GAINING A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE BY BUILDING AN OPTIMIZED NETWORK ARCHITECTURE FOR CONSUMER AND BUSINESS SERVICES

Transcription

1 GAINING A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE BY BUILDING AN OPTIMIZED NETWORK ARCHITECTURE FOR CONSUMER AND BUSINESS SERVICES February 2009 White Paper This paper shows how a network of SmartEdge MSERs can offer new revenue-generating services. The paper will discuss ways to use the same infrastructure to provide these services and how the service provider can incrementally add new services as it sees new opportunities in the market.

2 Contents 1 Introduction Business Expansion Expansion Opportunity Further Expansion Medium to Large Businesses High Availability Economic Considerations Conclusion References Further Information Ericsson AB (17)

3 1 Introduction Over the past several years and continuing on today, service providers have been upgrading their network infrastructure to deliver new revenue-generating services. Clearly, the success of the investment depends on the expected rate of return (ROI). Intuitively, the more services that can be delivered, with the same infrastructure, the better the investment is considered. An advanced infrastructure enables the service provider to provide different services to a variety of customer types. Generally, the customer pool can be segmented into two broad categories: 1. End user subscribers (households) and 2. Businesses. Delivery of services to the former is a combination of triple play and perhaps even wireless services. The latter can be further divided into small, medium and large businesses. Virtual private networks are currently in great demand from different size businesses. As market opportunities become available to the service provider, its infrastructure must have the necessary tools and features to be able offer more services and compete effectively. SmartEdge MSER is such a platform. It is a platform that can be utilized to deliver these services with an optimized infrastructure. It consolidates all the necessary functions at the network edge: Subscriber management with Broadband Remote Access Server (B-RAS), Ethernet access aggregation, and IP/MPLS edge routing. New functions such as security, P2P application detection, Session Border Control are also part of the SmartEdge features. But feature/functionalities by themselves are not enough. For the service provider it is imperative to maximize the use of its infrastructure in offering new and additional services and be able to target new segment without forklifting or requiring major changes in its network. This paper shows how a network of SmartEdge MSERs can offer these services. The paper will discuss ways to use the same infrastructure to provide these services and how the service provider can incrementally add new services as it sees new opportunities in the market Ericsson AB (17)

4 2 Business Expansion A Request For Proposal (RFP) document usually includes optional features and requirements in case new opportunities become available and can be used to expand the service provider s initial business plan. For a given solution to build the infrastructure, it is important to provide the flexibility that the service provider requires to introduce the optional features of the RFP. In addition, new opportunities may become available that were not referred to in the RFP at all. The important point is the need for infrastructure flexibility and each vendor may have a different definition for it. Flexibility may refer to scalability, ease of product upgrade, or introduction of a new platform into the existing infrastructure. To the service provider, flexibility simply refers to the ability to expand its business within the window of opportunity available to it. Therefore, an infrastructure that can rapidly deploy the targeted new services will offer a winning business roadmap to the service provider. Ericsson s SmartEdge platform is such a solution. As a relevant example, the delivery of triple play services has been considered as a great opportunity for service providers. Many vendors offer solutions to build the infrastructure with varying degrees of flexibility. In many previous papers, Ericsson has consistently proven how flexible and cost-effective its SmartEdge Multi-Service Edge Router is to deliver these services [1, 2]. SmartEdge s consolidated design approach offers a combination of B-RAS, Ethernet aggregation and IP/MPLS edge routing, Security, P2P management, AND Session Border Control all the necessary components for delivery of triple play services, per figure 1. This is in contrast to competing architectures where each function is placed in a separate platform (some of which may not be owned by the vendor itself but a partner) that increases cost and management overhead Ericsson AB (17)

5 ONE VS FIVE One SmartEdge supplying all functions Separate platforms for B-RAS, E-net Aggregation, IP/MPLS Edge routing, Security, Session Border Control Figure 1) Side by Side Comparison: SmartEdge vs. a Competing Architecture for Triple Play Services SmartEdge s flexibility stems from multiple differentiating factors: 1. Access agnostic (ATM, Ethernet, Wireless, FTTx, etc.), 2. Feature usage as necessary per business growth, e.g., VPLS, P2P traffic identification for resource management, IMS-based VoIP. 3. Ease of new feature upgrades and introduction with In Service Software Upgrade without disruption in user traffic. No new platforms are necessary when SmartEdge is deployed for delivery of a new service, no forklift upgrading is necessary and no downtime is expected for expansion of features. With multiple functions and a rich set of features, a single SmartEdge is functionally equivalent to multiple-platform architectures that are promoted by competing vendors. In a SmartEdge-based network, each subscriber can receive a combination of IPTV/VoD, Voice and broadband data. The service provider can empower the subscriber to enjoy the offered services based on her/his separate subscription profile. In addition, by enforcing policies via SmartEdge s B-RAS capability and NetOp policy manager, the service provider will benefit from innovative solutions which can translate to product differentiation and consequently, additional revenues. For example, the service provider can offer a common URL site for the subscriber for time-based increase in bandwidth and pay a premium for it. QoS levels can be set per subscriber per service to ensure that, for example, VoD gets a higher priority (or bandwidth) than Internet browsing. As new opportunities arise, e.g., delivery of business service, the service provider may require new platforms from its incumbent vendor or at worst a new infrastructure (which may make the investment not viable at all). The main economic objective, therefore, is to minimize the marginal cost of infrastructure construction. The optimal Ericsson AB (17)

6 situation would be if the current infrastructure is able support consumers and business customers simultaneously. Furthermore, statistically, the absolute number of businesses (as target customers) decrease as the size of the business increases, i.e., there are a lot more small-sized businesses than large businesses. And their requirements are quite different (see table 1). An optimal infrastructure addresses these issues for business customers, and can simultaneously provide services to individual consumers. Table 1) Typical Business Requirements per size Table 1, reveals that requirements for small businesses are not too different from high-end consumer requirements. Therefore, an infrastructure that was build for consumer triple play can potentially be used for small businesses. The next section Ericsson AB (17)

7 details a scenario in which a SmartEdge-based network can be utilized to support both market segments. 3 Expansion Opportunity In a typical scenario, the service provider may want to expand services to an adjacent market. For example, if the consumer market was the original target, serving small businesses can be the next logical choice. However, the provider s infrastructure must be able to handle the new opportunity without major modifications. A SmartEdge-based infrastructure offers a simple yet powerful approach to achieve this goal. Figure 2 shows a network that can be used to deliver services to both types of target markets: consumers and small businesses. Figure 2) Serving two distinct markets using the same infrastructure Per figure 2, each consumer household is receiving a combination of IPTV/VoD, Broadband data and VoIP. This market is highly sensitive to service to price ratio but does not demand QoS levels comparable to small businesses. For example, small businesses require VoIP, and broadband access but willing to pay a premium for a higher QoS level. The network can be built entirely by SmartEdge MSERs (core routers are shown for larger backbones in figure 2). Each household gets a logical connection PPPoA or PPPoE or DHCP through the SmartEdge that is acting as an access aggregator. This SmartEdge also acts as a L2TP Access Concentrator (LAC) and establishes L2TP tunnels to send customer data to the LNS (L2TP Network Server). The service provider can assign a specific QoS level to the consumers aggregate tunnels, e.g., Level 1 or L1. The service provider can use the same logical connections (PPPoX or DHCP) to provide access to small businesses Ericsson AB (17)

8 and apply a different set of policies to ensure that this market gets a higher level QoS (e.g., via setting Access Control Lists assigned to L2TP tunnels) than consumers. This is a tremendous advantage for the service provider as the same infrastructure is easily used for separate markets having different requirements. In figure 2, the SmartEdge acting as an edge router terminates the L2TP tunnels and establishes LSPs with separate pseudo-wires to carry consumer and business traffics through the network core. The LSPs are assigned traffic management parameters that are compatible with the L2TP QoS levels (L1, L2 per above). The LNS edge router can be assigned to perform other important tasks such as P2P identification which will benefit the service provider for judicious use of its network resources, i.e., rate limiting P2P traffic. Additionally, per figure 2, connection to the PSTN from another SmartEdge, or the same as the LNS, is facilitated by using its SBC capabilities and a Media Gateway Controller (not shown in figure 2). Ericsson s SmartEdge also provides an innovative method for establishing logical connections for consumers and businesses alike in addition to PPPoX and DHCP, and that is Clientless IP connections or CLIPs. In this method, Clientless IP (CLIP) assigns an IP address based on a DHCP request without the requirement for a preestablished logical L2 channel, e.g., PPP. This allows for rapid configuration of a logical channel. Using the CLIP Service, the SmartEdge can deliver personalized services to DHCP subscribers who share the same LAN in much the same way that individual services to PPP subscribers are delivered. The DHCP subscriber is simply identified by means of her/his source IP or source MAC address and hence source IP or source MAC serves as the differentiating point to deliver or apply services. 3.1 Further Expansion Medium to Large Businesses The business requirements of large enterprises are quite different from the others, per table 1. Over the past several years, large businesses have subscribed to virtual private networking (VPN) services through on site switches (Layer 2) or routers (Layer 3), depending on skill levels of their technical personnel or simply cost (switches are cheaper to own and operate than routers). MPLS based VPNs (VPLS, L3 VPNs per RFC 4364 (previously known as 2547bis)) have become services of choice for both providers and their customers. The same SmartEdge-based infrastructure, shown in figure 2, can be used to provide the MPLS based VPNs as well. This infrastructure is shown in figure Ericsson AB (17)

9 Figure 3) Unified services architecture via SmartEdge MSER Almost all vendors supplying the IP/MPLS edge router market support IP/MPLS based L2/L3 VPNs. The basic claims are similar and naturally based on industry standards. While SmartEdge MSER supports these standards, and its implementation goes beyond any other vendor via an advanced feature called Virtual Context. A virtual context is a virtual SmartEdge instance running within a single physical device. Each virtual context has a separate routing and administrative domain complete with separate routing protocol instances, addressing, authentication, security, policy settings, etc. A service provider can offer its large business accounts a complete, virtual network assuring complete privacy and exclusivity of service. The service provider, therefore, can configure virtual contexts to provide different classes of service to its target customers. Figure 4 depicts a simplified network diagram of virtual contexts. Traffic separation through the use and configuration of virtual contexts can be used as a premium service that service providers can offer their corporate customers. Since each customer virtually owns its private network complete with separate policies, routing, and administrative domains, they have far more control over their logical network than a mere RFC4364-based VPN which basically provides separation of address space Ericsson AB (17)

10 Figure 4) Virtual Contexts for Separation of Network and Services The concept of Virtual Context enables the service provider to expand its product offerings and increase its revenue streams by creative configuration of its network. Below we discuss a few possible scenarios. 1. In this scenario, a large enterprise wishes to separate its groups to be able to control traffic and networking budget per department. In turn, the service provider can offer the enterprise multiple contexts each with its own routing domain and traffic engineering (bandwidth management, e.g., P2P identification and management). This is possible since virtual contexts do not have to have a 1:1 relationship to each customer. SmartEdge MSER allows for creative configuration for multiple contexts to be used for the same customer depending on the needs of that customer. Additionally, each department can assign its own budget for networking based on, for example, application, and expected traffic. Inter-department communication can be achieved via yet another context to allow enterprise employees from different departments to access each other. This is shown in figure Ericsson AB (17)

11 Figure 5) Virtual Contexts for Separation of Departments Networks 2. Virtual contexts configurations can be utilized in conjunction with traffic signature identifications to separate public access, i.e., Internet access, from corporate traffic [3]. This can be achieved by using two separate contexts, one for its internal traffic and one for public access. Utilizing a dedicated virtual context with for SmartEdge s flexible NAT, Internet traffic can be forwarded to that context via inter-context routing shown in figure 6. To secure the inter-context links, Access Control Lists can be used. ACLs can also be used to define which traffic signatures will be NATed. As before, all of the available features in SmartEdge can be applied to either context, e.g., apply P2P identification to the NAT context to manage this type of traffic or give Internet traffic a Best Effort level of QoS. Figure 6) Virtual Contexts for Separation of Corporate Traffic 3. Bandwidth wholesaling is offered as a major service from one service provider to Ericsson AB (17)

12 another. Wholesaling Private Line, Ethernet data services and wavelengths are common practices. Clearly, without any service differentiation price becomes the only business parameter to compete on. This low-price model has failed in many instances. Product differentiation can only be achieved with an infrastructure that has the necessary tools. SmartEdge supports a combination of VLAN-to- VPLS/MPLS cross-connect, PPP Termination Architecture, L2TP tunneling and Virtual Context. It is this last capability that sets the SmartEdge apart from its competitors. Whether the lessee (the service provider leasing bandwidth from) has its own infrastructure or not, the lessor (bandwidth wholesaler) can provide differentiating service levels to lessees by configuring and granting complete virtual networks with their own distinct personalities. As a PE router, SmartEdge can use virtual contexts (for each lessee) that are connected to MPLS tunnels that span the lessor s backbone. This is shown in figure 7. Figure 7) Virtual Contexts for Bandwidth Wholesaling By configuring a virtual context for the Internet service provider (ISP), which has its own network in this example, the lessor can offer a complete, differentiated VPN to the ISP with its own QoS levels, security, and bandwidth management. The Virtual Context ensures that the ISP s target customers (shown in the purple box in figure 7) received differentiated access to the Internet or any other services that the ISP may offer on its own, e.g., VoD, IPTV. 4. Optimization of Service Provider s own network: delivery of Triple Play services is becoming a major source of new revenue for service providers. Traffic patterns, contents, QoS and method of delivery (unicast, multicast) differ among these services. In addition, certain traffic can morph into delivery of large volume of data to a single user, e.g., P2P traffic where downloading of large files are initiated. The service provider incurs an opportunity cost for having its bandwidth used for such traffic since it denies available bandwidth for other paying services Ericsson AB (17)

13 By utilizing different contexts for the delivery of these services, the service provider can logically partition its network (virtual networks) and apply different rules per logical network. For example, for broadband data, the service provider can turn on P2P identification and rate limit that type of traffic. The logical separation of a network based on services is shown in figure 8. Once the DHCP request is received from the user s CPE (i.e., router gateway), each device, e.g., VoIP phone, will be assigned an IP address by the network (SmartEdge). In the DHCP packet, the Vendor Cass ID is assigned to each device set-top box. This is the differentiating parameter that can be used to direct traffic from the user s specific device to the appropriate virtual context. As before, all of the rules and resources that are available in the physical SmartEdge MSER are available for the logical routers (virtual contexts), therefore, administrative, ACL, QoS, security, P2P rules can be applied per context. This allows the service operator to manage its traffic and overall network in a much more efficient manner. Figure 8) Virtual Contexts for Separation of Services 3.2 High Availability High availability for both hardware and software is critical for delivery of services in VPNs. Hardware reliability and high availability have evolved to include redundancy of various critical components of the system to increase MTBF and decrease MTTR values. However, software reliability has proven to be even more important than hardware reliability. Without a carrier-class, fault-tolerant operating system, it becomes difficult to provide the level of system reliability that the service provider demands. SmartEdge is a carrier-class NEBS-compliant MSER. SmartEdge Operating System (SEOS) is highly resilient, modular OS that represents the natural evolution of operating systems used in the router market. It supports multiple powerful Ericsson AB (17)

14 processors, is a distributed operating system and has been designed with a software infrastructure that separates different tasks, e.g., BGP, OSPF, RSVP, LDP, in such a way that faults in one does not become systemic to permeate to other tasks, or bring the control plane hardware down. Each task has its own independent process space and protected memory area. A fault in, e.g., OSPF, will not bring down the routing processor or require a switchover to the back-up. Each process is re-bootable by itself without affecting the overall operation of SmartEdge MSER, including traffic forwarding. If a switch over of the routing processors is necessary, data traffic flow will be hitless and all of the established subscriber sessions (including DHCP, PPPoX, PPP subscribers in LAC or LNS setup) will stay operational. For most routing and signaling protocols standard-based graceful restart procedures take effect. For the protocols that no standard based graceful restart is available, Ericsson has developed them in house. This includes L2TP. SEOS provides high availability for all of its routing and signaling protocols and was first to introduce session level reliability to the market. No subscriber sessions/information is lost during a forced or controlled XCRP switchover. This is a tremendous advantage that enables continuous service to end-users even in presence of faults. With SEOS there is no need for scheduled downtime for the system as this becomes unnecessary. In addition, system restart becomes unnecessary for scheduled maintenance and software upgrades. SEOS is capable of In Service Software Upgrade. Therefore when a bug-fix is applied to the BGP process and the process is restarted; it does not affect the other processes or force a system re-boot. SEOS provides advanced features that many of the current generations of routing platforms, which are based on large monolithic operating systems, can not offer. In competing systems, instabilities in any of the processes can cause memory leakage or even worse, crash the system. These monolithic operating systems often lack proper task and process scheduling capabilities, which impact the overall system operation when under high load, caused, for instance, by a network event. SEOS high availability extends to protection of the network in presence of faults. Standard based schemes such as Link Aggregation (802.3ad) for link protection or Label Switched Paths (LSP) protection by end-to-end backup of RSVP-LSPs or Fast ReRoute (FRR) are supported to maintain non-disruption of user services. By utilizing FRR, service providers can achieve SONET-like protection in order of milliseconds (<50ms) in path switchover and restoration. Other features such as protection of routing and signaling protocols via stateful redundancies within SmartEdge and standard-based graceful restart methods, e.g., for OSPF, BGP, LDP are also supported Ericsson AB (17)

15 4 Economic Considerations Profit expectations in selection of an infrastructure, to offer a mix of consumer and business services, can be represented in the following intuitive mathematical statement: With where n is the number of subscribers receiving services, and m is the number of businesses served. RPB is Revenue Per Business served and must be distinguished from ARPU since the requirements for businesses are diverse and different from end user subscribers. From the above, clearly to maximize the expected profit, ARPU and RPB must be maximized and the cost factor minimized all within market bounds and parameters, e.g., competitive pressures. The cost factor can generally be divided into three broad categories: OPEX, CAPEX depreciation and S&GA. The OPEX part can be further divided into OPEX for consumers and OPEX for businesses. However, if the infrastructure and the method of service delivery to both sets of customers are the same, the OPEX can potentially be reduced as overlapping cost centers can be avoided, e.g., engineering cost. There is also a hidden opportunity cost not factored into the above formula. That is the opportunity cost of inefficient use of network resources: specifically, wasting bandwidth on applications that generate minimal revenue per bit while taking away bandwidth from more lucrative applications. P2P is such an application. Its revenue source is the same category as simple broadband access (flat fee regardless of traffic volume with Best Effort) and can potentially generate a large of volume of traffic within the network as multiple seeding sources are used to download the intended file, e.g., ended file, e.g., a full-length feature movie. An efficient infrastructure provides the tools for the service provider to manage this traffic and decrease the volume of uneconomic traffic by rate limiting or giving a choice to the user to pay a premium to enjoy higher bandwidths. The latter method is most attractive as it becomes a source of revenue for the service provider. SmartEdge MSERs effectively lower the cost parameter in the above formula by enabling the same infrastructure and methods of service delivery to provide both consumer and business services. In addition, by integrating multiple functionalities, SmartEdge enables the service provider to devise creative methods to save costs and generate revenue. Increase in the profit factor in the above formula depends on many factors, such as competitive and market pressures. Product differentiation by offering innovative products will have a positive impact on the service provider s revenue stream. In general, business customers demand better service compared to consumers, and are willing to pay a premium to ensure uninterrupted service from their provider. A network built with SmartEdge MSERs enables the service provider to offer innovative Ericsson AB (17)

16 products and services to their business customers to differentiate themselves from their competition. For example, enabling different levels of QoS or security to different departments within the enterprise via configuring different virtual contexts as discussed earlier. Or, enabling their business customers to rate limit their own traffic based on traffic type, e.g., allow the enterprise to rate limit employees P2P traffic. 5 Conclusion The Ericsson SmartEdge multi-service edge router (MSER) product line is a carrier-class, highly available platform that can deliver consumer and business service using the same feature set. This was shown in this paper for consumers and small businesses and by using L2TP tunneling schemes with varying degrees of QoS and other network parameters, e.g., security. As opportunities expand, an infrastructure that is built by SmartEdge MSERs will enable the service provider to offer services to large enterprise as well, even though their requirements are radically different from other customers. By using an advanced feature, i.e., virtual context, the service provider will be able to offer complete, virtual networks with different personalities to each of its large customers. This feature also enables the service provider to logically partition its network for optimize the use of its network resources. The availability of these advanced features directly map into increased revenue streams and decreased costs for the service provider. A major feature of SmartEdge is its advanced operating system that allows for rapid introduction of new features as the service operator s network evolves and its requirement change. Its innovative features allow for increased revenues by enabling the service provider tune its network based on service delivered, e.g., dynamic bandwidth adjustments to increase or reduce bandwidth for a specific service via rate limiting. The SmartEdge has been deployed in some of world s most sophisticated networks, currently in service and offering consumer and business services to a large set of customers. 6 References [1] Delivery of Advanced Triple Play services using the SmartEdge Multi-Service Edge Router, Redback Product Marketing white paper, November 2006 [2] Integration of Edge Routing, Ethernet Aggregation, and Subscriber Management Yields TCO advantages, Yankee Group, February 2006 [3] Patrick Kelso, L3 VPNs with Public NAT, Redback internal paper, Patrick Kelso, August Ericsson AB (17)

17 7 Further Information Product Specifications are subject to change without notice. Ericsson assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies in this document and reserves the right to change, modify, transfer, or otherwise revise this publication without notice. Redback and SmartEdge are trademarks registered at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and in other countries. AOS, NetOp, SMS, and User Intelligent Networks are trademarks or service marks of Redback Networks Inc. All other products or services mentioned are the trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks or registered service marks of their respective owners. All rights in copyright are reserved to the copyright owner. Company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Neither the name of any third party software developer nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission of such third party. Rights and Restrictions All statements, specifications, recommendations, and technical information contained are current or planned as of the date of publication of this document. They are reliable as of the time of this writing and are presented without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied. In an effort to continuously improve the product and add features, Redback Networks Inc. ( Redback ) or Ericsson AB ( Ericsson ) reserves the right to change any specifications contained in this document without prior notice of any kind. Neither Redback or Ericsson nor its parent or affiliate companies shall be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions which may occur in this document. Neither Redback or Ericsson nor its affiliate companies shall be liable for any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages resulting from the furnishing, performance, or use of this document Ericsson AB (17)