technology
supports new key applications, including Ciscos
Versatile Traffic Management System (VTMS) and
Destination Sensitive Services.
Increasing Control
VTMS offers a detailed level of control over indi-
vidual traffic flows to provide efficient traffic shaping
and fair-link sharing via advanced queuing mecha-
nisms. It can be used to provide input and output
Positioning at the Edge
As the entry and exit point of the network, the edge is where the action is. This is where service
providers can utilize advanced devices such as the Cisco 7600 OSR. But how does the Cisco 7600
OSR differ from other edge devices in the Cisco line?
Here are a few basic guidelines for deploying these products.
The Cisco 7600 OSR is a good choice for critical locations in the network where a high-speed, high-
resilience platform is required to support differentiated services. For example, it is ideal for services
aggregation within a MAN. It is also a good choice as a consolidated point-of-presence at a corpo-
rate hub or peering point, where the platform provides the ability to aggregate links, aggregate
content, and provide high-speed core uplinks from a single device.
The Cisco 10000 Edge Services Router (ESR) is a high-performance edge router for Internet service
providers who require advanced IP services such as quality of service (QoS), and virtual private
networks (VPNs) applied over a very large customer base. It is specifically engineered for high-den-
sity situations, with support for thousands of T1 ports per chassis.
The Cisco 12000 series Internet Router is Ciscos premier high-end routing platform for building IP-
optimized backbones, and providing edge and aggregation functionality for service providers
building high-speed IP+Optical networks. The Cisco 12000 delivers Layer 3 routing at multigigabit
speeds and is optimized for performing routing and packet-forwarding functions to transport
IP datagrams across a network at very high performance. The Cisco 12000 provides high density
OC-48c/STM-16c connectivity, in addition to OC-192c/STM-64c capability with the newly
announced Cisco 12410 and Cisco 12416 chassis (see 10G: Its Here, page 42).
DESTI NATI ON- SENSI TI VE BI L L I NG
Trans-
Atlantic
Public
Peer
Private
Peer
On Net
Transport
Service
Provider
POP
Data Export to
Billing Application
US $3 per MB
US $7 per MB US $5 per MB
US $1 per MB
Cisco
7600 OSR
OC-48 Trunk
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER:
Destination Sensitive
Services in the Cisco
7600 OSR enable
service providers to
offer varying classes
of service at different
rates for different
customers.
07B_SPS.txxp 4/24/01 06:58 AM Page 40
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
traffic shaping, enabling providers to offer different
levels of bandwidth to different customers.
Using VTMS, a provider can dedicate both
maximum and minimum bandwidth to each cus-
tomer on a single link that serves thousands of cus-
tomers simultaneously, Graham says. This lets
providers create strict priority queuing for different
types of traffic.
To support a metropolitan-area network, for exam-
ple, a service provider could provide sub-rate services by
dividing a 1-GB pipe among several different cus-
tomers, then charge different prices for different rates.
If users exceed these rates, the provider could charge a
premium for going above the agreed upon volume.
Because these capabilities are quickly achieved with
software, service providers attain a great deal of flexi-
bility and control over traffic allocation.
Destination Sensitive Services
Destination Sensitive Services are used for differen-
tiated billing parameters, enabling service providers
to account for and apply different services to traffic
that is destined for different locations (see figure). For
example, Destination Sensitive Services could help a
service provider determine how to charge for traffic
that is forwarded to another provider via a peering
arrangement. This capability keeps the provider
apprised of where traffic is going, where it came from,
and how to bill for it based on its path as well as on
its volume.
Meeting Customer Demands
In the past, service providers had to make a tradeoff
between throughput, capacity, and services. Since
many services are processor-intensive, they can
adversely affect the performance of individual devices
within the network and thus the network as a whole,
lowering expected operating margins and creating
inconsistent network characteristics. Service providers
have been unable to deploy all the required services
without severely impacting network performance. The
Cisco 7600 OSR enables providers to finally break
through this barrier to provide consistent perfor-
mance regardless of the number and type of network
services enabled.
For more information on the Cisco 7600 OSR,
visit the URL:
cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/rt/7600osr/
For more information on the Cisco 10000 Edge
Services Router, visit the URL:
cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/rt/10000/
FURTHER READI NG
The Cisco Product Catalog
In-depth information on the latest Cisco products and technologies
Product Overviews and Features and Benefits
Comprehensive technical, physical, and environmental specifications
Breakdown of part descriptions and part numbers by product
The online catalog is updated constantly
Printed and CD-ROM available
Order your copy through Cisco Marketplace at:
www.cisco.com/go/market place
The Cisco Product Cat alog is available on line 24/7 at :
www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/t d/doc/pcat
07B_SPS.txxp 4/24/01 06:58 AM Page 41
R
ou)vv ~vcni )vc)uvvs ~xu )nv
speed of the interfaces they support must
evolve quickly to accommodate burgeoning
volumes of Web traffic. Expected to account
for more than 90 percent of all network traffic by next
yearincluding traditional phone serviceaccording
to researchers, IP loads are threatening to soon strain
the current Internet infrastructure.
Meanwhile, service providers are responding to a
fiercely competitive market by trying to increase or
maintain profits with innovative services that yield
higher revenues than flat-rate, best-effort Internet
access. But they must do so while also controlling and
reducing costs to improve profitability.
Very large Internet service providers are finding
that their current router infrastructures that support
2.5-Gbps speeds per interface are starting to max out,
observes Rob Redford, senior director in Ciscos
Internet POP Systems Business Unit.
But when upgrading their networks, service
providers must do so in scalable, efficient ways that
keep equipment and operations costs to a minimum as
they build new, revenue-generating services that will
accelerate the evolution of the Internet. What s needed
in IP backbone routers, then, to keep pace with these
traffic, service, and scalability demands? Redford cites
the following:
s
The ability to harness the generous network capac-
ity of the latest fiber-optic transport technologies
with integrated, intelligent IP routing features, ser-
vices, and associated management
s
The ability to scale networks quickly and cost-effec-
tively with minimal impact on network operations as
customer bases and traffic volumes grow
s
Tools for minimizing latency, jitter, and packet
loss, thus enabling the successful support of delay-
sensitive applications such as voice over IP (VoIP)
and real-time video, as well as sophisticated pri-
ority queuing for ensuring class-of-service (CoS)
guarantees
Enter the recently launched Cisco 12410 and 12416
Internet routers. These systems build on the unique dis-
tributed, nonblocking switch-fabric design of the Cisco
12000 series to deliver more than twice the capacity of
platforms available in the marketplace today. Thus they
contribute to a large improvement in point-of-presence
(POP) scalability. The series supports 10-Gbps optical
line cards that can run in one of two new chassisone
with 10 slots and the other with 16enabling total sys-
tem capacity of 200 and 320 Gbps, respectively.
Upgrading an existing 12016 chassis to a 12416 is
a simple matter, according to Bala Nagesh, product
manager for the new routers. Basically, you just take
out the 12016 switch fabric and put in a new one. It
only takes about five minutes to upgrade from 80-Gbps
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
10G: Its Here
New members of the Cisco 12000 series Internet router family
quadruple system capacity and boost system scalability.
Upgrading an existing 12016

to a 12416 is a simple matter.
It only takes about five minutes
to upgrade from 80-Gbps
capacity to 320 Gbps.
BALA NAGESH, CI SCO 12400 PRODUCT MANAGER

10G ON BOARD:
New 10G line cards
contribute to system
scalability by enabling
higher-speed connec-
tions in a single
router slot.
07E_SPS.txp 4/24/01 06:54 AM Page 42
capacity [in the 12016] to 320 Gbps,Nagesh says.
10G Line Cards
The new 10-Gbps interfaces can be configured to
interconnect 12410 and 12416 equipment to form an
IP routing backbone. They can also connect the
routers to dense wavelength-division multiplexing
(DWDM) equipment such as the Cisco ONS 15800
(see The Capacity vs. Cost Conundrum,page 67) for
long-haul POP-to-POP transport of IP traffic across
the optical core network. The new systems support
wire-speed system throughput, even in fully loaded
chassis configurations.
Ciscos two new 10-Gbps packet-over-SONET
(POS) line cards offer a choice of configuration.
Service providers that want to interconnect their IP
routers within POPs or between POPs can install an
OC-192c/STM-64c line card with a single 10-Gbps
connection and thus maximize the amount of capac-
ity available in a single router slot. Alternatively, they
can use a 10-Gbps line card with four OC-48c/STM-16c
(2.5-Gbps) connections to connect multiple routers
and sites at the lower speeds. In addition, the four-
port configuration can also be used to terminate
dedicated OC-48c/STM-16c connections from very
large customers such as large e-commerce sites or ISP
aggregators.
Among POPs, it is more efficient and scalable to
run a single OC-192c/ STM-64c card than to have
multiple OC-48c/ STM-16c interfaces in multiple
slots, advises Matt Kennedy, product manager for
the 12410 and 12416 Internet router line cards. The
reason, he says, is that packing more bandwidth into
a single connection frees more slots to be used for
other functions. One of the scalability issues for ser-
vice providers, Kennedy explains, is that as addi-
tional high-speed connections must be made among
routers within a POP, service providers are finding
themselves using up nearly all their slots just for
internal connectivity.
The new line cards include multiple enhanced
ASICs that provide IP and Multiprotocol Label
Switching (MPLS) forwarding at 25 million packets per
second (pps), which is wire-speed for 40-byte packets.
This configuration delivers 25 percent greater per-
formance per slot than competitive solutions, says
Redford. With support for 15 10-Gbps line cards in a
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
NEW FAMILY MEMBERS:
The Cisco 12410 and
12416 join the Cisco
12000 series, delivering
10-Gbps optical inter-
faces and up to 320-
Gbps system capacity.
07E_SPS.txp 4/24/01 06:54 AM Page 43
12416 system (the sixteenth slot is required to house the
systems route processor) total system throughput is
375 million ppswell over twice as fast as products
from the nearest competitor, he notes.
In addition, all Layer 3 capabilities such as IP uni-
cast and multicast forwarding, MPLS switching and
traffic engineering, IP load balancing, quality of service
(QoS), and statistics gathering are performed in custom
ASICs, which means that there is no degradation in
performance as features are added. In addition, each
line card has its own dedicated packet forwarding and
memory, allowing a fully loaded system to operate at
wire speed.
New Router Models
The Cisco 12410 and 12416 Internet routers are based
on the same distributed architecture, IP data services,
and level of redundancy as the 12000 series Internet
routers. The new chassis also support all of the existing
12000 series line cards for investment protection, notes
Nagesh. A single 16-slot Cisco 12416 or two 10-slot
Cisco 12410 Internet routers can fit in a standard 7-
foot, 19-inch rack.
The minimum Cisco IOS
software version required

by the Cisco 12416 Internet router is Cisco IOS
Release 12.0(15)S. The Cisco 12410 requires Cisco
IOS Release 12.0(16)S.
Advantages of Distributed Architectures
The Cisco 12410 and the 12416 (like all Cisco
12000 series Internet routers) were designed with
physically distributed system architectures, meaning
that the packet-forwarding function is distributed on
each of a routers line cards. Distributed architectures
are necessary to ensure application performance as
systems scale to larger sizes to accommodate
increased traffic loads.
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
KEEP IT MOVING!
Using a combination of
a crossbar switch fabric,
virtual output queues
on each line card, and
a central intelligent
scheduler, the distribut-
ed router architecture
in the Cisco 12000 series
eliminates data blocking
and provides high scala-
bility and line-rate
performance, even in
a fully loaded system.
DI STRI BUTED CROSSBAR SWI TCH FABRI C
Line Card 1 Ingress Line Card 1 Egress
Line Card 2 Egress
Line Card 15 Egress
VOQ 1
VOQ 2
Receive
Memory
Forwarding
Engine
Transmit
Memory
Transmit
Memory
Transmit
Memory
Capacity for up to 15 line
cards, assuming a single route-
processor configuration. Each
line card supports speeds to
10 Gbps (OC-192c/STM-64c)and
throughput to 25 million pps.
When packets destined for the same output
interface arrive on multiple input interfaces at
the same time, they are placed in virtual output
queues (VOQs). The intelligent scheduler
determines the order in which packets should be
sent to maximize throughput.
Cisco 12000
Series
Nonblocking
Crossbar
Switch
Fabric
with
Intelligent
Scheduler
Packets arriving on any line card can be forwarded
to any other line card at wire speed.
Line Card 2 Ingress
VOQ 1
VOQ 2
Receive
Memory
Forwarding
Engine
Line Card 15 Ingress
VOQ 1
VOQ 2
Receive
Memory
Forwarding
Engine
Route Processor
10G, Continued from page 43
07E_SPS.txp 4/24/01 06:54 AM Page 45
Distributed designs place separate packet-forward-
ing engines, memory buffers, and priority queues on
individual modular line cards, which provide several
benefits for service providers:
s
The ability to quickly scale their networks
s
Investment protection in existing chassis and line
cards
s
Increased system reliability, because there are no sin-
gle points of failure
s
The ability to groom traffic using distributed QoS so
that they can confidently offer IP service-level agree-
ments (SLAs)
Distributed systems support more functionality with-
out a corresponding drain on central processing
resources by having multiple subsystems operating in
parallel. Conversely, in alternative router designs where
the packet-forwarding function shares centralized pro-
cessing resources, network performance will eventually
suffer as traffic volumes increase. This is because big-
ger processing loads caused by new service deployment
and more user traffic must contend for a single, finite
pool of resources.
Switch fabrics. A switch fabric used in a distributed
architecture such as that of the Cisco 12000 series is a
mechanism for allowing each line card (with its own for-
warding engine) to transmit data to any other line card
as needed. The line cards in this architecture have both
a receive and a transmit packet memory, in addition to
connections to and from the switch fabric.
There are many different kinds of switch-fabric
architectures. The Cisco 12000 series Internet
routers, including the 12410 and 12416, are con-
structed using a high-performance, nonblocking
crossbar design. To eliminate IP traffic jams, they
also make use of virtual output queues (VOQs) and an
intelligent scheduler, which together eliminate head-
of- line (HOL) blocking. HOL blocking occurs when
a packet en route to a transmit interface that has
available capacity is kept waiting behind another
packet destined for a different interface that does not
have available capacity. HOL blocking causes system
inefficiency and loss of throughput on router archi-
tectures that cannot eliminate it, such as certain cen-
tralized router memory designs.
VO Q s and intelligent scheduler. To eliminate
HOL blocking, the Cisco 12000 series routers divide
the traffic in each line cards receive memory into mul-
tiple VOQs and use a corresponding intelligent fabric
scheduler. The way to configure such a system is to
build a VOQ associated with each destination line card.
As each packet is written into the receive memory, it is
then automatically placed into the VOQ associated
with its destination line card.
Meanwhile, a request is sent to the central scheduler
to indicate that this line card now has data that needs
to be sent to a particular destination line card. The
scheduler can then make intelligent decisions as to
which line cards should send packets to which other
line cards and when, maximizing the total throughput
achieved within the router (see figure).
To ensure performance of real-time applications
such as VoIP while providing differentiated service
classes, the Cisco 12000 series routers support an
algorithm called Modified Deficit Round Robin
(MDRR). This QoS capability is implemented at wire
speeds in hardware and includes dedicated, low-
latency queues for delay-sensitive traffic to enable
high-margin, premium IP services to run at optimum
performance levels.
x x x
High-end router architectures best suited for car-
rying Internet-scale traffic loads physically distribute
the processing and buffering memory associated
with the routers packet-forwarding function across
each line card in a system. In addition, the use of
crossbar switch fabrics that support buffers and
sophisticated queuing on each line card and central
scheduling capabilities further enhance the efficiency
of large-scale distributed systems by eliminating
HOL blocking.
The new members of the Cisco 12000 series
Internet router family, the 12410 and the 12416, sup-
port these characteristics while delivering twice the
capacity of 10-Gbps capable platforms available in the
market today, contributing to a large improvement in
network scalability.
ServiceProvider
S O L U T I O N S
For more information on the Cisco 12000
series, visit the URL cisco.com/go/12000.
To visit the Cisco IP+Optical home page,
go to cisco.com/go/ip+optical.
FURTHER READI NG
10G, Continued from page 45
07E_SPS.txp 4/24/01 06:54 AM Page 47
R
O
B
E
R
T

P
O
L
I
D
O
R
I
;

T
O
P

R
I
G
H
T
:

C
A
L

R
I
C
E
W
nv)nvv i )s ~ wi vvivss vc
mounted on forklifts or IP video
camera looking down on the ware-
house floor, Illinois-based Corrugated
Supplies Corporation (CSC) weaves technology inno-
vatively throughout its operation. In an industry
dominated by much larger rivals, CSC works hard to
stay competitiveleveraging wireless, IP telephony,
and other technologies to drive sales, redefine cus-
tomer service, improve product flow, and boost over-
all efficiency.
No Stranger to Innovation
In 1962, the father of CSC founder Richard VanHorne
III developed the concept of the sheet feeder. Until
that time, companies specializing in printing, cutting,
or folding corrugated sheets into packaging and con-
sumer displays had to buy raw materials from their own
competitors, the bigger integrated paper companies.
VanHorne realized that there was a market opportunity
for a niche manufacturer that functioned solely as a
supplier. It was this idea that breathed life into CSC
Small
AND
Midsized
B U S I N E S S E S
Putting Dreams on Paper
Corrugated paper sheet manufacturer uses the latest network
technologies to drive sales, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
06A_SMB.txp 4/24/01 07:03 AM Page 49
and embodies the company motto of being your sup-
plier, not your competitor.
Today, the 110-employee company makes corru-
gated sheets from bulk rolls of paper and passes them
on to packaging and display manufacturers for finish-
ing. Over the past 39 years, CSC has worked hard to
grow its market. To stave off the threat of its product
line becoming a commodity, the company infused new
value into its business proposition. CSC adopted
unique fiber substrates and a wide variety of colors
instead of the traditional brown. But product was only
one element of CSCs strategy. For CSC to succeed, it
had to fulfill customers desire for increasingly fast
turnaround and world-class customer service.
Early Adopter to Industry Leader
As early as ten years ago, CSC began providing its cus-
tomers with computers and modems so they could
place orders directly into CSCs system. Even then,
CSC knew that its success hinged on the ability to inte-
grate its customersbusiness with its own. As technol-
ogy advanced and the Internet developed, CSC began
to envision an information system that would one day
fully integrate production and manufacturing pro-
cesses between supplier and manufacturera system
that would not only save time and money but would
create and nurture an ongoing relationship between
CSC and its customers.
We realize that the more information we can get to
our customers, the more we empower them,says John
Potocsnak, chief operating officer at CSC. Were
truly a business-to-business operation. It s imperative
that we provide customers with the links they need to
keep their plants rolling.
Today, CSCs vision is a reality. Customers use the
companys extranet site abundantlyhelping CSC
keep costs low and allowing the company to spend
investment dollars where theyre needed most. In fact,
CSC has been so successful leveraging technology to
Small
A N D
Midsized
B U S I N E S S E S
CORRUGATED SUPPL I ES WI REL ESS AND I P TEL EPHONY NETWORK
Wireless
Workstation
Wireless
Workstation
Wireless
Workstations
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
IP
Telephone
Cisco
Aironet
4800
Cisco
Aironet
4800
Cisco
Aironet
4800
Office
Workstations
Workstation Workstation
Workstation
Workstation
Workstation
Workstations
Workstations
Workstations
Wireless
PCs
Cisco
Aironet
4800
Cisco
Aironet
BR500
Cisco
Aironet
BR500
Cisco
Aironet
BR500
Cisco
Aironet
BR500
Cisco
Aironet
4800
Cisco
Aironet
4800
Wireless Factory
Workstations
Factory
Workstations
Wireless
Workstation
Catalyst
3512
Catalyst
3512
Catalyst
3524
Catalyst
3548
Catalyst
3548
Catalyst
2948G-L3
Catalyst
3508G
Catalyst
3524
Catalyst
3524
Catalyst
3524
Catalyst
3524
Catalyst
3508G
22 Mbps
Aggregate
Bandwidth
CallManager
Servers
Internet
Firewall Cisco 2620
Router
Load Balance at Layer 3
Local
Servers
Data
Center
Servers
Corrugated Supplies Manufacturing Building Corrugated Wireless Warehouse
Catalyst
2948G-L3
WIRELESS WORKFLOW:
Four Cisco Aironet
BR500 wireless bridges
configured in two virtu-
al LANs (VLANs) provide
a high-bandwidth con-
nection between CSCs
manufacturing building
and wireless-based
warehouse.
Corrugated Supplies, Continued from page 49
06A_SMB.txp 4/24/01 07:03 AM Page 51
C
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E
Small
A N D
Midsized
B U S I N E S S E S
forge customer relationships, InfoWorld magazine
named CSC among the top ten business innovators in
1999. And in June 2000, Inc. magazine and Cisco
selected CSC as the grand winner in the customer ser-
vice category at the jointly sponsored Growing With
Technologyawards program.
Making It Happen
In an environment where customers are continually
shortening lead times and increasing the demands on
their suppliers, CSC is using technology to help dif-
ferentiate itself from competitors. We want to give our
customers the tools they need, says David Pung,
director of information systems at CSC. But offering
such tools required CSCs network to be exceptionally
robust and reliable. To meet that goal, CSC had to
establish absolute control over its inventory as it moved
through the manufacturing process.
The first step for the company was to build an
intranet-based enterprise resource planning (ERP)
system. To ensure a constant flow of information, CSC
built its network on a Gigabit Ethernet backbone sup-
ported by Catalyst
switches and Cisco Aironet
equip-
ment (see figure).
The CSC network also supports an IP telephony
system and IP video-powered cameras. Cisco AVVID
(Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data)
technology allows converged traffic to travel across the
same network and will eventually give customer service
representatives the ability to identify callers and view their
account information even before picking up the telephone.
This is a dedicated AVVID shop,notes Cal Rice, net-
work system manager at CSC. Cisco AVVID technology
also gives CSC the flexibility to provide program assurance
and data load management over its network.
Customer Benefits
After internal control over the manufacturing process
was firmly established, CSC began introducing its cus-
tomers into the process. Because each order of corrugated
sheets is unique, CSC created a custom ordering tool to
receive orders on its extranet Web site CSCLive
(www.csclive.com). The software directly links into a cus-
tomers purchase ordering module, or customers can
enter their orders on the Web and specify width, length,
paper type, creases, and even add logos to specific loads
of corrugated sheets. But the extranet is much more than
just an ordering tool. A customized software solution also
allows customers to follow their orders through the man-
ufacturing process. They can track orders right to their
door and set up manufacturing equipment before their
shipment of corrugated sheets arrive.
To garner the full
potential of its invest-
ment, CSC does all it can
to encourage customers
to use the extranet. It s a
constant training pro-
cess, says Rice, but we
dont want our customers
left behind. We want
them to see what this
technology has to offer.
In doing so, Rice and his
team often find them-
selves providing customer training and, in some cases,
on-site installation and support of PCs equipped with
Cisco Aironet access points.
Tangible Results
CSC now receives more than 80 percent of its customer
orders via the Web. After an order is received on the
CSCLive Web site, it s tied directly into the manufac-
turing process. Technology has allowed us to add core
value to the product,says Pung. And the value is pay-
ing off with tangible results. In the last three years, CSC
has doubled its throughput and revenues without
major capital equipment investment. Fully half of all
orders are received, produced, and delivered in less than
24 hours, and many orders are filled in less than 12
hours. The companys annual revenue has grown from
US$40 million to more than $90 million in just the last
three years. It s a team effort; everyone is pitching in
to make it happen. Were at our highest volumes, yet
were more in control than ever,adds Pung.
CSCs IP telephony and wireless technologies are
changing the sales process as well. In addition to get-
ting quality products, CSC customers benefit from such
services as online ordering and tracking, automated
shipping notices, and immediate notification of any
problems or delays.
Weve had to increase our customersability to run
their plants efficiently and give them tools so they cant
afford to go to any other supplier,explains Pung.
Looking Forward
While CSC has achieved remarkable success, the com-
pany is far from resting on its laurels. There is still 20
percent to go, says Rice, referring to customers who
have yet to use CSCs extranet. But with continued
technology enhancements and seamless access to its
automated ordering, manufacturing, and shipping pro-
cesses, Rice is confident that CSCs value proposition
will win all of its customers over in the end.
MOBILE EFFICIENCY:
With CSCs homegrown
Web-based application
running on a Windows
NT wireless workstation,
scanned barcode infor-
mation is automatically
transmitted via the net-
work to the companys
database. The applica-
tion helps CSC fork
truck drivers like Efendi
Sarmiento retrieve
information on scanned
units and move them
to the appropriate
warehouse or trailer
for shipment.
Corrugated Supplies, Continued from page 51
06A_SMB.txp 4/24/01 07:03 AM Page 53
Small
A N D
Midsized
B U S I N E S S E S
I
)s nvvx ~i:os) ac yv~vs si xcv i sux
debuted, and feature-rich services continue to
make it a widely used communications protocol
among small office/home-office (SOHO) users.
Because ISDN was designed primarily for enterprises,
however, it s often difficult for SOHO users to solve
problems when they arise. But with the right informa-
tion, many ISDN problems can be easily solved using
the built-in capabilities of Cisco routers.
The most common ISDN problem is configuring
the end users equipment to work with a central office
switch. There are different telcos or local-exchange
carriers with different settings for ISDN Basic Rate
Interface (BRI),explains Plamen Nedeltchev, Ph.D.,
a remote-access consultant at Cisco. As such, there are
different ways of setting ISDN service. And because
ISDN was designed in the pre-Web era, routed proto-
cols like IP and IPX
can pose problems for ISDN

modems and routers.
These glitches usually arent difficult to overcome,
says Nedeltchev. The challenge comes in identifying the
cause or defining the problem, which could stem from
service provider issues, a wrongly configured router,
or a poorly installed LAN. Unfortunately, service
providers often are unable to help, because they typi-
cally can see only a part of the process. They focus on
the end-to-end connection, notes Nedeltchev, not on
maintaining the overall communication process.
Nedeltchev, who has experienced his share of ISDN
difficulties, realized that Cisco routers could be used to
unlock many of the problems users experience with
ISDN. The person sitting behind a Cisco router can
see much more about whats going on than any provider
of ISDN service, he explains. Using the features of
Cisco IOS
software in 800, 1000, 1600 or 2500 series

routers or software in the Cisco 770 router, Nedeltchev
developed a systematic method for ISDN trou-
bleshooting. His step-by-step instructions are detailed
in a September 2000 white paper, Troubleshooting
ISDN in SOHO. Following is a summary of
Nedeltchevs instructions.
Start with the Physical Layer
The first step in troubleshooting an ISDN problem
is to attempt to ping the remote destination from the
computer. If this step fails, it s important to deter-
mine whether there is an Ethernet connection to the
router. To do this, the white paper recommends the
following steps:
s
Use Windows tools such as WINIPCFG or
IPCONFIG/ALL/RELEASE/RENEW to deter-
mine the computers IP address and the default gateway.
Troubleshooting ISDN
Turn Cisco routers into ISDN troubleshooting tools.
Useful ISDN Troubleshooting Commands
Physical Layer
s
800-isdn#debug dialer packets
or 800-isdn#debug dialer
s
800-isdn#sh controllers bri
or 800-isdn#debug bri
Data Link Layer
s
800-isdn#debug isdn q921
s
800-isdn#debug ppp nego
Network Layer
s
800-isdn#show isdn status
s
800-isdn#debug isdn q931
Debugs the interesting traffic
Distinguishes external from internal router problems
Debugs local loop between the local router
(customer premises equipment) and local switch
Debugs the PPP negotiation
Provides snapshot of all ISDN layers
Debugs the Q.931 protocol
06B_SMB.txp 4/24/01 07:02 AM Page 54
s
Ping the default gateway.
s
Telnet to the default gateway.
If these steps fail, the Ethernet connection between the
workstation and the router isnt working, and you have
to establish a console connection.
Once insidethe Cisco router, its possible to check
the physical layer. ISDN uses dial-on-demand routing
(DDR) to forward what is known as interesting traffic,
traffic intended for a remote location. By using the
spoofing technique, the ISDN router imitates an
active state; however, IOS DDR becomes active only
when theres interesting traffic, triggering the router to
place a data call.
Solve Problems at the Data Link Layer
ISDN runs at least two protocols at the data link layer:
Link Access Procedure on the D channel (LAPD) used
for signaling (also known as Q.921) and Point-to-Point
Protocol (PPP) on the B channel. Troubleshooting for
each protocol must be performed separately. The key is
negotiating the terminal endpoint identifier (TEI),
which is assigned to each of up to eight devices con-
nected to a single ISDN BRI interface.
Nedeltchevs white paper provides details on how
to troubleshoot both the LAPD and PPP protocols.
If a problem is discovered at the data link layer, Cisco
IOS software commands can be used to reload TEI
assignments, which should allow reactivation of the
data link layer.
Troubleshoot at the Network Layer
A common problem at the network layer is that dif-
ferent central offices treat the routers service profile
identifier (SPID) differently, due to variations of Q.931
signaling. If the switch is rejecting the SPID, Cisco
router commands can be initiated to determine whether
Q.931 signaling is the problem. If Q.931 is function-
ing properly, the problem may stem from PPP. Cisco
IOS software commands allow observation of how PPP
network control protocols are negotiating the upper-
layer protocols and enable configuration of multilink
PPP to minimize latency.
For the full text of Plamen Nedeltchevs white
paper, visit Packet Online at the URL cisco.com/
go/packet/isdn. Nedeltchev may also be reached by e-
mail at pnedeltc@cisco.com.
Small
A N D
Midsized
B U S I N E S S E S
DalTech ad
06B_SMB.txp 4/24/01 07:02 AM Page 55
C ov e r
S t o r y
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millennium is a far cry from the days when, as children, we stretched string
between two cans to talk to our friends in secret. Sure, weve replaced the
string with copper. But think about when we abandon copper for the unlim-
ited bandwidth potential of fiber and optical networks. We may look back
on today and think that we might just as well have been talking into cans!
IP
Optical
Services
Adding IP Intelligence to Fiber-Optic Bandwidth
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10A_IP+Optical.txxp 4/24/01 08:04 AM Page 56
Before we get to the land of plenty,
however, fiber needs to get to the busi-
nesses and consumers who crave that
bandwidth. While buildout of fiber in the
public network has seen enormous strides,
most of us arent experiencing the benefits
of optical because most of us arent on a
fiber net work. According to Current
Analysis, Inc., of US businesses with 300
or more employees, approximately 30 per-
cent are on a fiber network. The numbers
drop precipitously from there. For US
businesses with fewer than 50 employees,
only about .03 percent benefit from direct
fiber access. Of course, greater numbers of
businesses and homes will have such
access as fiber buildouts continue. The key
weakness, however, is that services that
benefit from optical networks continue to
lag. The vast majority of optical services
currently offered emulate todays copper-
based T1/ T3 leased-line-type services.
Optical bandwidth up to even a wave-
length (2.5 Gbps) is available for pur-
chase. What s missing are the value-added
services.
Its All About the Services
Service providers have the capacity to lay
fiber to just about anywhere. But with
Internet access rates at less than US$50
monthly, bandwidth alone isnt going to
cut it. Network operators need revenue
from a host of new services to make fiber
worth their while. To justify initial instal-
lation costs, they need applications and
Internet appliances that can tap into the
great fiber bandwidth to deliver a wide
range of services including voice, video,
and data. And in building out a new
infrastructure, service providers must be
able to take advantage of economies of
scale that allow them to bill for multiple
offerings: telephone, subscription televi-
sion, Internet access, and a virtually unlim-
ited supply of new, IP-based applications.
An Exploding Market
The IP-based applications market is gigan-
tic. It s a market predicated on the delivery
of a wide range of applications as opposed to
the delivery of individual voice or data ser-
vices. These applications, including net-
work-based IP Centrex, IP call center,
customer relationship management (CRM),
and enterprise resource planning (ERP)
applications are expected to balloon into
a US$120 billion-a-year business by
2010, according to CIMI Corporation
(cimicorp.com). Fueling this growth is the
rise in managed network services and virtual
private network (VPN) service expendi-
tures over the next two to five years.
New wireless access schemes will also
increase the demand for high-bandwidth,
IP-based applications, including 802.11p
wireless LANs and third-generation (3G)
wireless. Previously just a means of provid-
ing voice communications, 3G wireless
networks will bring high-bandwidth, IP-
based applications including Web surfing,
e-commerce, and multimedia to cellular
network users.
Service providers best able to capture a
slice of this emerging market will be those
that invest in infrastructures that can scale
nimbly, deliver new unforeseen services
rapidly, and interact seamlessly with the
Internetwhich is fast becoming the worlds
communications infrastructure. IP is the
way services are delivered on the Internet.
Therefore, it s an IP+Optical infrastructure
that will help deliver the services that are
missing in todays optical networks. IP pro-
vides the ubiquitous access and network
intelligence for services such as VPNs and
Differentiated Services (DiffServ).
L AST- MI L E FI BER BUI L DOUTS
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
In Building To Building To Curb To Home
2004
2001
2000
U
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t
s
FIBER EVERYWHERE: US last-mile fiber installations including fiber to the home, curb, and building as
well as fiber in buildings are expected to grow to US$1 billion by 2004.
CHRIS NICOLL is
vice president of
carrier and optical
infrastructure at
Current Analysis.
He can be reached
at cnicoll@
currentanalysis.com.
CHRIS NICOLL
Bringing Services to the Optical Network
Services begin and end with bandwidth.
This fact is why a combination of the intel-
ligence of IP and the capacity of optical is
required. Bandwidth in todays networks is
too difficult to scale. Like the automobile
highway system, an enormous amount of
planning is required to add lanes to help
alleviate traffic congestion problems. This
planning takes too much time to respond
quickly to changing network conditions.
IP+Optical networks, however, promise the
ability to add additional bandwidthin the
form of additional wavelengthsvery
quickly, perhaps even automatically, to han-
dle the changing bandwidth requirements of
the Internet economy.
The key to providing high- value,
enhanced services lies in getting the band-
width and intelligence close enough to
end users that it is possible to deliver new
services cost effectively and quickly. New,
next- generation platforms such as the
Cisco ONS 15454 and ONS 15327 are
taking the convergence of intelligent IP
and optical out to the edge of the net-
work and even int o t he cust omer
premises. Optical Ethernet solutions
also are a growing market. And today, ser-
vice provider points of presence (POPs)
are transforming into service POPs
bringing high- value content closer to
actual service users through the use of
high-capacity routers such as the Cisco
12000 series Internet Router.
Services that Seduce
It s easy to get carried away thinking about
the services that could be enabled by
IP+Optical networks, but flights of fancy
dont do justice to what s real today. Video-
on-demand, for example, is often touted as
a harbinger of the new breed of online ser-
vices to come. Meanwhile, cable subscribers
have access to very limited video-on-
demand. But what if they had at their fin-
gertips a complete video library online?
Blockbuster and Enron Communications
are teaming up to provide online access to
Blockbusters video inventory. Instead of
driving to their local Blockbuster, cus-
tomers will simply log on and download a
copy of the video at home. No more out-of-
stock videos or disappointed family and
friends whove already seen the movie you
just brought home.
The UK has an old service called
CeeFAX that s a precursor to what
WebTV should be. CeeFAX users can
access additional pages of information
related to a television show theyre watch-
ing. Updated for an IP+Optical Internet, a
cooking program could contain links for
viewing specific cooking techniques or
downloading recipes and grocery lists.
Then with a button click, users can have a
local grocer deliver all the necessary ingre-
dients right to their doorstep.
Enterprise Services
Enterprise users also benefit from
IP+Optical communications by enabling
services that are currently available but too
expensive for many companies. Centrex ser-
vices continue to be used by many small to
midsized businesses, but an integrated voice
and data service could revolutionize how
these services are offered. Centrexs pri-
mary draw is that businesses dont have to
make a large investment in communications
equipment such as a PBX. However, expen-
sive truck rolls are required to rewire the
customer site whenever there are adds,
moves, or changes. Also, enhanced services
such as caller ID and call center features
arent available without additional hardware
and software investment, the very thing
companies are trying to avoid in the first
place. IP phones connected via an Ethernet
service to a softswitch in a service provider
network give users the simplicity of auto-
matic adds, moves, and changes, the bene-
fits of a PBX, and line-speed performance
for key data applications.
Another key application for enterprises is
unified communications, the integration of
voice mail, e-mail, and personal contact
databases. Most employees have to use two
separate communications systems to check
their messages: e-mail on the PC and voice
mail on the phone, as well as a contact
database such as a Palm or Microsoft s
Outlook program to get further information
on a caller. Call centers have traditionally
integrated these different information
sources; however, call centers have been too
expensive to roll out to all company employ-
ees. Managing telephone calls can provide an
important efficiency boost for all workers if
they can pre-identify who is calling and
determine if they need to take that particu-
lar call or pass the call on to a more appro-
priate associate. A service POP approach to
call center services may make financial sense
for enterprises in the future.
Less Is More
Todays networks consist of many different
layers: transport, signaling, protocol, and ser-
vice. These non-interoperable layers make
the job of provisioning new services complex
and time consumingfar too inefficient for
the unpredictable bandwidth needs of the
Internet. Networks must become simpler.
We must collapse the layers and evolve
toward a more efficient meshed architecture,
one that has a unified control plane (see
Taking Control,page 93.)
Transport networks are increasingly
optical, and what are being transported are
wavelengths. Intelligent networking sys-
tems that can manipulate and route wave-
lengths will give carriers greater flexibility
in operating their network and greater
ease in adding new, popular IP- based
applications.
For more information, visit the
following URLs:
s International Society for Optical
Engineering:
spie.org
s International Engineering
Consortium:
iec.org
s Cisco IP+Optical solutions:
cisco.com/go/optical
FURTHER READI NG
10B_IP+Optical.txxp 4/24/01 08:37 AM Page 60
Light
I
v y o u w~ x ) ) o n u i i u ~ v v v y
high-capacity network, go optical. But if you
want to build a very high-capacity, intelligent net-
work at the most economical cost per bandwidth
unit, you need two technologies: optical networking and IP.
The latest generation of optical network solutions has
dramatically lowered the cost of deployment, provisioning, and
operations over traditional architectures, while IP shines as the
de facto standard for business and consumer applications.
The sheer variety and sophistication of todays IP applica-
tions require intelligent networks that can support the unique
characteristics of data, voice, and video trafficat blazing
speeds. IP is absolutely critical to any applications success in
the future; almost without exception, todays applications take
advantage of IP features to deliver such things as quality of
service and data recovery,says Roger Farnsworth, director of
marketing for Ciscos Optical Networking Group. The
connectionless aspect of IP is extremely attractivejust
connect to a network anywhere in the world, get an IP address,
and youre on line. As the Internet grows, that will only
increase in importance. Some people contend that IP will
soon be replaced with pure-wavelength delivery. That s
patently ridiculous. When you look at things like multicast,
service delivery, and broadband aggregation, its intelligent net-
work services that are the differentiator andfor the forsee-
able futurethat intelligence can only be provided by
electrical, IP-based services.
The proper blend of IP and optical technologies yields a
quantum leap forward in capacity, capability, and flexibility. If
Ciscos IP+Optical solutions expand
capacity and provide a foundation for
profitable service delivery.
Intelligent
Light
A
N
D
Y

L
A
C
K
O
W
you can incorporate network intelligence into
a high-capacity transport network, you can
more quickly and easily support new types of
IP applications as they become available,says
Farnsworth. Cisco offers an end-to-end,
IP+Optical networking strategy that gives ser-
vice providers and enterprises intelligent opti-
cal infrastructures that meet these flexible,
high-speed application requirements.
The Light of the New World
The Cisco IP+Optical network solution
provides the foundation for enabling four
major trends in networking today: the
explosive growth of broadband and mobile
access, voice and circuit integration into
packet networks, Internet-scale deployment,
and content and services delivery.
s
Broadband and mobile accessThe expo-
nential growth in aggregate bandwidth of
access networks is driving a need for more
bandwidth in the metropolitan-area network
(MAN). Service providers must accommo-
date this growth with greater capacityand
fast. Next-generation SONET/SDH solu-
tions are far easier and faster to provision
than traditional SONET/SDH, while new
dense wavelength-division multiplexing
(DWDM) solutions are now optimized for
MAN deployments at a reasonable cost.
s
Voice and circuit integrationThe integra-
tion of voice and other circuit-based services
into packet networks is inevitable. Yet they
are also the primary source of service
provider revenues today. Therefore, service
providers need networks that continue to
enable traditional voice and leased-line ser-
vices while laying the foundation for
advanced new IP services.
s
Internet-scale deploymentService pro-
viders desperately need new tools to dra-
matically lower the cost and time it cur-
rently takes to provision new services. By
automating labor-intensive, manual func-
tions and eliminating truck rolls, such
tools drastically reduce costs and make it
possible to rapidly deploy new services in
an Internet-scale, mass market.
s
Content and services deliveryThe heart
of the Internet beats with information.
New content and service delivery solutions
make it possible to support new applica-
tions that take advantage of broadband
access services and enable profitable new
services such as application hosting, mul-
ticast, and video on demand.
IP+Optical Architecture
A Cisco IP+Optical network has three pri-
mary components: the MAN or metro, the
service point of presence (POP), and the
long-haul optical core (see figure).
The metro network connects users to
CI SCO I P+OPTI CAL ARCHI TECTURE
1. Core to edge migration
2. DS3 to OC-192 aggregation
3. Peering and transit
4. Metro Ethernet
1. High-density DS0
to DS3 aggregation
Cisco 12000
Series Internet
Router
Cisco 12000
Series Internet
Router
Cisco 10000
Edge Routing Core Routing Optical Core Transport Metro
Cisco 7200
Dynamic Packet
Transport Ring
Cisco 7500
Cisco
7600 OSR
Next-Generation SONET Ring
OC-192c/
STM-64c
Cisco 12416
Internet Router
Cisco
ONS 15454
Cisco
ONS 15454
Cisco
ONS 15327
Cisco
ONS 15800
1
n
LIGHTING THE NEW WORLD: Combining the capacity of optical networking with the intelligence of IP, Cisco IP+Optical solutions give service providers a robust
foundation for delivering profitable, value-added services to business and consumer subscribers. The end-to-end architecture has three components: the
metropolitan-area network, the service point of presence (edge routing), and the long-haul optical core.
Written by Gail Meredith (gmeredit@sonic.net), a
contributing editor for Packet magazine.
services. Business and residential subscribers
connect to the metro network using a vari-
ety of technologies, including dial, ISDN,
cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line
(DSL), wireless, leased-line services, Frame
Relay, ATM, or most recently, 100-Mbps
and Gigabit Ethernet. The metro network
aggregates customer traffic from multiple
access points and connects customers to ser-
vices in the POP. The metro network must
be able to carry packets, cells, wavelengths,
or any combination thereof.
The service POP is where most of the
IP and application intelligence resides. It is
the hub for high- value, packet- based
Internet services such as Web-based con-
tent, virtual private network (VPN) ser-
vices, application hosting, cached content,
video, and of course, Internet service
provider (ISP) services. It is also the tran-
sit and peering point into the long-haul
core. The service POP is also where most
high-performance routing and grooming
takes place.
The long-haul optical core is an inter-
city network designed for efficient, very
high-speed transport. The traditional
SONET/SDH ring architecture that dom-
inates the core today was originally
designed for predictable voice traffic and is
proving expensive for data transport.
DWDM has altered the core landscape by
exponentially increasing fiber capacity to
meet the ever-increasing need for band-
width. Cisco continues to develop tech-
nologies that can further optimize the
capabilities of the core network.
The Cisco IP+Optical network solution
changes the rules, solving several problems
associated with legacy optical infrastruc-
tures. Unlike traditional SONET/SDH,
most Cisco IP+Optical platforms can sup-
port a variety of interface typessuch as
Ethernet, ATM, and DWDMat speeds
ranging from DS0 to OC-192/STM-64.
This versatility reduces the number of boxes
required compared to a traditional
SONET/SDH infrastructure. Traditional
SONET networks present significant chal-
lenges because they are complex, slow to
build, and expensive, says Farnsworth.
Next, technologies such as Dynamic
Packet Transport (DPT) reduce the number
of functional layers required to operate a
fiber network, thus lowering operations costs.
Automated provisioning features reduce the
number of steps required to provision a ser-
vice, further lowering costs while signifi-
cantly accelerating service velocity. Some
IP+Optical platforms take all of 20 minutes
to provision from the carton to service acti-
vation,states Farnsworth. In a world where
provisioning used to take weeks, these factors
represent a radical shift in the economics of
optical networking.
By lowering their operating costs, service
providers can offer services to enterprises at
a much lower cost than they could with tra-
ditional optical networks and still realize a
healthy profit.
Putting It Together
Ciscos IP+Optical strategy incorporates four
complementary development efforts that
combine to deliver a solution portfolio that
meets the requirements of forward-thinking
service provider and enterprise networks:
s
Adding optical technology to IP platforms
s
Continuing IP and data integration on
optical platforms
s
Developing an open, standards-based uni-
fied control plane (UCP) to further speed
deployment and increase efficiencies of
IP+Optical networks
s
Consolidating network management tools
used for IP and optical elements
IP Platforms
The latest advancements in the IP arena
are the Cisco 12410 and Cisco 12416
Internet routers with 10- gigabit optical
interfaces and the 7600 Optical Services
Router (OSR). The Cisco 12410 and
12416 are the newest members of the
Cisco 12000 series, the worlds most
popular family of Internet data center
(IDC) and high- speed IP backbone
rout ers. Their dist ribut ed processing
architecture is highly scalable, and the
addition of 10-gigabit per second (Gbps)
OC- 192c/ STM- 64c optical interfaces
makes them ideal for transit and peering
at the edge of the optical core (see 10G:
It s Here, page 42).
The Cisco 7600 OSR, based on the
Catalyst
6500 family, delivers high-value

IP network services to the optical edge,
including a complete lineup of quality-of-
service mechanisms in hardware for ultra
high performance. It s highly flexible
architecture makes it suitable for consol-
idated POPs, WAN connections from
the customer premises, aggregation in
the MAN, and service delivery in the
IDC (see Service at the Speed of Light,
page 39).
Optical Platforms
Cisco offers several optical transport
technologies, including supercharged
SONET/ SDH solutions, DPT, and
DWDM platforms. The staple compo-
nent of the Cisco SONET/SDH metro
network is the Cisco ONS 15454 Optical
Transport Platform and its related products
(see SONET Supercharged, page 35).
The newest addition to the Cisco optical
transport portfolio is the Cisco ONS
15327 Metro Edge Optical Platform,
which delivers the same functionality and
multiple interface options of the Cisco
ONS 15454 in a smaller size for the metro
network edge or customer premises.
DPT is available on several platforms,
including the Cisco 12000, 7200, and ONS
15190. DPT is suitable for both large service
POPs and data-optimized metro rings,
while supercharged SONET/SDH adapts
existing metro SONET/SDH infrastruc-
tures for data, voice, and video transport.
Both technologies offer significant techni-
cal and economic advantages over traditional
SONET/SDH solutions.
DWDM was invented to ease fiber
exhaust in the long-haul core; now the
technology has been adapted and priced for
the metro with the introduction of the
Cisco ONS 15200 series. Because DWDM
is a Layer 1 technology, providers can build
either a DPT or next-generation SONET
network atop a DWDM framework to curb
fiber exhaust in the MAN.
The traditional long-haul optical core
architecture is a ring-based, four-layer club
sandwich of components: DWDM, then
ATM, then SONET, then IP. The long-haul
optical core has been enhanced with the Cisco
ONS 15800 DWDM Platform, which
brings substantially greater capacity to each
individual fiber by simultaneously sending
data via different wavelengths. Cisco is inves-
tigating technologies that will eliminate the
club sandwich in favor of a more efficient
mesh-based architecture.
IP+Optical Unified Control Plane
Despite using the most advanced laser pho-
tonics technology available, todays optical
networks suffer from old-world provisioning
and management methods. In optical trans-
port networks, devices make forwarding
decisions based on time slots, wavelengths,
or physical ports, and are therefore unable to
forward data based on information carried
within packet or cell headers. Real-time
provisioning does not exist. Optical path-
ways are nailed up by hand, segment by seg-
menta time-consuming proposition.
There is no traffic engineering at the opti-
cal layer. Restoration among multiple layers
is uncoordinated.
Fortunately, IP networks hold the key to
solving these challenges. IP routing proto-
cols automatically provision and restore
pathways. Multiprotocol Label Switching
(MPLS) has emerged as the most scalable
Layer 3 mechanism for separating traffic
into VPNs and for traffic engineering. Its
label-based paradigm has the unique advan-
tage of separating the control and forward-
ing planes in both routed IP and IP+ATM
networks. This creates a network provi-
sioning and engineering framework that is
independent of the transport layer and net-
work elements. MPLS simplifies network
design and operation, dramatically increases
service velocity, and significantly reduces
provisioning costs.
Cisco is driving the development of a
new control plane standard, Multiprotocol
Lambda Switching (MP S), which is
based on IP and MPLS. The MP S-based
Unified Control Plane (UCP) makes IP the
unifying force in the next generation of
high-bandwidth, optical networks. With a
single control plane provisioning optical
network elements, service providers and
enterprises alike can enjoy a faster, simpli-
fied service provisioning process with fewer
mistakes.
The UCP makes the IP and optical layers
of the network aware of and able to talk with
one another. It brings the connectionless
characteristics and automated provisioning
features of IP down to the optical transport
layer. It streamlines the number of functional
layers required, allowing removal of many
areas of functional overlapa key issue with
traditional SONET/SDH networks. The
UCP also enables a shift toward mesh-based
optical networks (especially in the long-haul
core) that support rapid, end-to-end provi-
sioning, fast path restoration, and the band-
width efficiencies of meshed architectures
(see Taking Control,page 93).
Aside from providing IP-like visibility
into the optical layers of the network, the
UCP substantially reduces the number of
protocols. Today, engineers have to be
experts in at least three protocol suites
Private Network-Network Interface (PNNI)
for ATM, centralized mainframe software for
digital cross connects, and Open Shortest
Path First (OSPF) and Border Gateway
Protocol (BGP) for IP. And thats the short
list. Because operations typically represent 60
to 70 percent of the overall cost of running a
network, reducing the number of protocols
that engineers must touch has a direct impact
on operating costs.
Network Management
Cisco IP and IP+ATM service provider
networks are managed via components of
the Cisco Service Management (CSM)
suite. It is no different for Cisco IP+Optical
networks. Continuing its strategy of pro-
viding modular management applications
that integrate with existing, standards-based
OSS systems, Cisco offers tools developed
in-house, as well as in conjunction with
ecosystem partners, to enable a rich, cus-
tomizable management infrastructure. Cisco
Transport Manager (CTM) is an element
management system (EMS) for Cisco ONS
15000 series products. The Cisco Element
Management Framework provides a com-
mon interface to EMS applications such as
the GSR Manager for the Cisco 12000
series. Key higher-layer applications that
interface with these EMS applications are
Cisco VPN Solution Center, which enables
rapid provisioning of VPN services based on
MPLS, and Cisco Provisioning Center,
which supports end-to-end provisioning
across multiple Cisco technologies.
Cambrian Communications, a wholesale
service provider based in Fairfax, Virginia,
plans to use Cisco Transport Manager as part
of its Internet operations support system
(OSS) when it turns up wavelength services
later this year.
Provisioning is point and click, A to Z.
CTM transparently lays the pathway where
a signal might pass through several DWDM
boxes getting from one end to the other,says
Bruce Kostreski, chief technology officer and
senior vice president of engineering at
Cambrian. If I wanted to provision an OC-3
circuit between any two points or take an
OC-48 circuit, break it up and send it to
four cities, CTM makes that very easy and
straightforward. I like having one network
management system that s talking to all the
boxes so I can get circuits turned up in
short order.
Lighting the Way
When service providers adopt an IP+Optical
networking strategy, both they and their
enterprise customers will reap substantial
benefits from a radical shift in the economics
of optical networking.
Service providers can enter new markets
more quickly with an infrastructure that is
I like having one network
management system thats
talking to all the boxes so I
can get circuits turned up in
short order.
BRUCE KOSTRESKI ,
CTO AND SENI OR VP OF ENGI NEERI NG
CAMBRI AN COMMUNI CATI ONS
Intelligent Light, Continued from page 63
intelligent and responsive to change, says
Farnsworth. They will find it less expensive
to provision and maintain their infrastruc-
tures, and their higher capacity and intelli-
gence will provide unique foundations for
profitable services.
With its IP+Optical strategy and solu-
tions, Cisco combines its IP expertise with
optical technology to light the networks of
the New World.
Service providers that provision services
through Cisco IP+Optical networks and
enterprise customers that buy those services
can meet the demands of 21st century global
networking, while enjoying the benefits of
much higher service velocities, mission-crit-
ical IP network services such as VPN and
content delivery networking, and far lower
provisioning and operations costs than tradi-
tional optical networks.
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AT&T www.att.com/emea/vpn 34
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Xacct Technologies www.xacct.com 74
Intelligent Light, Continued from page 65
For more information on Ciscos
IP+Optical strategy and solutions,
visit the URL cisco.com/go/optical.
FURTHER READI NG
Coming
Third Calendar
Quarter 2001
Next-
Generation
Networks
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your FREE subscription!
www.ciscopacket.com
105_continued.txp 4/24/01 09:08 AM Page 103
Cost
Conundrum
Core networks, then, are being chal-
lenged to support multiple customers with
traffic volumes that, in aggregate, surpass the
capacity that is available in most of todays
optical backbones. So service providers are
already looking to provision 10-Gbps and
higher speeds between their core network
nodes to keep pace. This is a different situ-
ation than has historically been the case in
service provider backbones. Large backbone
network pipes were once orders of magni-
tude faster than the individual interfaces
feeding into them, so simply provisioning
lots of raw capacity (and building in circuit
and equipment redundancy) has long been
sufficient to assure high service quality lev-
els. But optical core networks are moving
away from their role as pure back-end
plumbing.Now that the speeds of customer
premises equipment (CPE) interfaces are
catching up with those in the backbone
core, service providers are in need of smarter
technologies that enable them to quickly
provision more capacity as demands warrant
and to strategically manage their bandwidth.
The worlds largest Internet service
providers [ISPs] say that their number one
challenge is being able to provision band-
width fast enough to meet unpredictable
customer demand,observes John C. Adler,
a director of marketing in Ciscos Optical
Networking Group.
The reasons are growing apparent. In a
recent report, The Future of Optical IP
Networking,for example, telecommunica-
tions consulting firm Telechoice, Inc. pro-
jects that IP traffic will consume 90 percent
of all network bandwidth by 2002. This
trend, according to Telechoice, is finding
carriers squeezed between the ballooning
costs of building larger IP networks and
their inability to charge premium prices for
best-effort services.
To address the situation, technologies and
equipment have been emerging to enable
service providers to gain more control over the
provisioning and management of their core
network bandwidth. Dense wavelength-divi-
sion multiplexing (DWDM) technology has
been developed and implemented in network
infrastructure equipment to allow service
providers to provision multiple logical fibers,
each running at up to OC-192/STM-64
(10-Gbps) speeds, within a single physical
fiber to deliver what will eventually reach
terabit-per-second aggregate speeds.
DWDM multiplexers such as the Cisco
ONS 15800 aggregate traffic from multiple
IP routers and other equipment, including
SONET/ SDH add/ drop multiplexers
(ADMs), and then place the traffic on mul-
tiple wavelengths on a single fiber cable.
Mapping incoming signals onto specific
wavelengths for transport enables service
providers to squeeze more capacity out of
their fiber networks and to guarantee certain
amounts of bandwidth for particular traffic
flows or customers.
Cost
Conundrum
new equipment in the network core tackles
scalability and cost challenges
The Capacity vs.
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customer sites have accelerated to the point that they are on a par with the full
capacity of service providers core backbone networks. It is not uncommon
for some companies, such as large enterprises, e-commerce Web site owners, and
ISP aggregators, for example, to run high-end IP WAN routers or ATM WAN switches with
OC-48/STM-16 (2.5-Gbps) Internet connections. Many of these large customers will soon
start demanding OC-192/STM-64 (10-Gbps) access services, if they havent already.
10C_Core.txxxp 4/24/01 08:01 AM Page 67
By contrast, when creating traditional
SONET/SDH optical networks, which are
based on TDM technology, 10 Gbps is the
maximum aggregate bandwidth that can be
derived from a single physical fiber. Note,
though, that Cisco and industry efforts are in
the works to render SONET/SDH provi-
sioning more flexible and dynamic through
the use of a unified control plane. A common
control plane for both Layer 3 IP and Layer
1 optical networks will enable service
providers to provision network capacity
through their backbones on demand, with
certain associated service-level metrics (see
Taking Control,page 93).
Same Fiber, More Capacity
Cambrian Communications, LLC, a whole-
sale service provider that sells IP-over-opti-
cal capacity to retail carriers in the eastern
US, uses the ONS 15800 and other Cisco
equipment to get more capacity out of its
network. One reason the company settled
on the ONS 15800 was because it supported
the longest distances between sites, reducing
the amount of line amplification equip-
ment required. This was important, because
you dont always have the luxury of choos-
ing exactly where your locations are, says
Bruce Kostreski, vice president of engineer-
ing and chief technology officer at the
Fairfax, Virginia-based company.
Network architects at St. Louis, Missouri-
based Digital Teleport, Inc., another network
transport wholesaler, cited similar reasons for
turning to the Cisco ONS 15800 for the
remaining portion of the companys network
buildout. We have very dense fiber routes in
a number of markets, says Greg Orman,
president and CEO of KLT Inc., majority
owner of Digital Teleport and a subsidiary of
Kansas City Power and Light Company.
DWDM requires only two fibers to run. We
can use the remaining fibers for other func-
tions, such as deploying different IP services
and Gigabit Ethernet capabilities.
Digital Teleport, which also uses the Cisco
ONS 15454 Optical Transport Platform in its
metro network and Cisco multiservice routers
in its service POP, has already lit about 2000
miles of fiber in the midwestern United States.
It is working with Cisco to complete its eastern
US optical network by the end of this year and
its western US optical network during the first
half of 2002. Once complete, the network will
comprise about 20,000 fiber miles, Orman says.
On the Drawing Board
Cisco ONS 15800 enhancements currently
in development will yield still greater back-
bone efficiencies. For example, Cisco expects
the number of SONET/SDH channels sup-
ported per wavelength in the ONS 15800 to
double to 64 later this year, says Luis Tondi-
Resta, director of marketing in Ciscos
Photonics Business Unit.
Later, next-generation Cisco DWDM
equipment will push the number of wave-
lengths even higher and will support speed rates
beyond 10 Gbps, he says. The equipment will
also contain technology that enables increas-
ingly greater distances between equipment
before signal regeneration is required, which
pares down the amount of network infrastruc-
ture equipment service providers need.
In addition, tunable lasers coming in
Cisco DWDM equipment will enable ser-
vice providers to use a single line-card model
to generate any color of light. Today, most
equipment requires a separate type of line
card for generating each color. Having a sin-
gle, flexible card will be easier to manage and
will significantly decrease service provider
spare-parts inventories,Tondi-Resta explains.
These and other developments will con-
tinue to empower service providers to
squeeze significantly more mileage out of
their optical cores.
CISCO SYSTEMS
SECOND QUARTER 2001 PACKET 69
For additional information, go to Packet
Online at cisco.com/go/packet/core.
FURTHER READI NG
10C_Core.txxxp 4/24/01 08:01 AM Page 69
D
i
n
e
r
Internet
Informationcontent and applicationsis the stuff of the Internet. The service POP
delivers information to users, and like a real-life diner, the success of those services depends
upon the ingredients, the recipes, how fast theyre served, and the price. The menu might
include application hosting, Web hosting, e-commerce, voice, Internet access, and real-
time services. When service providers cook up such entres, business customers in par-
ticular can outsource more information technology (IT) services, allowing them to focus
on their core competencies, lower their cost of doing business, and most importantly, take
advantage of advanced applications that give them an edge over their competitors. New
economies of scale also make such services available to small and midsized businesses that
need such services but could not afford them under old-world ways.
Internet
The point of presence offers
an enticing menu of services
for consumers and businesses. The
D
i
n
e
r
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vov
does aggregation, multiplexing, transit, and peering, the New World

service POP also offers a smorgasbord of value-added
services that network operators can dish out to their business and
consumer subscribers. A distinctive menu of services allows service providers to
generate New Economy-style revenues.
10D_SvcPOP.txxp 4/24/01 07:31 AM Page 71
The Best Ingredients
Cisco offers its service provider customers the
industrys most proven platforms for the ser-
vice POP, replete with features for building a
robust POP environment. Cisco also offers
proven recipes for scalable, secure, intelligent
POP frameworks. These solutions allow ser-
vice providers to expand both POP capacity
and capability as their business grows.
The fundamental ingredient of the
Cisco IP+Optical service POP is the Cisco
12000 series Internet router, the industrys
most widely deployed Internet data center
and IP backbone platform. It supports a
range of interface speeds from DS3 to
OC-192c/STM-64c for ATM and packet
over SONET (POS). For the Internet data
center, it also supports 10/100-Mbps and
Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. New 10-gigabit
(OC-192c/STM-64c) interfaces satisfy the
largest appetites for bandwidth, while signa-
ture services ensure a proper base for service
provisioning.
The latest additions to the series are the
Cisco 12410 and Cisco 12416 Internet
routers, which support a nonblocking crossbar
switching fabric with up to 320-Gbps capac-
itymore than twice the capacity of any
router on the market (see 10G: Its Here,
page 42).
Complementing the new platforms,
Cisco also introduced two OC-192c/STM-
64c line cards: one for short reach (up to 2
km), and the other for intermediate reach
(up to 40 km). These provide high-capacity,
routed interPOP connectivity or uplinks to
an OC-192c/STM-64c optical long-haul
core comprised of Cisco ONS 15800 dense
wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM)
platforms. Also new is a four-port OC-48
line card, enabling 10-Gbps full-duplex,
inter- and intraPOP service. By the end
of this year, Cisco will offer a Very Short
Reach OC-192/STM-64 line card for very-
high-speed intraPOP connectivity up to
300 meters.
With 10-gigabit interfaces on the Cisco
12400 Internet routers, service providers will
find it easier to scale their POPs as traffic rates
increase, says Matthew Kennedy, OC-192
product manager in the Internet POP
Systems Business Unit at Cisco. These inter-
faces support wire-rate performance for IP
and MPLS traffic in a fully loaded system,
offering 25 percent greater performance per
line card slot than any competitive offering
available today.
The Cisco 12000 series Internet router
supports a series of signature services that
enhance its value in service POP environ-
ments. There are two categories of signature
services: service enablersand revenue generators.
Service enablers work in the background
to enable scalability and high availability.
Among these are the following:
s
Fast reroute and convergence features pro-
vide SONET/SDH-like 50 ms protection
s
Scalable routing has been tested up to 1
million routes per chassis
s
Load-balancing via Border Gateway
Protocol (BGP), Open Shortest Path First
(OSPF), and Intermediate System to
Intermediate System (IS-IS) routing pro-
tocols ensure proper packet ordering when
flows are distributed among multiple links
s
Programmable ASIC chips on line cards
allow for rapid software upgrades; for exam-
ple, when denial of service (DoS) attacks
became prevalent, Cisco modified its ASIC
software to quickly add rate-limiting mech-
anisms that help defray such attacks
Revenue-generator services are visible to
customers; therefore, they help create revenue
streams, says Scott Yow, Internet router
product marketing manager in the Internet
POP Systems Business Unit at Cisco. Were
making it possible to deliver high-value ser-
vices at speeds up to ten gigabits per second.
The initial list of such services includes virtual
private networks (VPNs), quality of service
(QoS) for voice, and real-time streaming
support. These are discussed in detail below.
Another foundational ingredient of the
service POP is the new Cisco 7600 Optical
Services Router (OSR). Based on the
Catalyst
6500 Layer 3 switch architecture,

this new platform combines powerful distri-
bution-layer forwarding engines and a long
list of features for edge services control with
optical interfaces. It delivers the full range of
Cisco IOS
software higher-layer QoS and

bandwidth management features for traffic
classification, queuing, policing, congestion
control, and policy routingall in hardware
for wire-speed performance up to 30 million
packets per second (pps). It supports URL-
based switching flows and private subnets, and
all existing line cards for Catalyst 6500 fam-
ily switches, including the intrusion detection
system and server load-balancing cards.
The Cisco 7600 OSR is ideal for consol-
idated POPs where it performs both switch-
ing and server aggregation. Alternatively, as an
Internet data center distribution-layer router
it manages traffic flows from server farms,
standalone intrusion-detection systems, fire-
walls, caches, and content delivery appli-
ances, routing traffic into an intraPOP
Internet router backbone (see Service at the
Speed of Light,page 39).
For added flavor, Cisco offers several spe-
cialized products and technologies to enable
content delivery networks (CDNs), VPN,
Internet access, and voice services. These are
also detailed below.
Nutritious Recipes
The secret to effective, efficient service POPs
lies in good design, says David Hamilton,
solutions engineer in the Service Provider
Technical Operations headquarters at Cisco.
Therefore, Cisco offers several recipesor ref-
erence architectures for a variety of services
(Figure 1).
Content-Aware Internet Data Center
The Internet data center architecture offers a
rich environment for New World IP services
such as advanced Web hosting, e-commerce,
and content streaming. Underlying these ser-
vices are Cisco content networking technolo-
gies and platforms. When you enable
content-aware intelligence riding atop IP,
you can create a whole new set of service
offerings in addition to creating very scalable,
highly available architectures that deliver opti-
mal performance, says Hamilton. Cisco
content networking redefines content intelli-
gence. Where many providers offer a subset of
content-based technologies for basic content
delivery, Cisco content networking delivers an
entire suite of technologies such as content
routing and distribution, content manage-
ment, content switching, and content edge
delivery. These content technologies interlock
with Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks to enable
e-services that accelerate the secure, reliable
delivery of dynamic and static content to
users.
These e-services include the following:
s
Enhanced site securityvia higher-layer,
content-aware firewall load balancing and
DoS protection to secure transactions with-
out compromising performance
s
Flash crowd insuranceto meet short-
term, high-traffic needs such as online
events; this enables rapid, ad-hoc content
replication to dynamically scale any cus-
tomers Web site for short periods of time
s
Content and user prioritizationapplies
content rulesusing cookie-based switch-
ing to provide access to important content
or premium users
s
E-transaction assuranceprovides sticky
connections to prevent dropped shopping
carts for e-commerce sites
s
Server load balancingallows content
redundancy and scalability based on con-
tent-aware, higher-layer flow information
such as URL, language, and browser type
s
Server scalingcontent-aware caching to
offload static traffic from server farms,
optimizing valuable server cycles
s
Content deliverycontent distribution and
routing for enhanced site performance,
availability, and scalability enables user-
tailored services based on geographical
location such as e-learning, ASP/intranet
services, streaming media delivery, and live
event broadcasting
There are five components to Ciscos content
networking solution. The Cisco Content
Router 4400 family routes Web requests to
sites deemed more optimal than the primary
data center. It ensures that users are matched
with the closest or best content site, thus
improving the user experience and increasing
overall content availability.
Content switching takes place on several
platforms: Cisco CSS 11000 series switches,
Cisco LocalDirector 400 series, and Catalyst
I P+OPTI CAL SERVI CE POP
CDM
Cable
Provider
DSL
Provider
Cisco
ONS
15800
Optical
Core
Service
Provider A
Service
Provider B
Transit and Peering
Low-speed
MPLS VPN
DS0-DS1
Service
Low-speed
MPLS VPN
DS0-DS1
Service
PSTN
TDM
VoIP Router
DS3 to OC-192
Broadband
Internet Access
DS3 and up
Broadband
MPLS VPN
Access
High-Speed Internet Access/
MPLS VPN for Enterprises
Narrowband Internet
Access/VPN Services
for Small and Midsized
Businesses
Broadband Access
Services
Cisco
10000
Cisco
6400
UAC
Cisco
uBR
7200
DPT/POS/Ethernet
Intra-POP
Connectivity
OC-192
Dial
Cisco
AS5800
TDM/Voice Gateway Internet Data Center/
Content Delivery Provider
Content
Router
Content
Distribution
Manager
Intrusion
Detection
System
Content
Switch
Cache
Engine
Server
Farm
Cisco
Secure
PIX
Firewall
Cisco Secure
PIX Firewall
Layer 2
Catalyst
Switch
Cisco 7600
OSR
Cisco 7600
OSR
Cisco
12400
Cisco
12000
Cisco
12400
FIGURE 1: The Cisco IP+Optical service POP features a flexible design that can accommodate any menu of services, including uplinks to the optical core, peering
and transit to other provider networks, voice and TDM services, broadband access, low-speed and high-speed VPN and Internet access services, and Internet data
centers with Cisco CDN systems.
4840G and 6000 family switches. Content
switching provides sophisticated load bal-
ancing and content acceleration intelligence
within server farms based on availability of
content and load on servers.
The Cisco Content Engine 7300 and 500
series temporarily store or cache static content
both in the data center and in distributed con-
tent POPs. The content engines serve content
at faster rates and at a lower cost than servers,
enabling more efficient use of POP resources
and bandwidth by placing content closer to
end users.
Content Distribution Manager performs
content distribution and management. It
automatically imports, maintains copies, and
configures content at the network edge. This
product is a critical component of distributed
network architectures because it manages
bandwidth, measures performance and usage,
and collects billing information.
The final component of Ciscos content
networking solution is Intelligent Network
Servicessuch as QoS, multicast, and
VPNswhich integrate content networking
with lower-layer network technologies.
Virtual Private Networking
VPN technology enables a host of advanced,
high-value services by bestowing the privacy
and policies of private networks onto a pub-
lic network. Enterprises are deploying VPN
services to support intranet applications
between corporate sites and extranet com-
munications to key suppliers, partners, and
customers. The question for service providers
is not whether to offer VPN services, but how
can they seize the VPN market opportunity
in the most scalable, cost-effective manner.
The future of scalable IP VPN services is
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS),
which uses a label-based forwarding
paradigm independent of the transport layer.
Its very scalable and allows provisioning at
faster speeds and lower costs than leased-line
or Frame Relay solutions. Recent software
enhancements to the Cisco 12000 series
Internet router enable MPLS services across
high-speed links. For the first time, service
providers can deliver two levels of MPLS
VPN: low-bandwidth services (up to T1) for
remote office connectivity or small and mid-
sized business services, and high-bandwidth
(up to OC-192/STM-64) for enterprises.
The Cisco 10000 Edge Services Router sup-
ports narrowband, MPLS-VPN services for
small and midsized businesses. For high-
bandwidth MPLS-VPN service, the Cisco
12000 series Internet router allows enter-
prises to outsource mission-critical applica-
tions to service providers and have them
delivered via high-speed MPLS-VPNs to all
corporate sites.
Cisco is working to incorporate MPLS
technologies within its upcoming Unified
Control Plane to bind the traffic engineering
and VPN capabilities of MPLS to its optical
platforms. (See Taking Control,page 93.)
Internet Access
Internet access is a commodity; therefore,
service providers need to deploy it as
efficiently as possible to compete on
price without sacrificing margins. Cisco
enables very cost- effective narrowband
(up to DS1) Internet access for con-
sumer and small business users via the
Cisco 10000 Edge Services Router, and
broadband access via the Cisco 12000
series Internet router. Cable and DSL
providers can access service POPs and the
Internet via the Cisco uBR7200 router
and the Cisco 6400 Universal Access
Concentrator, respectively.
Voice
Cisco has a variety of standalone gateway plat-
forms that can translate voice calls between IP
and TDM networks for connections to the
PSTN. The Cisco 12000 series Internet
router can aggregate and multiplex dial
modem calls and voice-over-IP services into
the POP from the PSTN. Its hardware-
based QoS mechanisms support voice traffic
within the IP network at line speed. The most
important feature is the ability of Modified
Deficit Round Robin (MDRR) to provide
Low-Latency Queuing, which creates a sep-
arate queue for voice packets and gives it top
priority over all other queues. Across the
IP backbone, Weighted Random Early
Detection (WRED) provides congestion
avoidance by throttling back TCP windows of
lower-priority flows.
Catering and Takeout
How do providers offer their service menu off
net? They can use the Cisco 12000 series
Internet router to provide peering and transit
services between their network and other
public networks. Service providers that make
their service POPs available to users from
other networks can reach a much larger
potential customer base. Together, peering
and transit make the Internet ubiquitous.
Peering is an agreement between service
providers to provide reciprocal connectivity to
each others customers. Transit is an agree-
ment that allows a service provider to sell
access to all destinations in its routing table to
other providers.
An Appetite for More
In the rapidly changing world of Internet
services, the only single constant is that
users always have an appetite for more
bandwidth, more sophisticated applica-
tions, and more rapid response times. The
Cisco IP+Optical service POP makes that
possible with high-speed interfaces for a
variet y of physical- layer topologies,
advanced IP quality-of-service mecha-
nisms to manage the disparate require-
ments of voice, video, and data traffic, and
IP content networking capabilities for
faster service.
To learn more about the products
and technologies discussed in this
article, visit Packet Online at
cisco.com/go/packet/servicepop.
s IP+Optical service POP
s Content networking
s Virtual private networks
s Cisco 12000 Series Internet Router
s Cisco 10000 Edge Services Router
s Cisco 7600 Optical Services Router
FURTHER READI NG
Internet Diner, Continued from page 73
Written by Gail Meredith (gmeredit@sonic.net), a
contributing editor for Packet magazine.
Traditionally, most metro traffic was predictable time-division
multiplexing (TDM) voice services carried over SONET/ SDH
networks. The Internet changed that. Data now outweighs
voice both in traffic volume and growth rates. In light of expo-
nential data growth, traditional SONET/ SDH networks have
proven slow to provision, complex to manage, and expensive to
operate. Service providers need more efficient ways to increase
capacity in the optical MAN.
Cisco provides several solutions for the optical MAN, giving
service providers the choices they need to meet their particular
infrastructure and transport requirements. According to DellOro
Group, Cisco is the fastest-growing optical networking vendor and
is now the leader in OC-48 SONET.
T
nv ni cn s vvvu vi v)u~i v~i iw~y vov
Internet commuters is the metropolitan-area network
(MAN), or metro. With most major cities laying
and lighting fiber, the metro network is the local
route to long-haul networks via local points of presence (POPs).
Often, commuter traffic enters the metro through broadband
access services instead of traditional, low-speed WAN or dial
lines. And POPs are growing beyond their traditional roles of
aggregation and multiplexing to include content-driven services.
The increase in access bandwidth combined with the demand for
high-volume content services housed in POPs means that the
metro now carries a rapidly growing percentage of traffic on pub-
lic networks. Consequently, metropolitan service providers are
looking for ways to cost-effectively scale their MAN networks to
handle the increased load.
Metro
Cisco IP+Optical solutions for
metropolitan-area networks meet a variety of
application and infrastructure requirements.
Railway
Metro
Railway
The
10E_Metro.txxp 4/24/01 07:30 AM Page 76
Ethernet has emerged as a popular broadband access technology,
so Cisco enables direct Ethernet connections to SONET/SDH,
Dynamic Packet Transport (DPT), and dense wavelength-division
multiplexing (DWDM) networks. In areas with existing
SONET/SDH metro networks or to carry integrated data, voice,
and video traffic, Cisco supercharged SONET/SDH solutions
lower costs and increase service velocity. In places where the
Internet is prevalent, Cisco DPT solutions provide direct IP-over-
fiber connections using Spatial Reuse
Protocol (SRP). Where fiber exhaust is
imminent, Cisco offers DWDM solutions
optimized and priced for the metro to
increase fiber capacity.
Ethernet as Broadband
An emerging trend in broadband access
service is Ethernet to the metro ring.
Ethernet is relatively inexpensive and enter-
prise customers understand it. Cisco enables
seamless Ethernet-to-optical connectivity
through many of its IP+Optical platforms,
such as the new Cisco 7600 Optical Services Router (OSR), the
Cisco 12000 series Internet router, the Cisco ONS 15454 Optical
Transport Platform, the Cisco ONS 15327 Metro Edge Optical
Transport, and the Cisco Metro 1500 series.
Supercharged Metro Optical Transport
One of the reasons that traditional SONET/SDH networks are
slow to provision and expensive to manage is the number of boxes
required, one for each type of interface or multiplex step. To trans-
mit a DS1 signal up to an OC-48 ring requires a minimum of four
boxes. Upgrading a SONET/SDH ring to a higher speed requires
an entirely new set of boxes with the higher-speed interface.
Further, traditional SONET/SDH rings must dedicate half the
backbone bandwidth to traffic protection, thus strangling precious
capacity. In an Internet-speed economy requiring rapid response to
changing requirements, the tedium of such old-world methods
impairs service velocity and harms competitive advantage, says
Christopher Vallee, product marketing manager in the Optical
Transport Business Unit at Cisco.
Data networks have long enjoyed the benefits of modular com-
ponents and interfaces for rapid upgrades, and that paradigm
entered the SONET world with the introduction of the Cisco
ONS 15454 Optical Transport Platform. Its modular chassis sup-
ports a wide variety of interfaces, delivering supercharged SONET
transport by supporting any optical-carrier line rate, integrated opti-
cal networking such as DWDM and ITU wavelengths, and
unprecedented service flexibility with Ethernet, TDM, and
ATM interfaces.
Sigma Networks, based in San Jose, California is delivering mas-
sive metro network capacity to its carrier customers in major
metropolitan areas of the United States. The metro network is based
on the multiservice flexibility of the Cisco ONS 15454 Optical
Transport Platform and the DWDM capacity of the Cisco 15200
series DWDM system. We have been told that our approach is
rather unique in the architecture weve chosen to achieve very rapid
turnup times with very high speed bandwidth. Like all startups, we
like to think outside the box. Our challenges
are somewhat unique. We found Cisco very
willing to work with us to produce a hybrid
solution that is optimal for our needs,says
Bill Euske, chief technology officer at
Sigma. An access switch is important
because it must connect anything to any-
thing as opposed to having a rigid hierarchy.
The Cisco ONS 15454 embodies all the
forward-looking elements that a SONET
service needs. We can use it in ways that
provide up to double the capacityports
and aggregate speedof similar add/drop
multiplexers. It s non-hierarchical, which makes it flexible for our
changing needs as we go forward. The Cisco ONS 15454 can be
configured to support two trunk rings. Typical products on the mar-
ket in the add/drop SONET technology can only support one ring
because they have hierarchy.
The supercharged flexibility of the Cisco ONS 15454 platform
dramatically reduces the number of boxes in the network, which
speeds service velocity and lowers operational expenses, both key
requirements for transporting IP packets. Along with a full cross-
connect capability, integrated packet switching, statistical multi-
plexing, and a small footprint, the Cisco ONS 15454 platform means
big savings for service providers. A Cisco study indicates that deploy-
ment costs of a Cisco ONS 15454 solution saves approximately 83
percent over traditional add-drop multiplexers (ADMs). The study
also demonstrates that operational costs of a Cisco ONS 15454 net-
work are about one-fifth the cost of a traditional ADM network.
Because the metro environment is extremely competitive, service
providers must weigh the need for local market presence, or foot-
print, with the costs of establishing the network. Although the ONS
15454 is a cost-effective box compared to other offerings, it is when
service providers begin weighing the additional enhancements and
feature offerings of the ONS 15454 that its real advantages win the
day. By decreasing the cost-to-market proposition, says Vallee,
service providers find they can enter markets that they had previ-
ously thought they'd have to wait to grow.
With the introduction of the Cisco ONS 15327 Metro
Edge Optical Transport Platform, Cisco makes supercharged
SONET networks even more cost-effective. The new platform
offers the same benefits as the Cisco ONS 15454 platform but
in a smaller size optimized for metro edge applications. And
where traditional SONET services take weeks or even months
Were able to achieve
very rapid turnup times with
very high-speed bandwidth.
BI LL EUSKE, CTO, SI GMA NETWORKS

Written by Gail Meredith (gmeredit@sonic.net), a contributing editor for
Packet magazine.
to turn up, providers can install the Cisco
ONS 15327 and turn up service in as lit-
tle as 20 minutes, says Vallee.
Cisco ONS 15327 platforms can gather
traffic from enterprise customers via
routers, switches, or wireless towers and
pass them to the primary transport ring
comprised of Cisco ONS 15454 for mul-
tiplexing into TDM or IP data service
POPs (Figure 1).
The Cisco ONS 15454 platform now
supports SDH interfaces to appeal to ser-
vice providers outside the US. The Cisco
ONS 15327 platform initially supports
SONET interfaces, but will have SDH
interfaces available in the near future. The
entire supercharged metro optical transport
solution is managed via Cisco Transport
Manager (CTM).
Dynamic Packet Transport
In IP-centric environments, an alternative to
SONET/SDH infrastructures is DPT. A
direct IP-over-optical technology, DPT
allows service providers to build transport
networks on fiber rings without the use of
ATM or SONET/SDH technologies for
protection or switching. DPT enables service
providers to build next-generation, packet-
based metro networks that deliver scalable
Internet services, reliable IP-aware optical
transport, and simplified network operations.
As a data-optimized, IP+Optical tech-
nology, DPT is ideal for Internet applica-
tions. DPT is at home in service POPs and
Internet data centers where IP is prevalent,
but is also a key component for building
next-generation, packet-based MANs.
With DPT, we can extend the benefits of
the Internet into the metro,says Jeff Baher,
senior manager in the Metropolitan IP
Access Business Unit at Cisco. It enables an
entirely new architecture that eliminates
todays metro bottleneck. DPT delivers
scalable, cost-effective IP services without
compromising reliability.
The foundation of DPT is SRP, a
Media Access Control (MAC) layer proto-
SUPERCHARGED METRO OPTI CAL TRANSPORT
Wireless Access
Cisco
ONS 15327
Cisco
ONS 15327
Cisco
ONS
15454
Cisco
ONS 15454
Cisco ONS
15200
Series
Cisco ONS
15454
Cisco
ONS
15454
Cisco
ONS
15327
DS1
T1/E1
T1/E1
T1
DS1
DS3
OC-48/192 DWDM
OC-12/48 OC-12/48
Cisco
Router
Cisco
Router
Cisco
Router
Cisco
Routers
Single
Unit
Multi-
unit
Multi-
unit
PBX
PBX
Multiunit
Building
100
BaseT
FIGURE 1: Ciscos supercharged metro optical transport solutions enable unprecedented service flexibility for the metropolitan-area network. Consolidating mul-
tiple interfaces into fewer boxes such as the Cisco ONS 15454 Optical Transport Platform and Cisco ONS 15327 Metro Edge Optical Transport Platform streamlines
the architecture to lower deployment and operations costs.
col that operates over a dual-ring topology.
It marries the intelligence and scalability of
IP with the bandwidth capacity of optics. It
enables scalable bandwidth and node num-
bers along with ring survivability features.
As a media-independent protocol, SRP
can be deployed over a wide array of under-
lying physical layer technologies, including
DWDM, SONET/SDH, and dark fiber.
An SRP architecture consists of two
counter-rotating fiber rings concurrently
supporting data and control packets. Unlike
traditional, voice-era SONET/SDH rings,
which require 50 percent dedicated band-
width for protection, SRP utilizes all avail-
able bandwidth in both rings. A key feature
of the SRP protocol is intelligent protection
switching (IPS), which provides protection
similar to automatic protection switching
(APS) for SONET/SDH rings. IPS enables
50-ms IP service restoration without rout-
ing protocol reconvergence.
Ciscos high-end 12000 series Internet
routers (including the new 12410 and
12416) support DPT at OC-12/STM-4
and OC-48/STM-16 speeds, and Cisco
7500 and 7200 series routers support
OC-12/STM-4 DPT interfaces.
The complementary Cisco ONS 15190
IP Transport Concentrator also provides
DPT connectivity at OC-12/STM-4 and
OC-48/STM-16 speeds. The concentrator
enhances the reliability of DPT networks
with features such as enhanced intelligent
protection switching (E-IPS). Optical
power monitoring and sophisticated node
management features further reduce opera-
tional complexities and simplify network
management.
Eastern Multimedia Group (EMG) is a
cable television and next-generation
telecommunications provider in Taiwan.
Its network uses the Cisco 12000 Internet
router platform and DPT instead of ATM.
The cross operation between cable televi-
sion and telecommunications has made
telecommunications services-on-cable one
of the biggest opportunities in the IT
industry, says Chen Quan-Yih, general
manager of EMG. More than 70 percent
of the households in Taiwan use cable tele-
vision service. Because our existing ATM
network architecture hasnt been able to
meet the needs of the new telecommunica-
tions era, EMG has purchased Ciscos car-
rier-class, high-end routers and switches to
deploy Ciscos DPT ring architecture to
enhance the overall backbone bandwidth.
Combining Ciscos technologies with
EMGs existing broadband network archi-
tecture and competitive advantages in tele-
vision broadcasting, and print and online
media, we will be able to provide high-qual-
ity, cost-effective networks and carrier-class
broadband services.
DWDM in the Metro
With the rapid increase in metropolitan-
area traffic volumes, there is a threat of fiber
exhaust in many areas. Rather than dig and
lay more fiber at considerable expense, ser-
vice providers can deploy DWDM in the
metro. DWDM exponentially increases
transport capacity by enabling simultaneous
transmission of several signals in a single
fiber, all at different wavelengths.
DWDM is familiar to long-haul optical
cores, but until recently has been too
expensive for metro deployments. Cisco
offers innovative DWDM solutions
designed and priced specifically for the
metro network, along with short-reach
optical interfaces for its DWDM, DPT,
and supercharged metro optical transport
platforms.
Wavelength-division multiplexing is
flexible because it s compatible with any
higher-layer technology such as Ethernet,
POS [packet over SONET], or SONET,
says Tom Gallaway, manager of metro
business solutions in the Optical Transport
Business Unit at Cisco. It cost-effectively
enables both high-density aggregation and
high-volume services such as storage-area
networking.
The Cisco ONS 15200 series DWDM
system connects to any Cisco IP+Optical
platform to enable flexible traffic-gather-
ing architectures in Ethernet, super-
charged SONET/ SDH, DPT, and ITU
wavelength deployments.
The single-rack unit ONS 15201 plat-
form supports single-wavelength add/drop
transmission, making it ideal for the cus-
tomer premises, says Vik Khandelwal,
ONS 15200 series product manager in the
Optical Transport Business Unit at Cisco,
while the ONS 15252 supports up to 32
add/drop wavelengths and is designed to
handle massive traffic flow at hub or gate-
way locations.The platform delivers unam-
plified fiber span up to 100 km at rates
ranging from 100-Mbps Ethernet to 2.5
Gbps (OC-48/STM-16).
For point-to-point DWDM services,
the Cisco Metro 1500 series MAN
DWDM platform is optimized for enter-
prise protocols ranging from Ethernet to
ATM, POS, Enterprise System Connection
(ESCON), and Fibre Channel. The plat-
form supports up to 32 channels per fiber
pair at speeds up to 2.5 Gbps, making it
ideal for high-volume transport applica-
tions such as storage-area networking.
Our carrier customers are going to
want to buy the highest speed we can run,
says Euske at Sigma. When that was
OC-48, theyd want to buy OC-48. Today
it s OC-192, and they want to buy OC-192.
So we have to go in a different direction to
make the economics of our business work,
and that direction is dense wavelength-divi-
sion multiplexing. Weve blended the best
features of the Cisco ONS 15454 and the
Cisco ONS 15200, and since they both
share the same ITU grid for DWDM, we
can mix and match for economic service
benefit.
T
he cross operation
between cable television
and telecommunications
has made telecommunica-
tions services-on-cable
one of the biggest opportu-
nities in the IT industry.
CHEN QUAN-YI H, GENERAL MANAGER

EASTERN MULTI MEDI A GROUP, TAI WAN
Connected to the Cisco ONS 15454
platform, the Cisco ONS 15216 Terminal
Filter enables DWDM transport in
supercharged SONET networks. Designed
for ease of installation, the ONS 15216
requires no special skills or optical field
technicians to deploy. The ONS 15216 is
dummy proof, says Vallee. It can be
bolted up by regular field staff.
Light-Speed Railways
In conjunction with Cisco IP+Optical
solutions for the service POP and the
long-haul core, Ciscos light-speed metro
railway is the optical network solution that
helps service providers prepare for the
demands and opportunities of the Internet.
Its value goes far beyond flexible, consoli-
dated interfaces and multiplexing to enable
the new generation of content-driven ser-
vices at ever-higher speeds.
To learn more about the topics
discussed in this article, visit Packet
Online at cisco.com/go/packet/metro.
s Cisco IP+Optical metro solutions
s Cisco 12000 series Internet router
s Dense wavelength-division
multiplexing
s Dynamic Packet Transport
s Next-generation SONET/SDH
FURTHER READI NG
NATI VE I P OVER OPTI CAL
Cisco 12000
Internet Router
Cisco 12000 Cisco 12000
Cisco 12400
Cisco 7600 OSR Cisco 7600 OSR
Cisco 12400
Cisco 7200
Cisco 3600
Cisco 2600
Cisco 7200
Cisco 3600
Cisco 2600
Cisco 7200
Cisco 3600
Cisco 2600
Cisco
7500
Cisco
7500
Cisco
7500
Cisco ONS 15104 Cisco ONS 15104
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7500
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7200
Cisco
7500
Cisco
7500
Internet
Metro IP Access
OC-12/ STM-4 DPT
Regional Metro IP
OC-48/ STM-16 DPT
Metro IP Access
OC-12/ STM-4 DPT
Cisco
ONS 15190
FIGURE 2: Cisco enables direct IP-over-fiber internetworking with its DPT technology on the Cisco 12000 series Internet routers and Cisco ONS 15190 IP Transport
Concentrator platforms, along with DPT interface support for Cisco 7500 and 7200 series routers. DPT provides high-bandwidth capacity for IP with SONET-
quality protection.
Metro Railway, Continued from page 79
P
H
O
T
O

C
R
E
D
I
T
E
ui sox. u~ vi xci . :~vcoxi .
We recognize their names as easily as our own. But what
about Nellenbach, Turner, or Chen? In the era of corpora-
tions and conglomerates, inventors of products we use
everyday go largely unknown. Even as we mention these
names, we do injustice to the countless team members that
provide the inspiration, the perspiration, and the sharing of
ideas that conspire to bring the next big thing to market.
Innovators
n e t i z e ns
Just some of
the people
who make
things happen
at Cisco and
on the
Internet.
T
H
E
I N N O V A T O R S
08A_Netizens.txxxp 4/24/01 07:20 AM Page 83
While we cant pay homage to all the
great minds at Cisco, wed like to take this
opportunity to introduce you to a hand-
ful of our modern-day innovators, and
give them an opportunity to speak out on
what it means to innovate, where this
drive comes from, and why they like
doing it for Cisco.Eds.
A key notion of being an innovator
is your willingness to take risks and do
something a little bit differentto
take a chance that youre going to fall
flat on your face, says Scott Nellenbach, a director
of engineering at Cisco and leader of the team that
developed the Parallel Express Forwarding (PXF)
network processor. You have to be fearless,agrees
Carson Chen, vice president and general manager of
Ciscos Broadband Cable Products and Solutions
Business Unit. You want to move so fast in your
space that you begin to see things that other folks
cant. It s not necessarily that you have the solution,
but because youre way ahead of the pack, you have
that kind of visibility. You know what questions to
ask, and when. You know the limitations.
In engineering, being ahead of the pack often
means putting together your own proprietary
design. And in 1996, that s exactly what Chens
team did until the cable industry put out a white
paper for a standard headend design that same year.
It was clear because there was dominant design,
we had to shift our strat-
egy, recalls Chen. We
embraced that technol-
ogy because it was a
standard put out by the
cable operators them-
selves and how they
wanted to run their
businesses moving for-
ward.
Innovation, like
everything else at Cisco,
is driven by customer
need. Our focus on the
customer is relentless,
Chen reinforces. We
try to understand their
business model, how
that can generate rev-
enue, and how we can
help enable them and
move them forward very quickly.Within a month,
Chens team had brought in every major chief
technology officer in the cable industry to help
define the requirements for the Cisco uBR7246
cable headend system. Because his team followed
what Cisco calls practical innovation,Cisco is cur-
rently the market leader in cable modem termina-
tion system (CMTS) headends.
Practical Innovation
Theres no innovation for innovations sake.
Technological advances must solve real-world, cus-
tomer problems, and they must have a real chance of
succeeding in the marketplace. A lot of companies
start with technology, explains Don Turner, manager
of hardware engineering in Ciscos Optical
Technology Business Unit. They figure out how to
switch light or do something innovative and then
look around and say,
What am I going to do
with this technology? Is
there anything useful to
do with it? Turners
team took a different
approach. We started by
trying to solve a prob-
lem. Service providers
have all this bandwidth
in their network core
thanks to optical tech-
nology, but they cant
launch innovative new
services that take advan-
tage of that bandwidth
until they can get it
closer to end users. The
ONS 15327s small form
factor allows providers to
deploy large amounts of
I
n
n
o
v
a
t
o
r
I N N O V A T I O N
The PXF network processor is a
programmable router chip thats so
fast its 12 to 18 months ahead of the
market and already being used in
multiple Cisco platforms.
I N N O V A T O R
S c o t t
N e l l e n b a c h
n e t i z e ns
Innovator
I N N O V A T I O N
The Cisco uBR7246 Universal
Broadband Router is the first DOCSIS
standards-qualified cable modem
aggregation and routing platform.
I N N O V A T O R
C a r s o n C h e n
bandwidth at the network edge or customer
premises at a very reasonable cost.
However, it takes more than an innovative idea
and a penchant for solving customer problems to be
successful in the marketplace. It takes teamwork,
patience, and a near-
obsessive desire for
perfection. Practical
innovation means not
rushing to market with
an inferior product.
At Cisco, there is
a good sense of
integritya real drive
to get the technology
right before shipping
it out the door, says
Bill Ryall, a hardware
engineer working on
Ciscos OC-192 Very
Short Reach (VSR)
technology. The cal-
iber of designers is
excellent and that
impacts the innovative
process from start to
finish.
Turner concurs. We had a great team that
worked well together and was very dedicated to
meeting our goal of delivering the industrys first
highly scalable, multiservice optical platform in
such a compact footprint. But it had to be thor-
oughly tested to ensure 100 percent reliability, and
that takes time, equipment, and people.
Fortunately, Turners team was able to leverage
technology used in the wildly successful ONS 15454.
The resources Cisco is able to provide enabled us to
be first to market with an innovative new product
that was built right the first time,says Turner.
Keeping an Open Mind
Innovation may force the individual to open his or her
mind to new possibilities, but getting from idea to fin-
ished product requires that the entire organization
promote an attitude of openness, teamwork, and a
willingness to look wherever it takes to solve prob-
lems. This spirit of openness was one of the first things
Nellenbach noticed when he joined Cisco in 1996.
It was a stark contrast to anything that I had
experienced. The communication level from the
top down was incredible, says Nellenbach. You
have access to basically the entire management
chain. Openness helps to quickly resolve issues
that come up and fosters trust among team mem-
bers. It allows you to get the information you
need to do the job, adds Nellenbach. Instead
of a more hierarchical approachyou try to get rid
of all that. You try to
keep the information
flow open and let the
engineers make the
decisions as much as
possible. I think that s
what enables some of
these highly innovative
ideas to come out.
While developing
Ciscos Dynamic Packet
Transport (DPT) tech-
nology, the engineering
team hit a wall. It was
Ciscos no wallspolicy
of openness that got
them moving again.
When the team
encountered an area in
which we lacked exper-
tise, we recruited help
from outside the imme-
diate group,recalls Cisco Distinguished Engineer
David Tsiang. A member of another business unit
joined our efforts and contributed significantly by
proposing and developing a simulation model of
DPTs fairness algorithm. This simulation model
I
n
n
o
v
a
t
o
r
I N N O V A T I O N
The ONS 15327 is a revolutionary
optical transport platform that
enables customers to deliver revenue-
generating Internet-scale services
to the edge of the network.
I N N O V A T O R S
D o n T u r n e r
S r i d h a r
V e n k a t e s h
Innovator
I N N O V A T I O N
At least one year ahead of alternative solutions, Ciscos
OC-192 VSR utilizes low-cost parallel optics technology
to speed deployments of OC-192 links to scale networks
while lowering overall connectivity costs.
I N N O V A T O R S
G a r y N i c h o l l
M a r k N o w e l l
B i l l R y a l l
n e t i z e ns
really allowed us to move forward in our develop-
ment.
Sometimes the expertise you need isnt sitting
in the cube next door. That s when you get inno-
vative in another sense and look outside the com-
pany for the skills you need.
We look at solving a problem in three differ-
ent areas,offers Chen. You either manufacture or
you develop it. You can buy or license the technol-
ogy, or you create joint ventures, strategic alliances,
or mergers and acquisitions. So we look at where
we need to be. We look at our core competencies,
and if our core competencies are in line with
where that thrust needs to be, then we develop it.
If not, then well find the other two mechanisms to
be able to solve that problem. But again, it s cus-
tomer driven right from the start, says Chen.
Motivation for Innovation
While Cisco is a big company, engineering groups
are given a challenge and then more or less treated
like a startup, explains Tony Bates, vice president
and general manager of Ciscos Internet POP
Systems Business Unit. One of the ways Cisco has
maintained its entrepreneurial edge is by revering
and rewarding its engineers. Cisco really values
engineering and the innovation of its engineers,
explains Chen. That s why we have created paral-
lel paths in terms of management.
Engineers who are individual contributors at
Cisco can rise as high as a director-level equivalent.
And then you have Distinguished Engineer and
Fellow, says Chen. You can have a tremendous
amount of influence on Ciscos technical direction.
It s that influencethe idea that your work can
make it out there in the real worldthat motivates
many individuals at Cisco. To know that the fruit
of all of your work is going to be realized is amaz-
ing,says Ryall. When you retire, you can actually
say that you made a difference.
Michael Laor, director of engineering at Cisco
and one of the key innovators behind the Cisco
12000 series Internet router, as well as the new
10-gigabit 12410 and 12416 chassis (see 10G:
It s Here,page 42) sums up his Cisco experience
this way. This is the coolest job in the world.
You can look back and say, I worked on the pro-
ject that runs the Internet today!That s a pretty
awesome feeling.
Innovator
I N N O V A T I O N
The Cisco 12410 and 12416 Internet routers
operate faster than a router ever has
before. They intelligently sort and transmit
data for OC-192 (10-Gbps) rates.
I N N O V A T O R
G a r r y E p p s
I N N O V A T O R
M i c h a e l L a o r
I
n
n
o
v
a
t
o
r
I N N O V A T I O N
DPT technology uses innovative
algorithms to efficiently route
Internet traffic, free up bandwidth,
and simplify networks.
I N N O V A T O R S
Ge orge Suwal a
Dav i d Ts i a ng
Tony Bat e s
For more on the innovators and innovations
of Cisco, please visit the following URLs:
s Innovations@Cisco:
cisco.com/go/innovators
s Cisco 12000 series Internet Routers:
cisco.com/go/12000
s Cisco ONS 15327 and
Dynamic Packet Transport (DPT):
cisco.com/go/metro
s Very Short Reach (VSR) optics:
cisco.com/go/vsr
FURTHER READI NG
n e t i z e ns
Innovators, Continued from page 85
J
O
Y
C
E

H
E
S
S
E
B
E
R
T
H
/
S
I
S
Technology
I
v )nv xvw woviu
of packet telephony is
already bringing the
power and dynamism of
the Internet to voice networks,
Ciscos implementation of the
Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP) promises to make the
distinction between voice and
data networks irrelevant.
The key concept behind
SIP is its ability to separate
the physical devices (such as
telephones) from the users,
and the service-logic from
centralized control. This abstraction of service from
physical location allows features such as presence and
mobility to be possible. SIP provides the ability to
locate and communicate with someone virtually any-
where, using any combination of Internet technologies,
telephones and pagers.
SIP takes as its starting point the intelligent
endpointan autonomous IP host as opposed to the
traditional telephone handset. Features are thus actu-
ally implemented in devices such as SIP phones, rather
than the central controlling switches found in time-
division multiplexing (TDM) networks. SIP-enabled
phonesincluding Ciscos IP Phone 7960support
private branch exchange (PBX)-like features such as
call hold, redialing, speed dialing, transferring calls,
placing conference calls, and accessing voice mail. But
where traditional PBX systems typically require pro-
prietary handsets, Internet-Drafts co-authored by
WorldCom and Cisco engineers show that PBX-style
features such as conferencing and voice mail can be sup-
ported on a global basis across ISP networks, using SIP
phones from a variety of vendors. Other features will be
standardized and interoperable as well, including instant
communications and more.
Yet theres no need to wait in order to tap SIPs
advantages. The state of development of SIP-based
products is well beyond the lab at this point says
Ciscos Tom Redman, who serves as consulting systems
engineer, IXC area. For example, Ciscos SIP-based
solution includes unified messagingconverting voice
messages to text messages on the same server. Other
applications enabled by SIP include instant messaging
over any media, and the ability for users to establish
caller and called-party preferences.
SIP Goes Mainstream
Ciscos SIP-based solutions bring the true power of the Internet
to telephony.
11A_Technology.txp 4/24/01 08:14 AM Page 89
WorldCom is among the service providers setting
the pace in rolling out SIP services. As a leader in new
voice services, we think that SIP has the biggest
potential, says Dr. Henry Sinnreich, distinguished
member of engineering at WorldCom. Where other
voice-over-IP (VoIP) protocols are often linked to tra-
ditional telephone systems, SIP offers an open stan-
dard for voice and data integration.
SIP is not about redesigning voice, its about redefin-
ing it,Sinnreich says. So we used our internal expertise
on voice and data to start with SIP on a solid footing.
In the beginning of 2001, WorldCom announced
new SIP services to enterprise users with their IP
Comm suite of services, says Teresa Hastings,
WorldComs director of multimedia services engineer-
ing. These will include unified messaging, instant con-
ferencing and IP-based, Centrex-style services.
SIP is incredibly flexible, she says. It s built
around Internet and Web protocols, so that it will
seamlessly integrate with the Web and other Internet
services, and that s critical. Development is straight-
forward, and it will scale widely.
Ciscos Gateway to SIP
SIP was originally developed by the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF) Multiparty Multimedia Session
Control (MMUSIC) Working Group to provide multi-
media call session setup and control over IP networks.
Defined in the IETFs RFC 2543, SIP is supported in
Cisco IOS
Release 12.1(5)T and above on selected plat-

forms, including Ciscos AS5300 access servers as well as
Cisco 2600 and 3600 series routers. Cisco SIP phones
have been available since the third quarter of 2000.
Where the first generation of VoIP implementations
were aimed at achieving cost savings and voice trunking
efficiencies, SIP breaks new ground by treating voice just
like any other IP application. Indeed, its important to
keep in mind that SIP establishes sessionswhich
arent necessarily voice calls, says Redman.
Videoconferencing is a session-oriented service that
is arguably more demanding than a voice call, he
explains. But with SIP, the process of establishing the
session between the two endpoints is virtually the same.
The same session routing infrastructure and service logic
can be applied, regardless of whether it is voice or video.
Breaking the Mold
SIPs possibilitiesand powerwill be realized on IP
backbone networks. IP frees us from the constraints of
fixed-bandwidth voice channels, which characterize the
existing public switched telephone network, says
Redman. For instance, a switched video session
between two parties on the PSTN requires me to go
through a complex and expensive process to complete
the call, using technology such as PRI [Primary Rate
Interface] ISDN. And Id still be limited to 1.472
Megabits per second. I would be very unhappy with a
network that imposed this limitation.
SIP provides a way past that impassethanks in
part to a steadily dropping cost per bit in transmission
costs as well as the growing availability of bandwidth to
the premises. As a result, service providers can use the
Technology
SAMPL E SI P CAL L FL OW
Redirect Registrar
Location
Database
Register:
Here I am.
Redirection:
They moved.
Try this address.
Locate:
Where is this
name or
phone number?
SIP User
Agents
SIP User
Agents
Invite:
I want to talk
to another
user agent.
Proxied invite:
I'll handle it
for you.
SIP Servers and Services
SIP Proxy
ROLL CALL: SIP clients
or user agents register
with a SIP Registrar to
establish a repository
of location information
for each user. The caller
then places a call by
forwarding a SIP
invite message to
the SIP Proxy. The SIP
Proxy inquires of
Registrars, Redirect
Servers or Location
Databases to deter-
mine where the called
party currently resides.
Session establishment
functions between SIP
clients can now begin,
including capabilities
exchange, QoS activi-
ties, and establishment
of the media path.
same IP network infrastructure for both voice and data.
SIP takes full advantage of the IP network,
Redman says. All it wants is a high-performance fab-
ric to transport the packets. If I have fat enough pipes
between you and me, and possibly some form of QoS,
we can exchange rich content in sessions that meet our
own specifications.For example, the session may start
with voice, and then be modified to include video.
There should be no loss of functionality if a user cuts
loose from her desk and hits the road. SIP allows a caller
to register with the network, perhaps through a network-
accessible proxy server. And by using SIPs capabilities to
intelligently route sessions according to customized
policy, she can make sure she gets an urgent call even if
shes on the ski slopes, or urgent text communications
when in a high-level meeting or at the symphony.
These services are commercially availableservice
providers are beginning to offer this today, Redman says.
With SIP, people are starting to see what telephony
based on the Internet model is really all about.
Technology
WorldCom Pioneers SIP Services
As a relatively new standard, SIP may be considered by
some to be an unproven technology for VoIP. But for
WorldComs network engineers, it was the only logical
choice for developing the service providers vast Internal
Data Network (IDN).
We literally threw out our initial development of voice-over-
IP technology, explains Bob Oliver, WorldComs architect for
the IDN, which has 80,000 internal customers. We were
attacking it from a standard circuit-switched telephony
model.
The first benefit was genuine integration of voice and data
on the same network. In the TDM world, you have one size
for an IP pipe, another size for another service, and so on.
With VoIP, you can size the IP pipe so you dont have to run
parallel organizations to support different networks.
The problem was that most VoIP standards cant be integrat-
ed into the application layer of the data network. Thus, even if
they shared a common IP backbone, they would still require a
parallel telephony infrastructure. Most important, the appli-
cations running on different networks cant be integrated.
SIP, by contrast, allows the same network, servers and
clients to handle voice and data. Thus WorldCom enthusi-
astically backed SIP standards development in the IETF and
significantly contributed to this work while collaborating
with Cisco to develop a SIP infrastructure.
The benefits were immediate. Right off the bat, we had a
sophisticated e-mail system with unified messaging,
Oliver recalls. The second benefit was an instant messag-
ing system, which is becoming an industry-standard
requirement. SIP is a natural for an integrated instant
messaging/unified messaging environment.
The SIP infrastructure is based on Cisco AS5300 Access
Servers, which act as gateways, as well as Cisco 3600 series
routerstechnology that is familiar to WorldCom network
engineers and administratorsand the Cisco Voice
Manager, a Web-based tool to configure and provision
voice services. About half of WorldComs IDN sites will be
running SIP by April 2001, with 80 or so SIP phones
installed and many more in the pipe, to replace initially
planned PBX phones.
This infrastructure allows WorldComs internal network to
support the concept of presence, Oliver says. You declare
where you are, and when you want messages sent to you as
part of registration on the network,he explains.So a call first
comes to my desk, then to my two-way pager, then to my cell
phone. We want to integrate a public key infrastructure with
this as well, so that you can be authenticated as you move
around.
WorldComs IP Comm commercial offerings will handle
routing and mobility services, native IP phone support and
interconnection to the PSTN. That means enterprise users
wont have to flash-cut their voice networks to SIP-based
data services, explains Teresa Hastings, head of WorldComs
multimedia services engineering.
When an enterprise implements SIP technology on its
own, its engineers have to maintain gateway and router
management. WorldCom, by contrast, provides SIP-based
VoIP services at the network edge. Enterprises dont have
to throw out their phones, Hastings explains. On the
premises, they bridge their voice traffic onto the data net-
work using Cisco AS5300s. That is a key element of the
transition strategy to SIP.
And thats just the beginning, Hastings adds. This is a com-
ponentized architecture that is open. That is good for every-
one, including us. Niche developers might have a value-add
service for, say, the trucking industry. We provide enough
services to make that happen. This is a rich environment.
For more
information,
visit Packet
Online at
cisco.com/go/
packet/sip.
T
n v v ~ v i u v x u ) o v x u
provisioning of IP services over
optical transport networks is at
the heart of most major network
service providers business strategies going
forward. As service providers prepare to
marry competitive new IP services with the
generous bandwidth available using new
fiber-optic transport technologies, however,
they face some significant technical and
administrative challenges, including the fol-
lowing:
s
Service providers administer IP networks
and optical networks separately, which is
growing complex and expensive. There
are multiple protocols and management
systems for the various network layers that
do not communicate with one another.
s
Optical capacity cannot be provisioned on
a real-time basis. Paths through
SONET/SDH optical networks, for
example, are provisioned as dedicated cir-
cuits to support different customers or
traffic types. With some customer traffic
approaching speeds equivalent to todays
backbone capacity, service providers need a
way to provision multigigabit-speed paths
through their networks on short notice.
s
There are no traffic engineering capabil-
ities at the optical layer (Layer 1).
s
Restoration schemes at the various net-
work layers are uncoordinated.
To overcome these hurdles, there is work
afoot by Cisco, in cooperation with indus-
try standards groups, to build an integrated
IP and optical control plane. This technical
framework will allow the different layers of
an IP+Optical network to interoperate from
a signaling, management, service provi-
sioning, restoration, and billing perspective.
Service providers, for example, will be able
to provision network capacity through their
backbones, on demand, with certain asso-
ciated service-level metrics. Cisco refers to
this development effort as the Unified
Control Plane (UCP). The UCP will be
based on two key protocols: IP (and its
associated routing algorithms) and exten-
sions to the traffic engineering component
of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS),
called Multiprotocol Lambda Switching
(MP S).
Todays Optical Landscape
Currently, service provider companies must
retain separate groups of experts to manage
the multiple control protocols used in their
networks. These include IP routing algo-
rithms such as Open Shortest Path First
(OSPF) at Layer 3; the Private Network-
Network Interface (PNNI) link-state proto-
col for ATM at Layer 2; and SONET/SDH
operations, administration, maintenance and
provisioning (OAM&P) at Layer 1. The
separate groups responsible for the different
protocols must manually communicate back
and forth to get new services
deployed, managed, and billed.
This approach is becoming too
slow and expensive to meet new
network requirements.
In addition, SONET/SDH
is not as flexible as service
providers would like for packet-
based traffic. It was developed to
harness fiber capacity primarily
for carrying large volumes of time-division
multiplexing (TDM) voice and legacy traf-
fic and thus builds connections on a static
basis, dedicating predefined portions of
bandwidth to specific traffic flows.
When creating multiple SONET/SDH
rings, the maximum bandwidth that can be
derived from a single fiber today is OC-
192/STM-64 (10 Gbps). Although this
may seem like an enormous amount of
capacity, the economic and efficient use of
the capacity is now a focus of concern that
the UCP addresses.
Bottom-Line Returns
With newer dense wavelength-division
multiplexing (DWDM) technologies, ser-
vice providers can provision multiple logical
fibers, each running at OC-192/STM-64
speeds, within a single physical fiber. A uni-
fied control plane will enable that provi-
sioning to take place in real time. In
addition, a single group within a service
provider organization will be able to provi-
sion and manage different services, a shift
that will speed both time to market with
new offerings and turnaround times in ful-
filling customer orders.
Taking Control
A unified control plane for IP+Optical networks will revolutionize service
provisioning and network administration.
BY DAVI D MERRELL
Technically Speaking
DAVID MERRELL is manager of
technical marketing in Ciscos
Optical Networking Group. He can
be reached at dmerrell@cisco.com.
DAVID MERRELL
09A_TechSpeak.txp 4/24/01 07:16 AM Page 93
New Product Dispatches
Network and
Enterprise Core
Cisco WT-2750 Multipoint Broadband
Wireless System
An alternative solution for last-mile broadband
access, the new Cisco WT-2750 Broadband
Wireless System supports point-to-multi-
point installations. Incorporating Ciscos
award-winning Vector Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiplexing (VOFDM) technol-
ogy, the Cisco WT-2750 delivers outstanding
system performance, coverage, and scalability.
VOFDM technology compensates for
obstructionsan industry firstand enhances
signal quality for near line-of-sight links. The
fixed wireless solution integrates seamlessly
with Cisco uBR7200 series universal broad-
band routers for the headend and Cisco 2600
and 3600 series routers for subscriber access.
Supporting multiple frequency bands, the
Cisco WT-2750 system includes a subscriber
network module, headend line card and
transverter, power feed panel, and multipoint
duplexer. The WT-2750 is covered in greater
detail on page 31.
ci sco.com / go/ wi r el ess
Cisco Metro 1500 Series: Four-Port
ESCON TDM Module
The new four-port Enterprise Systems
Connection (ESCON) time- division
multiplexing (TDM) module supports
up to 128 ESCON channels over 32
wavelengths with a single IP address.
This module is available for the Cisco
Metro 1500 series dense wavelength-
division multiplexing (DWDM) plat-
form. On each wavelength, the module
multiplexes four ESCON channels into a
Gigabit Ethernet-like frame and maps
the aggregate signal onto the wavelength
with 200-GHz spacing as defined in the
International Telecommunications Union
(ITU) G.692 standard.
ci sco.com / go/ m et r o150 0
Cisco Secure PIX Firewall VPN
Accelerator Card
The virtual private network (VPN) accel-
erator card for the Cisco Secure PIX
fire-
wall series provides high-performance
tunneling and encryption services suitable
for site-to-site and remote-access applica-
tions. This hardware-based VPN accelera-
tor card (VAC) is optimized to handle IP
Security (IPsec)-related tasks such as hash-
ing, key exchange, and storing security
associations. The Cisco Secure PIX firewall
VAC supports as many as 2000 tunnels and
provides 100 Mbps of 168-bit Triple Data
Encryption Standard (3DES) throughput.
ci sco.com / go/ pi x
Cisco IGX 8400 Universal Router
Module
The Cisco IGX
8400 Universal Router

Module (URM) provides native support for
a full suite of IP services. Enterprise users can
scale multiservice-over-IP and IP-routing
applications, provision branch integration
services such as voice over IP, and implement
voice network switching with technologies
such as H.323. The Cisco IGX 8400 URM
is available with two voice-enabled back
cards, each with two T1/E1 voice ports and
two Fast Ethernet ports.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ si / i g840 0
Cisco 7200 and 7500 Series:
Multichannel STM-1 Port Adapter
The multichannel STM-1 port adapter for
Cisco 7500 routers is designed to support
SDH network connections. This single-
wide port adapter enables users to config-
ure an STM-1 into channels as small as 64
kbps for up to 256 logical channels, each
supporting a variety of encapsulations. The
PA-MC-STM-1 enables a variety of ser-
vice interconnections, including concurrent
support for leased-line and Frame Relay
services. Plans for FlexWAN support are
under way.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ i f aa/ pa/ i ndex.sht m l
12A_NPDs.txp 4/24/01 07:13 AM Page 95
ne w p r oduc t di s pat c he s
Cisco 7200 and Cisco 7500 Series:
Dual-Port Fast Ethernet Port Adapter
The dual-port Fast Ethernet port adapter
for Cisco 7200 and Cisco 7500 routers pro-
vides the highest throughput for Fast
Ethernet packets available today. The sin-
gle-wide port adapter is suitable for cam-
pus or enterprise backbones, data centers,
and high-performance routing between
multiple virtual LANs. The PA-2FE-TX
(copper connectors) and PA-2FE-FX
(fiber connectors) support either 10- or
100-Mbps configurations with autonego-
tiation of network speed and duplex mode.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ i f aa/ pa/ f set pa/ pr odl i t /
1224_pp.ht m
Cisco 7200 Series: MIX-Enabled T1/E1
Port Adapters
The new multiservice interchange (MIX)-
enabled port adapters for Cisco 7200
routers integrate voice and data on the
same T1/E1 interface without an external
TDM device. The single-wide port
adapters incorporate two, four, or eight
ports designed for either T1 or E1 con-
nections and can be configured for voice,
data, or both depending on application
requirements. Each adapter integrates a
channel service unit/digital service unit
(CSU/ DSU), MIX support, and DS0
drop-and-insert functionality.
ci sco.com/ war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ i faa/ pa/ mi x/ i ndex.sht ml
Cisco 7200 Series Broadband User
Services Software
The Cisco IOS
broadband user services

(BUS) software license for the Cisco 7200
router delivers up to 8000 scaled Point-to-
Point Protocol (PPP), route-bridge encap-
sulation (RBE), and Layer 2 Tunneling
Protocol (L2TP) sessions and tunnels, as
well as other IP services for provisioning
broadband Internet access. The software
supports all popular broadband access tech-
nologies and is required for any Cisco 7200
router terminating more than 1000 sessions.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ r t / 720 0 / pr odl i t /
bba_pl .ht m
Central Office
and Point of
Presence
Cisco 12416 and Cisco 12410 Internet
Routers
Two new 10-Gbps Internet routersthe
Cisco 12416 and 12410enable greater
deployment flexibility while delivering
more than twice the capacity of 10-Gbps-
capable platforms available in the market
today. The Cisco 12410 supports 10-Gbps
full-duplex throughput in a ten-slot chas-
sis, and the Cisco 12416 is a 16-slot chas-
sis also capable of 10-Gbps throughput.
Building on the distributed, nonblocking
switch-fabric design of the Cisco 12000
series, unique features of the Cisco 12400
models include a dedicated 25-million-pps
forwarding engine, guaranteed delivery of
priority packets, and support for industry-
standard Very Short Reach (VSR) inter-
faces for OC-192c/STM-64c. The new
Cisco 12416 and 12410 Internet routers
are covered in greater detail on page 42.
ci sco.com / go/ 120 0 0
Cisco 12416 and 12410 Internet
Routers: New Line Cards
Two new line cards are available for Cisco
12416 and 12410 Internet routers. The
single-port OC-192c/STM-64c packet-
over-SONET (POS) line card and four-
port OC-48c/STM-16 POS line card for
the Cisco 12400 routers enable service
providers to scale their backbones to 10-
Gbps performance with guaranteed packet
delivery. Six-port and 12-port E3 line cards
simplify deployment and delivery of E3
leased-line services. The E3 line cards sup-
port Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), high-
level link control, and Frame Relay services
for IP-based direct access or IP-over-Frame
Relay deployments. For more information,
see page 42.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ i faa/ oc192/ i ndex.sht m l
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ i f aa/ oc48/ i ndex.sht m l
Cisco 7600 Optical Services Router
The new Cisco 7600 Optical Services
Router (OSR) supports high-performance
WAN and metropolitan-area network
(MAN) connectivity. The 7600 OSR deliv-
ers exceptional IP routing and high-touch IP
services performance at up to 30 million
ppsenabling service providers to differen-
tiate their offerings for competitive advan-
tage. A choice of optical services modules
support OC-48, OC-12, and high-density
OC-3 connectivity along with a four-port
Gigabit Ethernet WAN module. With the
FlexWAN module, the OSR provides DS0
to OC-3/STM-1 connectivity and invest-
ment protection for Cisco 7200 and Cisco
7500 port adapters. The Cisco 7600 OSR is
covered in greater detail on page 39.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ r t / 760 0 osr
Cisco ONS 15327 Metro Edge Optical
Transport Platform
The new Cisco ONS 15327 platform is
designed for greater efficiency at the edge of
the metropolitan optical transport network.
The Cisco ONS 15327 transports high-
speed data, SONET/SDH services, and
dense wavelength-division multiplexing
(DWDM) wavelengths directly from access
rings to the customer premises. The Cisco
12A_NPDs.txp 4/24/01 07:13 AM Page 96
ONS 15327 delivers OC-48 transport and
supports high-density SONET/SDH elec-
trical (DS1, E1, DS3) and optical interfaces
along with synchronous transport signal
and virtual tributary cross-connection. To
learn more about Cisco ONS optical edge
platforms, see page 76.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ ol pl / m et r o/ on15327
Cisco Media Gateway Manager for
MGX 8260 Voice Media Gateway
The new Cisco Media Gateway Manager
(MGM) automates network-wide configu-
ration and monitoring of the Cisco MGX
8260 Media Gateway. With comprehensive,
centralized gateway control, users can
increase network reliability and reduce
maintenance and operation costs. Features
of the Cisco MGM include auto-discovery
of network elements, MGM database syn-
chronization with the MGX 8260 network,
multichassis software download, Web-based
device management, real-time and color-
coded fault alerts, flexible event filtering,
customizable event notifications, thresh-
old-based alarms, line diagnostic tests, per-
formance monitoring, and Common Object
Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)
IDL interface for solution integration. Cisco
MGM is built on the Cisco Element
Management Framework.
ci sco.com / uni ver cd/ cc/ t d/ doc/ pr oduct / wanbu/
m gx8260 / cm gm / r el not e/ 10 1r nm gm .ht m
Cisco Subscriber Registration Center:
Device Provisioning Registrar 2.0
The Cisco Subscriber Registration Center
(CSRC) Device Provisioning Registrar
(DPR) 2.0 makes it easier than ever for ser-
vice providers to help their customers
deploy high-speed data and voice-over-IP
services over DOCSIS cable modems,
DVB/DAVIC digital set-top-boxes, and
fixed wireless devices. This second-gener-
ation CSRC product builds intelligence on
top of Cisco Network Registrar protocol
servers, allowing providers to automate
the subscriber provisioning process and
providing enhanced performance, scala-
bility, and reliability. CSRC DPR 2.0 also
comes with a Java-based provisioning
application programming interface (API)
to ensure fast, seamless integration with
customers existing and next-generation
operations support systems (OSS).
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ 779/ ser vpr o/ oper at e/ csm /
nem nsw/ csr c/ pr odl i t / i ndex.sht m l
Campus,
Departments,
and Workgroups
Cisco Aironet 350 Series
The Cisco Aironet
350 series of 802.11b-

compliant wireless LAN products includes
high-speed access points, bridges, and
client adapters. Enterprises can now pro-
vide fully secure mobile network access
and increase employee productivity
throughout a campus environment. The
Cisco Aironet 350 series offers scalable,
centralized security management and sup-
ports dynamic single-session, single-user
encryption keys. The series also provides a
high-power, 100-mW radio architecture
with increased receive sensitivity and
range. Advanced signal processing, filter-
ing, and power management capabilities
deliver industry-leading throughput and
reliability at speeds up to 11 Mbps.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ wi t c/ ao350 ap
Cisco Long-Reach Ethernet Solution
An innovative broadband access and ser-
vice delivery technology from Cisco
called Long- Reach Ethernet (LRE)
brings 5- to 15-Mbps performance to
multiunit buildings and enterprise cam-
puses over existing Category 1/ 2/ 3
wiring. The new LRE solution consists of
Catalyst
2900 LRE XL switches, the

Cisco 575 LRE customer premises
equipment (CPE), and the Cisco LRE-48
POTS Splitter. Catalyst 2900 LRE XL
switches (12 or 24 ports) provide up to 15-
Mbps symmetric performance at distances
from 3500 to 5000 feet, enterprise-class
management, quality of service (QoS),
and security features. The Cisco 575 LRE
CPE bridges LRE and Ethernet traffic
and supports POTS traffic over the LRE
telephone line. The Cisco LRE-48 POTS
Splitter enables LRE and POTS to coex-
ist on the same line.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ si / casi / ca290 0
12A_NPDs.txp 4/24/01 07:13 AM Page 97
Small and Midsized Businesses,
Branch Offices, and Home Offices
Cisco IOS Software Update
Keeping up with Ciscos myriad
new products can be a challenge.
To help readers stay informed,
Packet
magazines New Product

Dispatches provide snapshots
of the latest products released
by Cisco between January and
April 2001. For real-time
announcements of the most
recently released products,
check the Whats New section
of Ciscos Web site at
cisco.com/warp/public/6/.
ABOUT NEW
PRODUCT
DI SPATCHES
Cisco IAD2400 Series
The new Cisco IAD2400 series offers smart
integrated access devices (IADs) for man-
aged data and voice services. These devices
significantly reduce installation costs with
the industrys first Simple Network-Enabled
Auto Provisioning (SNAP
) technologies.
Each Cisco IAD2400 model has a choice of
eight or 16 analog ports or one T1 digital
port for voice connectivity. A choice of T1
or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) WAN
interfaces supports robust voice-over-ATM
Adaptation Layer 2 (VoAAL2) and voice-
over-IP (VoIP) implementations. The
IAD2400 operates within Class 5 switch
bypass/call agent or Class 5 switch access
architectures.
ci sco.com / go/ 240 0
NBAR and QDM Support for
Cisco 2600 and 3600 Series Routers
Two Cisco IOS
software technologies are

now supported by Cisco 2600 and 3600
series modular access routers. Network-
Based Application Recognition (NBAR)
provides intelligent application classifica-
tion to prioritize network traffic, assign
appropriate WAN services and quality-of-
service (QoS) features, and ensure optimal
bandwidth management. Cisco QoS Device
Manager (QDM) is a Web-based network
management application for configuring and
monitoring advanced, IP-based QoS func-
tionality within Cisco routers.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ so/ neso/ i enesv/ cxne/
nbar _ov.ht m
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ nem nsw/ qodvm n/
pr odl i t / qdm _ds.ht m
Cisco MPLS Support: Guaranteed
Bandwidth Services
Cisco Multiprotocol Label Switching
(MPLS) guaranteed bandwidth services
expand Ciscos MPLS technology to clas-
sify different types of traffic and optimize
bandwidth for the different classes. New
Differentiated Services (DiffServ)-aware
traffic engineering (DS-TE) features enable
users to perform constraint-based routing
for guaranteed traffic such as voice, ensur-
ing very high quality of service end to end.
The AutoBandwidth feature automatically
resizes MPLS TE tunnel bandwidth within
user-specified ranges based on actual traf-
fic rates over time. Fast Reroute (FRR)
link-protection features deliver high-level
resiliency for IP traffic and decrease failover
times to match the capabilities of SONET
for link restoration.
ci sco.com / go/ m pl s
Cisco MPLS Support: Carrier
Supporting Carrier
Cisco MPLS virtual private network (VPN)
Carrier Supporting Carrier (CSC) func-
tionality enables backbone providers to offer
bandwidth to other service providers who, in
turn, use the bandwidth to deliver MPLS
VPN services to their customers. With new
CSC technology, backbone carrier service
providers can allow their customer carriers to
use segments of the backbone network for
generating incremental revenue through
such means as reselling bandwidth. Service
providers implementing the CSC technol-
ogy can accommodate many customer carri-
ers with varying bandwidth and connectivity
requirements.
ci sco.com / go/ m pl s
Cisco 2600 and 3600 Series: New
Voice Trunk Modules
The new NM- HDV- 1T1- 12 and
NM-HDV-1E1-12 voice trunk modules
for Cisco 2600 and 3600 series multiser-
vice access routers significantly lower the
price of entry into the packetized voice
solution marketplace. These voice trunk
modules enable users to deploy fractional
T1 or E1 voice solutions while maintain-
ing the existing benefits of digital signal-
ing. Each module supplies 12 channels
and can be upgraded to support full T1 or
E1 circuits.
ci sco.com / war p/ publ i c/ cc/ pd/ r t / 260 0 / pr odl i t /
st 1e1_ds.ht m
New Products, Continued from page 97
12A_NPDs.txp 4/24/01 07:13 AM Page 99
MPLS Architecture Firmly Established
I
x i ~xu~vy, )nv i x)v vxv )
Engineering Task Force (IETF)
approved four Cisco-supported
Multiprotocol Label Switching
(MPLS)-related specifications as standard-
track protocols: RFC 3031 (Multiprotocol
Label Switching Architecture); RFC 3032
(MPLS Label Stack Encoding); RFC
3035 (MPLS using Label Distribution
Protocol [LDP] and ATM VC Switching);
and RFC 3036 (LDP Specification).
Co-authored by Cisco Distinguished
Engineer Eric Rosen, RFC 3031 specifies
the overall architecture of MPLS and
describes the procedures for binding labels
to forwarding equivalence classes (FECs)
and for forwarding labeled packets. An
FEC is a group of packets that requires sim-
ilar forwarding treatment. The entire Cisco
MPLS product family conforms to this
architecture, including the Cisco 12000
series Internet router; Cisco 10000 ESR;
7500, 7200, 4700, 4500, 3600, and 2600
series routers; MGX
8850, BPX
8600,
Catalyst
8540, and LightStream
1010
switches; and the Cisco 6400 Aggregator.
This architecture provides the founda-
tion for all other MPLS standards, enabling
the realization of the many benefits of MPLS
such as IP+ATM integration, traffic engi-
neering, and scalable virtual private network
services,says Cisco Fellow Bruce Davie.
Equally essential to the development of
MPLS is RFC 3032. Co-authored by
Rosen and Distinguished Engineer Dan
Tappan, RFC 3032 specifies the encoding
used by label switching routers (LSRs) to
transmit labeled packets on Point-to-Point
Protocol (PPP) data links, LAN data links,
and packet over SONET. This encoding is
supported on all Cisco MPLS products
with the appropriate interface types, includ-
ing the Cisco 12000 series Internet router
and the Cisco 7500, 7200, 4700, 4500, and
3600 series routers.
Co-authored by Cisco Software Engineer
Bob Thomas, RFC 3036 defines a set of
procedures called Label Distribution Protocol
(LDP) by which LSRs distribute labels to
support MPLS forwarding. Support for
LDP on most of Ciscos MPLS products is
under way.
RFC 3035 specifies the procedures for
distributing labels to or from ATM LSRs
when the labels represent FECs for which
the routes are determined on a hop-by-hop
basis, and also specifies the MPLS encap-
sulation to be used when sending labeled
packets to or from ATM LSRs. All Cisco
MPLS products with ATM interfaces sup-
port RFC 3035, including Cisco 7500 and
7200 series routers and MGX 8850, BPX
8560, and LightStream 1010 switches. RFC
3035 was co-authored by Ciscos George
Swallow, chair of the IETF MPLS working
group, Cisco Fellow Keith McCloghrie,
Jeremy Lawrence, Davie, and Rosen.
The full texts of these MPLS-related
RFCs are available at the URL ietf.org.
Multiprotocol Lambda Switching
In related news, Multiprotocol Lambda
Switching (now being called Generalized
MPLS, or GMPLS, in Internet-Drafts
before the IETF) is expected to be released
as a final RFC in mid-2001. GMPLS is an
extension of the unified control plane
(UCP) developed in MPLS for traffic engi-
neering.
GMPLS defines the routing and sig-
naling extensions to support the control of
circuit-switched, lambda-switched, and
fiber-switched connections, explains
Swallow. For more information on the UCP,
see Technically Speaking,page 93.
Standards Updates
I
x vvnvu~vy, vvc .c6c (voiicy
Core Information Model) was approved
as a standards-track document by the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
Co-authored by Cisco Fellow John
Strassner and Andrea Westerinen, manager
of information modeling at Cisco, RFC
3060 defines the structure of a policy rule.
This structure is defined in the form: IF
<condition clause> THEN <action clause>,
meaning that if a set of conditions evaluate
to TRUE, then the rules actions should be
executed. The structure is used as a basis for
standardizing how policy information is
represented, regardless of technical content.
RFC 3060 defines an object-oriented
information model to represent the key
concepts in formulating and grouping pol-
icy rules, so that every policy derived from
these classes can be semantically under-
stood, named, and scoped.
The document defines two hierarchies
of object classes: structural classes that rep-
resent policy information and control of
policies and association classes that indicate
how instances of the structural classes
relate to each other. Subsequent docu-
ments will define mappings of this infor-
mation model to various concrete
implementations, for example, to a direc-
tory that uses Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol (LDAP) as its access
protocol.
RFC 3060 paves the way for interoper-
ability of policy information, notes
Strassner, and is already being used in
Ciscos Quality of Service (QoS) Policy
Manager Common Open Policy Services
(QPM-COPS) software and Cisco
Networking Services (CNS) software. For
the full text of RFC 3060, visit the URL
ietf.org/rfc/rfc3060.txt?number=3060.
Policy Core Information Model
13A_StandUpdates.txp 4/24/01 07:13 AM Page 101
104 PACKET FIFTH QUARTER 2000 CISCO SYSTEMS
Cache File
S N I P P E T S O F W I S D O M F R O M O U T O N T H E N E T
T H E 5
t h
W A V E
The 5th Wave, www.the5thwave.com

More to Moore?
C
omputers may be hitting the physical limits of Moores
Law, Intel Cofounder and Chair Gordon Moores predic-
tion that chip circuitry would double in densit y every 12 to 18
months. New research shows that it may be possible to use sili-
con nanocrystals to integrate silicon micro- lasers onto computer
chips. If successful, semiconductor lasers would shatter the exist-
ing barriers to further miniaturization of circuits. Find out more
at the URL nature.com/ nature/ fow/ 001123.html.
A visit to
CYBERSPACE is
like a visit to
the COLLECTI VE
CON SCI OUSN ESS
of the WORLD.
ALI CE S JOURN EY
seems TAME by
comparison.
Vinton Cerf
(Internet Society Chair)
C Y B E R Q U OT E
NET TOPS 10 0
MI LLI ON HOSTS
The I nt er net passed anot her l and-
m ar k l ast year when t he num ber of
host s soar ed t o 10 0 m i l l i on wor l d-
wi de, a 45 per cent j um p over 1999.
Accor di ng t o t el ecom m uni cat i ons
i ndust r y consul t i ng house Tel cor di a
Technol ogi es, even gr eat er sur ges
coul d be ahead wi t h ant i ci pat ed
gr owt h i n wi r el ess access and
I nt er net - connect ed appl i ances.
Beware the Ghosts
of D ata Past
Anyone with a hex editor can
scour the binary content of elec-
tronically transmitted docu-
mentsincluding rsums and
other e-mail attachmentsto see
what lurks in memory slag.PC
operating systems add random
data to make up the minimum
cluster size for disk storage. The
extra data is pulled from files the
system is no longer using, which
could include files lately deleted,
Web pages recently viewed, or
files downloaded from a floppy
disk but never saved. Until at least
through the mid-1990s, most
mainstream programs were high-
ly likely to contain slag. But securi-
ty measures are keeping slag at
bay. Current versions of Windows
98 and all Microsoft Office pro-
grams shouldnt be storing slag
anymore, and Windows NT and
Windows 2000 were designed
from the start to erase all memory
before reusing it.
Fr eezi ng Li ght
Early this year, scientists
brought a pulse of light to
a complete standstill in a
cloud of super-cooled sodi-
um atoms. In a feat that
may prove critical to quan-
tum computing, researchers
were able to lengthen a
light pulse, break it into
smaller pulses, or recon-
struct it without variation
after a hiatus lasting up to a
millisecond (nature.com/
nature/fow/010125.html).
Whither the Web?
Forbes columnist Michael S.
Malone offers three inventive
scenarios for the future of
the Internet: 1). A fortress Net
where either America Online-
style control prevails or chaos
forces users to huddle behind
secure intranets; 2) a Net split
in two by software agents,
where the human Web is just
a front end for a complete
world devoid of all non-silicon
life, or 3) a Net that mirrors
the everyday world, where
the Web resembles a great
city with mansions and slums,
artists and bums, rich folks
racing by in limousines, crooks
lurking in alleys, and children
sitting at their desks in
classrooms. Read more in
Malones column at the URL
forbes.com/2001/02/01/
0201malone.html.
SOLAR SYSTEM
SNAPSHOTS
Real-time, scientific data
creates a mosaic of images
of the earth and sky at a
Web site sponsored by
Montana State University.
Current data on the earth
includes ocean tempera-
tures, US earthquake
activity, and views from
worldwide live cams.
Extraterrestrial images
on display include the sun
in X-ray light, current phas-
es of the moon and Mars,
the Hubble telescope,
and the space shuttle.
To learn more, go to
solar.physics.montana.edu/
tslater//real-time.
Some Cache Fileitems based on Keith Dawsons Tasty Bits from the Technology Frontat t bt f.com.
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10G Is Here!

New Cisco 12400

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magazines New Product

software technologies are

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