tellabs inspire magazine - verizon’s inside job

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 Verizon’s Inside Job Verizon migrates its internal data network to VPLS, with the Tellabs® 8800 Multiservice Router at the core.

BY JOAN ENGEBRETSON

Like other large corpora-tions, Verizon needs ahigh-capacity data network to support connectivity toemployee desktops and data

centers. In addition, the carrier’s internaldata network supports command andcontrol connectivity for the infrastruc-ture for its wired and wireless networks.

 Today, the backbone for Verizon’sinternal data network (IDN) uses pri-

 vate lines to connect aggregation sites.But soon the carrier plans to beginmigrating to a backbone network basedon VPLS, which provides multi-pointLayer 2 Ethernet connectivity over

 MPLS. Verizon’s MPLS network, ini-tially deployed several years ago, is basedon the Tellabs® 8800 Multiservice Router(MSR) series.

 Verizon reached a major crossroads inmid-2009, when it learned that the manu-facturer of certain equipment underlyingits IDN would no longer support that

gear. Verizon had three choices: contin-ue with a private line approach, use its

 MPLS network to support connectivity  via Layer 3 IP VPNs or go VPLS.

“We chose a VPLS or Layer 2-typenetwork based on its ability to transi-tion efficiently and effectively at the leastcost,” said Tom Bechly, director of enter-prise network engineering for VerizonServices Operations.

Part of the lower cost results fromengineering workload savings, whichultimately could be in the range of 50%,Bechly said.

“When you have to manage OC-3s,OC-12s and T1s, it requires a tremen-dous amount of work,” Bechly said. “Youhave to consider certification, testingand the integration cycles you have togo through.”

Because Ethernet interfaces are simplerto manage, the new network also shouldbe easier to extend or upgrade, said Hwa-

 Jung Han, manager of IDN engineeringfor Verizon Services Operations.

“Provisioning bandwidth will be moreefficient versus the private line-based

 TDM environment,” Han said.Equipment costs were another impor-

tant consideration.“Ethernet interfaces are less expen-

sive, and there is less work associated with them,” Bechly said. He estimatedthat Verizon ultimately could reduce itsequipment costs over the product lifecycle by about half.

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 Another advantage of using VPLS issimplified routing, Bechly said.

“There is a single hop from eachaggregation point across the network.”

Routing considerations also were animportant reason why Verizon choseto transition to a Layer 2 service suchas VPLS.

“You minimize the impact on the rout-ing infrastructure that you already have,”Han said. “The risk is minimized in termsof routing.”

In moving its IDN to VPLS, Verizonalso saw an opportunity to showcase itscommercial VPLS offering, which has beenavailable in the Americas for over a yearand was recently expanded internationally.

“We like to showcase our products,and this was an example where we could

use one of our products in a very high-profile way,” Bechly said.

 Verizon’s VPLS-based IDN backbone will have 20-25 aggregation pointsand carry traffic at around GigE lev-els. Connectivity to the company’sdata centers will be provisioned for 10GigE bandwidth.

  The process of migrating traff icfrom the current pri-

 vate line-based IDNbackbone will takeabout six months.

“Initially we willinterconnect the oldand new backbone,”Bechly said. “Then

 we will move sitesover from one tothe other, doing acouple of sites ini-tially, proving those

in over a period of time and thenmoving a few more locations every 

 week — or every couple of weeks. This is mission-critical traffic, so we won’t jump into it overnight.”

Ultimately Verizon anticipatesmoving its IDN entirely to anEthernet platform, including theaccess links to all locations, whichcurrently are based on private lines.

 This would include hundreds of  Verizon sites and eventually couldextend lifetime equipment andengineering workload savings tothe IDN access network.

“Initially we will migrate to VPLS at the core, a move that we will finish during 2010,” Bechly 

said. “The rest of the sites will bedriven by economics, opportunity and the work force. If we have newrequirements at a site, we will goin and migrate that site. But to

rapidly touch all of the sites would be very expensive.”

 Verizon expects to obtain 4½ ninesreliability from the VPLS-based IDN,meaning that the network should beavailable 99.995% of the time. Thatlevel of reliability is consistent withthe requirements of many commercial

 VPLS customers, which have chosen

 Verizon’s offering to obtain similar eco-nomics and efficiencies.

 VPLS is often used for enterprise- wide backbone connectivity, Bechly said. The service is particularly appealing toenterprises that want to control their ownrouting over a carrier-provided Layer 2network, Han said. Now Verizon is oneof those enterprises.■

GigE:  MPLS:  TDM:  VPLS: VPN:

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