Check out the supplement to the latest www.internettelephony.com entitled powering tomorrow's IP protocol. There are severl interesting articles there related to power requirements of telephony networks.
Powering tomorrow's IP protocol
IP service providers' power needs may differ only subtly from their traditional carrier counterparts, but vendors are quickly jumping on IP's more stringent reliability requirements
SUZANNE SANDERS
Reliability has become priority No. 1 in carriers' quest to offer robust data services. But what about those providers that base their businesses on technologies with a reputation for being new or, as cynics might say, unreliable? IP is well on its way to being a proven technology, and IP providers--ISPs and IP telephony carriers--would argue that their reputations and their technologies are gaining respect. But it's not wholly unsurprising that IP's proponents place an even higher importance on reliable power solutions than traditional service providers.
Obviously, no carrier wants its system to go down, but when a carrier has the additional burden of data or proving that its technology is indeed viable, power can take on even greater importance. Moreover, IP providers have somewhat different needs than traditional service providers.
Because IP-based networks differ from traditional networks in that they use packet-based switching, providers now have to worry about proving that their networks are no less vulnerable to reliability issues. This, in turn, provides an opportunity for vendors.
IP providers can't formulate a plan because of the volatile nature of their market, says Barry Papermaster, director of marketing for Lucent Technologies. "They don't know if tomorrow they will have 10,000 users or 100,000 users." Therefore, Lucent and other power vendors have to be prepared. Lucent's strategy is to provide IP providers with power solutions that have modularity, flexibility, scalability, upgradeability and backward-compatibility, Papermaster says.
"It's very hard to predict what a customer will need a year from now," says Sharon Sugarek, senior manager of product marketing for Lucent. "So many things are going on in this network environment. A relatively benign-looking change...can impact the demand on the network," she says, referring to providers such as America Online attracting throngs of new subscribers through new, competitive pricing strategies.
Subtle differences
ITXC, which calls itself a service provider's service provider for Internet telephony and operates a worldwide Internet voice network, is cognizant of the special considerations for powering IP networks. The wholesaler co-locates its equipment and ensures that its hosts' facilities meet its needs, especially for power issues.
"ITXC only co-locates in certified telco carriers' houses," says Brad Miller, vice president of operations for ITXC. "We do that because we are keenly concerned about redundancy because we have more electrical equipment" than a traditional service provider might, Miller adds.
A traditional service provider usually has DC-only equipment, Miller says, while many PC telephony service providers use both AC and DC power. "We would only co-locate in a building that provides multiple power feeds," he says. The telco provides the generator in ITXC's case, and ITXC supplies its own battery backup.
Indeed, the co-location aspect creates a specific need. Lucent's Papermaster notes another possible trend: In the U.S., the IP provider's host usually provides power in the co-location facility. However, in Germany, Deutsche Telekom makes its co-locating guests provide their own power.
"These ISPs who are not power experts are now having to manage their own power," Sugarek says. "These guys want a turnkey solution." Lucent has responded with offering items such as the EPS 4802, a global system for mobile service (GSM) wireless power system, which is built on a simple architecture, she says.
Changing needs
As service providers strive to provide five 9s and beyond of reliability for ever-demanding customers, vendors must devise equipment to help them achieve this goal.
"We expect five 9s of uptime," Miller says. In fact, ITXC's latest advertising campaign disputes the poor quality of Internet telephony and claims the carrier now offers toll-quality calling (see Figure 1).
With information becoming much more critical, today's service providers are even aiming for six 9s reliability, says Mark Wasserman, senior manager of product service for Astec APS, a Canadian-based supplier.
"Nobody wants their equipment to go down, and ISPs especially don't want that," says Brian Macnamara, director of application services for Chicago-based Tripp Lite. "That's a big selling point. It's almost like money is no object, and when you look at what they're backing up, money is no object," he adds, referring to the content issues of ISPs.
Liebert, too, has heard concerns about increased reliability. "When we talk to customers today, they don't accept shutdown," says Bob Bauer, president of Liebert Corp.-America. "You can line up the 9s from here to eternity."
If they repeatedly lose their connection, customers won't hesitate to take their business elsewhere, Macnamara says. And as carriers aim to provide the extra bandwidth being demanded by end users, that's where some power vendors see even more opportunity.
"As the pipe becomes bigger, [service providers] have to consider powering that pipe. A power failure can have great consequences," Wasserman says. "We're really coming from the telephony side, where they believe in secure power." Astec counts Qwest Communications, Level 3 Communications, PSINet, UUNet, several RBOC Internet divisions and Bell Canada as customers. Lucent also is working to provide carrier-class solutions. "In IP telephony, there are two types of products: those developed for the enterprise and carrier-class solutions," Papermaster says. "The telephony side is more reliable, and the same is true for power. We've spent a lot of time developing, and we're providing this high-level reliability."
ITXC can distribute its power through multiple points of presence throughout the world, he adds. For example, if UUNet, which has co-location agreements with ITXC, goes down, ITXC can reroute, he says.
Likewise, Rapid Link Communications underscores the importance of reliable facilities and equipment. Rapid Link is a global IP provider that offers voice, data and fax services." Power is very critical," says Ed Melton, vice president of information systems for Rapid Link. "All the equipment that Rapid Link uses hinges on processor capacity and router capacity."
Rapid Link supplies backup power for all its switches in Atlanta. It backs up its Exide-supplied uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with a generator, and the company will add a second UPS as it builds out its network. The service provider is considering using Liebert for additional equipment.
"The idea of IP voice may be transparent to some of the customers, but we cannot lose [power]. When people pick up the phone, they want dial-tone," Melton says. "Connectivity is paramount."
New forms of protection
One benefit of serving IP service providers, according to vendors, is that there is more of an overlap in the provider/vendor relationship.
In the last three to five years, Liebert has gone from serving essentially the voice market to newer providers, many of which do not have that much industry expertise. "Many are reaching out to companies like Liebert," Bauer says. "As a result, we've become far more solutions-oriented instead of just selling boxes."
"It's almost like learning," Wasserman says. "[IP providers] are coming from the data side and saying, 'Tell us what we need."'
One issue, of course, is meeting co-location requirements. Tripp Lite focuses on small profiles to help IP providers make the most of co-location space. "They want the UPS that takes up the least amount of space," Macnamara said, adding that most UPSs take up three rack units, while Tripp Lite's take up two.
Lucent also considers co-location requirements. Providers need smaller offerings that can withstand harsher environments, Papermaster says, and Lucent answers this need with its CPS4000 PLUS solution, a power system for remote wireless and central office telecommunications that provides 10% to 20% more power.
Astec does many site audits to determine what the providers need. "One of the major differences on the IP side is that the solution often ends up being customized," Wasserman says.
Bauer agrees: "Virtually everything we do is customized. It's driven by what the site looks like, many of which are co-location facilities," which require flexibility.
A key factor that the power sector will continue to address is the DC or AC question (Telephony, March 27, page 72). Vendors such as Liebert--which is expanding its product line by adding DC to its AC UPS products--recognize that IP providers and traditional telecom providers often have different preferences when it comes to choosing AC or DC solutions.
"One of the scenarios we're seeing is if a provider is coming from the ISP side, it's generally starting out with a UPS," says Douglas Leahy, market development manager for Astec. The telecom side usually subscribes to a DC UPS philosophy, he explains, while IP providers tend to look to AC UPS solutions. "Both philosophies have their place," he says.
Overall, as IP providers work to serve their customers in the most reliable way, vendors look to develop the right kind of power products to meet these needs.
"It's a logical migration for us to move into the data networking world," says Lucent's Sugarek. "We know how to make the power reliable." |
