Cisco's relatively new Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology has found another home in the backbone of Storm, an Internet service provider.
The intelligent switching network carries multiple protocols on the IP network, and ensures better performance and quicker roll-out of new services.
Lex van Wyk, Storm GM, says the company has been developing next-generation convergent technologies such as voice-over-IP (VOIP), and planned the introduction and roll-out of MPLS across its network for six months.
Steve Midgley, director of Cisco Systems SA, says many European carriers are moving towards offering multiple services (voice, video and data) over a converged IP backbone. "The goal is to be able to roll-out services faster and more cost-effectively."
"In a nutshell, MPLS ensures a smarter way of managing a network by speeding up traffic flow and prioritising network applications...allowing for better network management and higher quality transmission," says Van Wyk.
As a licensed value-added network provider, Storm is prohibited from allowing its customers to run VOIP over its network. "However, with the widely publicised and approaching introduction of new legislation, Storm's business customers are already looking to implement this technology, which will allow them to move swiftly once these restrictions are lifted."
He adds that customers who typically benefit from MPLS include companies that share a network, companies that make use of multi-branch, inter-office networks, or those that use centralised enterprise software systems.
"MPLS therefore holds major advantages for customers who need a secure and reliable virtual private network connection to other branches or remote employees, without the costly hassle of managing the complexity of that network themselves.
"We will allocate the customer's bandwidth according to the types or classes of traffic that have been identified, with the most important class of traffic being reserved for VOIP and real-time applications," Van Wyk continues. "The different types of traffic are classified as first, business or economy class traffic."
Another advantage is that MPLS allows the support of duplicate IP addressing structures from the customer's side, lifting the hassle of having to change IP addresses.
"Although fairly complicated at the core of the network, MPLS technology is relatively simple to install at the customer site, with no added cost to customers. It runs on the back of most standard equipment, and no additional support skills are required from the customer's perspective."
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