IMPROVING NETWORK EFFICIENCY, RELIABILITY, AND OPERATIONS WITH IPODWDM

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1 WHITE PAPER IMPROVING NETWORK EFFICIENCY, RELIABILITY, AND OPERATIONS WITH IPODWDM Nokia Siemens Networks and Juniper s Joint Solution Delivers Maximum Scale and Reliability Along With an Integrated Management System Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc. 1

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary Introduction Drivers for IP-Optical Integration Reduced Capital Expense Operational Advantages Increased Availability and Reliability Deployment Considerations for IPoDWDM Organizational Technical The Juniper-NSN IPoDWDM Solution Conclusion Appendix: Successful Deployment References Whitepapers: Datasheet: Press Release: About Juniper Networks Table of Figures Figure 1: Moving colored interface into router saves on transponder shelf costs Figure 2: Additional elements and interfaces mean more points to provision and more potential points of failure Figure 3: Clear demarcation between IP and optical can limit end-to-end visibility Figure 4: Differences between Layer 1 and Layer 3 performance management view Figure 5: With DWDM integrated on a router, IP and optical demarcation points (and responsibilities) can be less clear Figure 6: Router interface becomes an integral part of DWDM network, with single unified management system Figure 7: Screen shot of TNMS, showing a sample network management view Figure 8: Screen shot of TransNet, NSN s planning software which can plan and provision the integrated IPoDWDM solution Figure 9: IPoDWDM Deployment example at UNInett of Norway Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc.

3 Executive Summary This paper is essential reading for service providers looking to understand the impact of converging IP and optical networks. It describes the benefits that are driving interest in IP over dense wavelength-division multiplexing (IPoDWDM) technologies, and outlines factors that should be considered before selecting an IPoDWDM solution. A number of intersecting factors are causing service providers to reevaluate the way core networks are built. As traffic growth continues, IPoDWDM is emerging as an exciting technology that promises to help service providers increase efficiency, reliability, and scale in their core networks while meeting their profitability goals. However, not all IPoDWDM solutions are created equal and without proper management integration, IPoDWDM can present technical and organizational challenges. Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Juniper Networks have combined their respective strengths in optical and IP networking to deliver an integrated IPoDWDM solution with industry leading efficiency, reliability, and management capabilities. The joint Juniper-NSN IPoDWDM solution enables service providers to create an end-to-end, fully integrated IP-optical solution that improves efficiency and reliability; is easily managed and provisioned; and prepares them for the next-generation of traffic growth. Introduction As Internet traffic continues to grow, carriers are striving for solutions that enable them to scale their core IP and optical networks while keeping both capital and operational expenses at a minimum. One of the technologies that promises to help carriers meet these seemingly conflicting objectives is IPoDWDM. As outlined in an earlier whitepaper 1, IPoDWDM integrates DWDM transport interfaces directly into the router, enabling the convergence of traditionally distinct IP and optical networks. Integrating optics into the router removes the need for numerous optical-electrical-optical (OEO) conversions and eliminates the network elements that perform this function thus reducing both CapEx and OpEx, while at the same time improving network efficiency, reliability, and availability. While the benefits of IPoDWDM are well understood, IP-optical integration can also present its share of challenges both organizationally and technically. Convergence is a noble goal, but in service provider networks it is often more complicated than it first appears. To help carriers improve efficiency, reliability, and scale, Juniper Networks and Nokia Siemens Networks have formed a partnership to deliver a joint IPoDWDM solution that simplifies the transition to converged IP-optical networks. By combining Juniper s 10-Gigabit Ethernet DWDM Optical Transport Network Physical Interface Card (OTN PIC) with NSN s Multireach DWDM platform hit7300 and Transport Network Management System (TNMS), this joint solution combines the IP expertise of Juniper Networks with Nokia Siemens Networks strengths in optical layer networking and management systems. Drivers for IP-Optical Integration Even as the general economic uncertainty persists, Internet traffic continues to grow rapidly, fueled by applications such as video, mobile applications, and increasingly cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS). This growth is driving carriers to increase the capacity of their networks. The difference now is that any investment is expected to increase operational efficiency and reduce operating costs, even as it increases scale, reliability, and availability. In the core of the network, the integration of Optical Transport Network (OTN) technology into routers is an evolutionary improvement that can eliminate bulky, expensive, and relatively unreliable optical transponders. By eliminating racks of equipment, service providers expect that IPoDWDM will reduce CapEx, improve operational efficiency, and significantly increase reliability and availability. 1 OTN Interfaces for IP over DWDM, Juniper Networks, Inc. Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc. 3

4 Reduced Capital Expense Capital expenses are always closely scrutinized but rarely have service providers been more sensitive to unneeded capital expenses than now. The general economic conditions along with margin pressures that have been added with increasing traffic which doesn t always come with correlative increases in revenue are shining a spotlight on service providers capital expenses. This cost consciousness is helping drive interest in IPoDWDM. Because integrating DWDM interfaces into the router eliminates the need for stand-alone transponders to translate the wavelengths, IPoDWDM solutions enable reduced capital expenses by reducing the number of boxes carriers must purchase. Initial deployments at 10GbE promise some degree of cost savings, but the capital savings from IPoDWDM really begin to accelerate as the speed of the integrated interface increases. As the industry moves towards 40GbE and 100GbE integrated solutions, savings can be further reduced by eliminating interfaces on both the router and on the transponder (i.e., one 100GbE interface is more cost-effective than 10x10GbE interfaces). Traditional IP and Optical Networks Router-Integrated DWDM Standalone Transponder Router DWDM System Eliminates Standalone Transponders Reduces CapEx and OpEx Figure 1: Moving colored interface into router saves on transponder shelf costs Operational Advantages While today s CapEx crunch may be the initial motivator for equipment consolidation, ongoing OpEx is a much more significant cost in the long run and is where operators can see the most gains from IPoDWDM. According to some industry analysts, operational expenses amount to as much 70% of total costs and, unlike capital expenses, are a recurring charge for the life of the equipment. Operators recognize this, and recognize that by integrating optical interfaces into existing routing equipment, IPoDWDM can save millions of dollars in power, space, and cooling associated with maintaining stand-alone racks of transponders. In addition to the ongoing operational cost savings associated with equipment IP-optical integration, operators are pursuing IPoDWDM for another equally important factor simplified network design. Basic engineering theory dictates that reliability can be improved by eliminating potential points of failure. As described above, IPoDWDM can eliminate entire racks of optical transponders, giving operators one less potential failure spot. Fewer components to fail also mean fewer components to manage. A key benefit of IPoDWDM technology is the fact that it enables the operator to manage an entire router-to-router optical link as a single entity. More Number of Network Elements Means More Interface to Provision: Figure 2: Additional elements and interfaces mean more points to provision and more potential points of failure. 4 Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc.

5 The need to provision multiple network elements can become a bottleneck when turning up services and today, timeto-market is absolutely critical. Additional equipment such as optical transponders to provision means additional time required to turn up a service and when that equipment is being managed across different network layers (and therefore different organizations), it can make the service turn-up process even more cumbersome. IPoDWDM promises to provide a single, fully integrated management and service provisioning platform from Layer 1 through Layer 3. Increased Availability and Reliability As carriers pursue the efficiency and simplicity offered by IP networks, more applications are being supported on nextgeneration IP and optical networks than ever before. Mission critical services such as broadcast TV, air traffic control, and financial trading networks all supported by stringent service-level agreements (SLAs) are now carried over IP and Ethernet. Supporting these services and meeting their SLAs make high availability and advanced troubleshooting mechanisms critically important. While both the IP and the optical layer have Operation, Administration, Maintenance, and Provisioning (OAM&P) functionality capable of delivering exceptionally high availability, current solutions lack end-toend visibility between the IP and optical domains, which can complicate performance monitoring and troubleshooting. IP Optical OAM&P IP Figure 3: Clear demarcation between IP and optical layers limit end-to-end visibility (but remains status quo). Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc. 5

6 Traditionally, IP and optical management and monitoring capabilities are very different both in the way they function and in the groups that are responsible for each. Consider, for example, the difference in link performance reporting between the Layer 3 view and the Layer 1 view. Layer 3 View Packet throughput (%) time (seconds) Why did I lose packets? Layer 1 View AQ remaining margin (db) Margin degradation (inferred from pre-fec BER) Planned margin time (seconds) Figure 4: Differences between Layer 1 and Layer 3 performance management view In the Layer 3 view as the graphic shows, IP operations knows that packet loss has occurred, but it is not clear where this happened or why, because it was due to a degradation in the optical signal which is beyond the purview of a typical Layer 3 performance monitoring (PM) system. This separation prevents the IP layer from taking action to proactively correct failures in the optical layer, and complicates life for operations personnel tasked with meeting SLAs. IPoDWDM promises to bridge this gap between the IP and optical OAM&P by giving the routed layer visibility into the Layer 1 Performance Management (PM) system, enabling end-to-end performance monitoring and management. Deployment Considerations for IPoDWDM As with any technical solution, though there are many positive factors pushing carriers to adopt IPoDWDM solutions, there are also a number of considerations that must be weighed prior to deployment. These considerations range from the sometimes tenuous (though sometimes not) organizational and political sentiments within a carrier s network operations organization to the more easily defined technical and compatibility issues. Organizational As most readers will know, most service providers today have a very clear demarcation point between their IP and optical transport network organizations. Though each of these portions of the network are critical to the service delivery process and therefore must work together, they are often managed by separate organizations. This organizational structure originated at a time when the optical network provided dedicated, inflexible connections. Now, as networks become more dynamic and service delivery speed becomes a critical factor, these disparate organizations can complicate the provisioning process and create inefficiencies. While service providers largely recognize this and see that IPoDWDM has the promise to alleviate these challenges by streamlining and consolidating the disparate organizations involved, many of these systems and organizational processes are not easily changed. Service providers who wish to benefit from the operational and efficiency gains of IPoDWDM must carefully weigh the promise of IPoDWDM with the potential complications associated with organizational change or select solutions that can ease the transition. 6 Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc.

7 Technical On a technical level, IP-optical integration presents different challenges depending on the type of solution deployed. In the case of transmitting a gray, or alien, wavelength from the router to an optical transponder, the operator loses the ability to perform any monitoring or alarm functionality at the optical layer. This means that operators in this scenario must devise their own mechanisms for detecting and repairing failures at the optical layer. The integration of colored interfaces directly in the router can deliver a friendly wavelength that can be monitored at Layer 1, but without tight collaboration between optical and router vendors, even this solution presents its own set of challenges. With no clear demarcation between IP and optical domains and no consistent management system to span both in this scenario it can be unclear where the responsibility lies in the event of failures (again highlighting the organizational issue above). IP Optical OAM&P -?? IP Figure 5: With DWDM integrated on a router, IP and optical demarcation points (and responsibilities) can be less clear. Unless the IP and optical vendors work closely together, alarm correlation can be inconsistent and there can be possible laser safety issues. To eliminate the safety issues, operators may have to reduce optical reach to stay within acceptable safety margins. Additionally, though the elimination of transponders can simplify network design since transponders also perform the key function of 3R regeneration (Reamplification, Reshaping, and Retiming), operators must take this into consideration. Proprietary solutions, on the other hand, often do not interoperate with other routers or optical transmission solutions from other vendors, and can limit the number of interface choices available while ensuring maximum margins for the equipment provider (and maximum expense for the network operator). The Juniper-NSN IPoDWDM Solution The Juniper-NSN IPoDWDM solution enables network operators to realize the full promise of IPoDWDM, while reducing the organizational and technical concerns outlined above. This joint solution completely integrates Juniper s router OTN interface into NSN s DWDM system planning and design tools, element and network management systems (EMS and NMS), as well as common control plane mechanisms. Using Juniper Networks T Series Core Routers, the router-integrated optical DWDM interfaces interoperate seamlessly with Nokia Siemens Networks hit7300 WDM platform and can be managed by the carrier-grade TNMS as an integral part of the DWDM network. Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc. 7

8 Single Management Figure 6: Router interface becomes an integral part of DWDM network, with single unified management system. The Juniper-NSN IPoDWDM solution integrates fault and performance messages which are originated by the router line interface, and correlates them with DWDM-related status information within TMNS. This integration ensures complete and comprehensive performance monitoring capabilities, without requiring the service provider to make significant changes to its organizational structure. Router Interface Becomes Integral Part of DWDM Network Figure 7: Screen shot of TNMS, showing a sample network management view 8 Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc.

9 By using a shared control plane, the IPoDWDM solution can use information from TNMS to enable proactive restoration and recovery at either the optical or the IP layer. This results in dramatically improved reliability through early link failure detection, enhanced troubleshooting capabilities, and increased simplicity overall. The solution also gives operators a range of options for protection schemes, ranging from MPLS fast reroute at the IP layer to mesh protection schemes at Layer 1. Operators can choose the appropriate protection for their own unique network requirements and organizational structure to ensure optimal efficiency and availability. Because the optics have been thoroughly tested and designed to work together, Juniper and NSN s solution eliminates the potential laser safety hazards outlined above meaning operators can efficiently plan optical reach (considering nonlinear effects and aging margins), without the artificial safety margins necessitated by other solutions. The Juniper-NSN IPoDWDM solution also works with gray optics on the router for operators who wish to make a gradual transition to IPoDWDM technology, or for those who wish to leverage existing investments in transponders while minimizing the costs of interfaces. The Juniper-NSN IPoDWDM solution lessens many of the gray interface issues outlined above through management and control plane integration. This unique level of management and control plane integration enables carriers to test failure forwarding capabilities as well as protection and resilience interworking even for gray wavelengths. To speed the deployment and turn up of network services across the entire IP-optical network, the IPoDWDM solution is fully integrated with TransNet, NSN s unique network planning software. Unlike other approaches where additional capacity must be planned across multiple systems, the joint Juniper-NSN solution provides a single interface where services can be planned and scheduled. Figure 8: Screen shot of TransNet, NSN s planning software which can plan and provision the integrated IPoDWDM solution. Integration with network planning tools and network management systems dramatically improves time-to-market, resulting in lower costs and increased revenue opportunities. In addition, the operator will be able to enjoy faster service provisioning times, as only one DWDM interface will need to be installed and configured as opposed to other IP over optical transport technologies that require the use of transponders and/or gray interfaces. Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc. 9

10 Conclusion Many factors are driving an increased interest in IPoDWDM solutions. As always, carriers are seeking to increase the efficiency of their networks and drive down operational and capital expenses. Additionally, as more mission critical traffic and services are being carried on the IP layer, carriers are looking for ways to improve reliability, resiliency, and availability, while also speeding the service provisioning process. By converging the IP and optical layers, IPoDWDM accomplishes many of these goals by driving operational network efficiency and simplifying network design. However carriers should be aware that some IPoDWDM solutions can present challenges organizationally and technically. By combining Juniper s best-in-class IP routing technology with NSN s industry leading optical platforms and network management systems, the Juniper-NSN IPoDWDM solution provides a unique, highly flexible, reliable, and cost efficient way to scale carrier networks. The Juniper NSN IPoDWDM solution delivers improved efficiency, advanced performance monitoring capabilities, fully interoperable optics, and integrated control plane and management systems ensuring operators a seamless, simple, and profitable transition to converged IP-optical networks. Appendix: Successful Deployment UNInett of Norway has successfully deployed the joint NSN-Juniper IPoDWDM solution to connect Oslo and Trondheim over a distance of approximately 600km. The figure below provides a high-level abstraction of UNInett s network architecture. Uninett of Norway successfully tested colored OTU-2 IF in Juniper router over NSN hit 7300 DWDM Juniper router with colored OTU-2 interfaces Trondheim Oslo 5km 106,9km 94,6km 98km 111,1km 90,3km 130,1km 5km 633km ROADM NSN hit 7300 DWDM link Optical repeater terminal Figure 9: IPoDWDM Deployment example at UNInett of Norway 10 Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc.

11 References For additional information on this topic, please refer to the additional white papers and data sheets referenced below. Whitepapers: OTN Interfaces for IP over DWDM Integrating Optical Transport into Routers Datasheet: 10-Gigabit Ethernet Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing Optical Transport Network PIC Press Release: Nokia Siemens Networks and Juniper Networks to Integrate IP and Optical Technologies to Improve Network Efficiency and Reduce Operator Opex About Juniper Networks Juniper Networks, Inc. is the leader in high-performance networking. Juniper offers a high-performance network infrastructure that creates a responsive and trusted environment for accelerating the deployment of services and applications over a single network. This fuels high-performance businesses. Additional information can be found at Corporate and Sales Headquarters APAC Headquarters EMEA Headquarters To purchase Juniper Networks solutions, Juniper Networks, Inc North Mathilda Avenue Sunnyvale, CA USA Phone: 888.JUNIPER ( ) or Fax: Juniper Networks (Hong Kong) 26/F, Cityplaza One 1111 King s Road Taikoo Shing, Hong Kong Phone: Fax: Juniper Networks Ireland Airside Business Park Swords, County Dublin, Ireland Phone: EMEA Sales: Fax: please contact your Juniper Networks representative at or authorized reseller. Copyright 2010 Juniper Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Junos, NetScreen, and ScreenOS are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks, service marks, registered marks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners. Juniper Networks assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies in this document. Juniper Networks reserves the right to change, modify, transfer, or otherwise revise this publication without notice EN Apr 2010 Printed on recycled paper Copyright 2010, Juniper Networks, Inc. 11