Hix, a corporate Internet Service Provider (ISP) and supplier of virtual private networks (VPN), will soon be providing a new type of sophisticated service to its VPN customers. John Campbell, managing director of Hix, says that the entire Hix VPN network will be based on Channelised E1 systems.
"This is a more elegant and superior VPN technology. It is essentially a managed network compared to the conventional Diginet, and provides a higher level of service, consistently," he says. He adds that Channelised E1 also makes it easier to trouble shoot when problems arise.
He explains that with a Diginet network, where two offices are linked there is no centralised alarm sysem at Telkom that can alert them to any faults. "Telkom only knows about a fault when we alert them to it, and they have to send out a team to physically test the cable," he says. This all adds up to delays in services and losses in productivity in businesses that rely on this technology. He points out that with a Diginet line there is no possibility of rerouting the service, since it is a physical line.
"With Chanelised E1 Telkom will have a central office running HPOpen View, and will notice when a link goes down, and the problem can be sorted out sooner," says Campbell. He adds that Hix has invested in the necessary equipment to take advantage of this superior technology for their customers.
"One of the advantages lies in the fact that we can offer a consistent service to our customers. If one line goes down then we can easily reroute to another network centre with minimal disruption to the business," says Campbell. He points out that through a shared infrastructure model many of the smaller companies, with just five or ten branches, can take advantage of the new technology through Hix VPN network through sharing the costs.
"This technology is not widely available yet, and was introduced at the end of last year. There are a few big networks that run using Channelised E1, but not many. In time we will convert all of our current Diginet networks to this technology," says Campbell.
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