Remote Access Gets Super-Concentrated
August 18, 1998
INTERNETWEEK via NewsEdge Corporation :
Pleasanton, Calif. - Lucent is putting some big-time
capacity into its newest remote access
concentrator, and enterprise users could be the
ultimate beneficiaries.
By most accounts, the vendor has overbuilt its
carrier-class PortMaster 4 concentrator, which
features an 800-plus port capacity, a 5-Gbps ATM
backplane and the requisite software to permit easy
integration into telcos' back-office systems.
Those capabilities should prove attractive to
competitive carriers anxious to offer advanced
remote access services such as digital subscriber
line (DSL) and virtual private network (VPN) services
to corporate users. Smaller service providers could
lease or resell ports on a box deployed by a carrier
or a large Internet service provider.
With the PortMaster 4, "a carrier can give ISPs
connections in multiple area codes," said Marty
Likier, a product manager at Lucent's remote
access business unit.
By using this approach, a regional ISP would not
need points of presence in every location where it
wished to offer service. Therefore, IT departments
would be able to support users in a large
geographical area via the same local access to one
ISP.
The PortMaster 4 achieves its wide reach through
the Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP), terminating a
user's call into the carrier network, then tunneling
the call to the ISP, where the normal login process
is initiated.
In addition, the PortMaster 4 supports IP Security
(IPsec), which lets a smaller ISP offer VPN services
in a large geographical area. The new unit also
could be used by ISPs to offer IP telephony
services, such as voice and fax, and to support DSL
session aggregation, Lucent officials said.
With DSL aggregation, a carrier could supply DSL
service to an ISP's customers. User traffic would
then be carried over either an L2TP or IPsec tunnel
back to the ISP's operation center. From there, the
ISP could use a Remote Authentication Dial-In User
Service (RADIUS) server to screen users before
giving them access to the Internet.
Lucent said competitors such as Ascend and Cisco
might be able to deliver some of the same hardware
features as the PortMaster 4. But Lucent plans to
leverage its carrier services expertise, such as its
experience with Signaling System 7 and Advanced
Intelligent Networking (AIN), to help integrate the
new access concentrator into a carrier or ISP
network. Ascend and Cisco both are relying
primarily on acquisitions to round out their offerings
in this area, Lucent officials said.
Leveraging integrated SS7 and AIN features
"enables a provider to offer an integrated voice
solution," said Kevin Dundon, vice president of voice
network development at service provider Level 3
Communications Inc. "For someone who wants to
build IP-based voice services, these integrated
capabilities are a positive."
Northern Telecom has comparable expertise in the
SS7 and AIN areas, but Lucent believes its other
products-such as the RADIUS Authentication Billing
Manager, which links usage to billing systems-will
let ISPs or carriers more quickly develop and roll out
new services.
Lucent, like other access concentrator vendors, will
use SS7 between the PortMaster 4 and a telco's
central office. This makes it possible for service
providers to do "data off-load," where an ISP takes a
data call coming into the PortMaster 4 and sends it
directly to the ISP's main facilities and hosting site.
Without data off-load, data calls must be carried
over the public switched telephone network to reach
the ISP.
By using SS7 to facilitate data off-load, an ISP can
save money by keeping the calls off the PSTN,
Lucent said. These savings would ostensibly be
passed along to the user in the form of lower service
rates.
The PortMaster 4 will make it easier for carriers to
resell ports or VPNs, which typically require a
combination of intelligent software and high-port
density hardware, Lucent officials said.
"Demand for ports is growing tremendously," said
Steve Willens, president of Lucent's remote access
business unit. The number of users and applications
that require dial access, as well as the connect
time they demand, is increasing, he said. These
new demands greatly increase the need for ports
among ISPs, Willens said. "If the average user
spends 30 minutes connected to the service
provider and then that [connect time] doubles, the
number of ports needs to double, too," he said.
Physically, the PortMaster 4 is a 10-slot chassis
that features a 5-Gbps ATM switching fabric in the
backplane. This high-capacity backplane is capable
of providing a dedicated 155-Mbps line to nine slots
and a 622-Mbps line to one slot simultaneously,
company officials said.
This is enough bandwidth per slot to support as
many as three individual T3 lines, Lucent officials
said. The PortMaster 4 modules-a quad T1 modem
and a T3 WAN module-plug into the slots and
require far less bandwidth than the unit's maximum
output, helping to reduce performance degradation
under heavy loads.
A single PortMaster 4 can support up to 864
simultaneous modem sessions and more than
4,000 simultaneous modem sessions when stacked
in standard seven-foot telco racks.
The product will be available by Oct. 1, with a base
price of $4,495. Modules vary in price and include a
system manager module for $10,995; the quad
T1/PRI modem module for $47,995; a tri E1/PRI
modem module for $47,995; a quad T1/PRI module
for $16,495; and a channelized T3 multiplexer
module for $18,995.
Copyright - 1998 CMP Media Inc.
<<INTERNETWEEK -- 08-17-98, p. PG1>>
[Copyright 1998, CMP Publications] |
