Comments anyone? [LU] Remote Access Gets Super-Concentrated
techweb.com
August 17, 1998, Issue: 728
Section: News & Analysis
Salvatore Salamone
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 r 1998 CMP Media Inc. |
