TABLE OF CONTENTS The presumed advantage of Ethernet is that it can essentially stretch the cheap and reliable local computer network out to meet the Internet s fiber-optic backbone. Where this is possible, it helps eliminate the need for intermediate layers of gear using the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), frame relay, and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) protocols. The rigidity of SONET and ATM versus the flexibility of all forms of Ethernet is a major selling point for Ethernet s placement in carrier networks. But SONET- and ATM-based services are up and serving customers, and are not likely to go away anytime soon. Even the finest technology solutions must answer to the corporate spending gods. During the telecom-economic implosion of 2001 and 2002, hardly any service or equipment business was immune to the cost cutting and constriction of capital spending.
As we saw in Chapter 3, The Metro GigE Marketplace, businesses in the top 20 major metropolitan areas can currently purchase 100 Mbps of Internet connectivity for $1,000 a month from emerging carriers such as Cogent, if they are fortunate enough to be located near Cogent s fiber-optic cabling infrastructure. Customers do not have to purchase expensive ATM or SONET interfaces to accommodate higher bandwidth requirements, and the service is compatible with a standard Ethernet port on existing routers and/or switches. Network managers do not have to train their operations groups in arcane one-off technologies because Ethernet is ubiquitous and relatively simple. Any networking architecture that runs...
