T1 and MPLS.com

Cisco is reminding us that the heart and soul of its business is still the humble router. In this case, maybe a not-so-humble router.

On Tuesday the company announced the CRS-3, its next-generation Internet router for the world’s largest Internet service providers. Cisco may have overhyped the announcement just a tad. After a two-week countdown to an announcement that it said would “forever change the Internet,” the company unveiled what looks like an upgrade to its existing “core” router called the CRS-1.

While the hype machine may have failed to deliver something truly revolutionary, Cisco’s announcement is still significant. The new router offers 12 times the traffic capacity than its older-generation routers offer. It’s three times faster than the older CRS-1, which was introduced in 2004. And it can handle 322 terabits of traffic per second, or simultaneous video calls for every person in China, the company said.

The new router, which starts at $90,000, will be sold to the world’s largest Internet service providers. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill ISPs selling 10 Mbps broadband service to consumers. These companies, such as AT&T, Verizon Communications, Level3, and Sprint, are the Internet service providers that aggregate and shuttle the bulk of the nation’s Internet traffic across what is known as “the Internet backbone.”

When the new Cisco routers are installed, the average broadband consumer likely won’t notice anything new. But over time, they will see the benefits of the upgraded infrastructure. The Cisco CRS-3 will allow these Internet backbone service providers to increase capacity so that new applications, especially video-based applications, like high-definition TV, video conferencing, and 3D TV, can be offered to the mass market.

Cisco CEO John Chambers said this new router will serve as the foundation of the next-generation Internet that will see tremendous growth due to video.

“Video is the killer app,” he said. “Video brings the Internet to life and most of the devices that will be coming on the network will evolve quickly into video. ”

Chambers said just looking at the devices and applications that were at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February are a good indication of what is to come in the future. And he said all these products feed into the Internet, which will load the network with more traffic.

“Whether it was gaming or video or tablets or ESPN bringing 3D sports to TV, it’s about video,” he said. Chambers added that this video traffic, along with other data intensive applications for things such as health care, will require more bandwidth than anyone could have imagined a short time ago.

Indeed, the new router will play a significant role in enabling all kinds of new applications and services to be rolled out. And as the access broadband networks get faster, more capacity will be needed in the backbone of the Internet to accommodate the traffic. Several broadband providers are already offering 50Mbps and 100Mbps broadband service to consumers. Google also recently announced that it plans to build ultra-high speed broadband networks to test new services and applications that use 1Gigabit-per-second speeds. And if history has taught the industry anything, it’s that when more bandwidth is made available, applications quickly come online to use it. Once consumers start using high-capacity applications that necessitate these speeds, infrastructure equipment deep in the Internet backbone will have to be in place to support the flood of traffic.

While the scale and speed of the new CRS-3 is impressive and definitely takes the Internet to a new level of capacity, will it really “forever change the Internet?” as Cisco billed the announcement.

The Cisco’s announcement is more of an incremental upgrade to the company’s existing product, the CRS-1. IP routing is Cisco’s bread and butter. It’s not surprising that the company has developed yet another big router to keep up with growing Internet traffic demand.

Zeus Kerravala, a senior vice president at the market research firm Yankee Group, agreed. But he said the announcement is still very important to the growth of the Internet and future innovation of new applications.

“There is no way that a routing announcement could live up to the hype that Cisco created,” he said. “But if you look down the road, when consumers want to watch multiple channels of high-definition video and 3D programming, and as more mobile apps come onto 4G wireless networks, companies like Cisco and its rival Juniper Networks need to push the envelope in terms of routing engineering.”

As for Cisco’s consumer strategy, which this announcement was rumored to be about, we’re still waiting for a killer set-top box or some other revolutionary product that will truly change the Internet as we know it.

Glad to know NuVox now windstream is a fully Cisco powered ISP. For more information on our company call Jonathan at 615-620-5223!

Representative Rowland Encourages Young Women to Enter $3,000 Scholarship Essay Contest

The National Foundation for Women Legislators and the National Rifle Association are co-sponsoring their thirteenth annual bill of Rights Essay Contest for college-bound female high school juniors and seniors, which this year will be entitled “Freedom and Civic Virtues.”  The contest’s seven winners will each receive a $3,000 college scholarship and an all-expenses-paid trip to NFWL’s Annual conference November 18-22, 2010 where they will network with, be mentored by and speak to hundreds of women lawmakers from across the United States.

“This is an excellent opportunity for local members of the Class of 2010 and 2011,” said NFWL State Chairman Representative Rowland.  “This contest will help seven young women enhance their understanding of the role of women in politics through a hands-on learning experience.  It provides an excellent opportunity to develop leadership skills while assisting with college tuition expenses.”

“The Millennial Generation is the future of American politics,” said Representative Rowland.  “By understanding and explaining the importance of American virtues and rights, young women can make a lasting impact on the future of American policies.  This essay contest is an opportunity for young women to win a college scholarship while making their voices heard on the true intentions of the Bill of Rights.”

Entries must be received or postmarked no later than July 30, 2010, after which an NFWL selection committee will judge each essay and determine the seven winners.  The judges will primarily weight the factors of storytelling, understanding of the Bill of Rights and original insight.

The National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) enables women lawmakers to be more effective leaders.  NFWL provides women Members of Congress, state legislators, county commissioners and city council members with strategic resources, including debates and briefings on the issues, leadership skill development and opportunities for networking.

Questions by potential applicants may be directed to Representative Rowland at (615) 741-2804 or to the NFWL office (202) 293-3040 ext.1005.

Email:  scholarships@womenlegislators.org
Website:  www.womenlegislators.org

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking services from IP telephony service providers have been on the market since 2005, but deployments have been limited for a couple of reasons. First, it seems many network managers I talk with do not fully grasp what a SIP trunk is, exactly, and how they work. Second, for those who do understand the concept, only now do I feel that the business case, which can be very compelling, is finally being understood. Organizations looking to deploy Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) should take a serious look at SIP trunks as part of their deployment plans.

Let me start by explaining what a SIP trunk is. In traditional telephony, the phone company delivers telephony services over a wire, or a “trunk,” that connects the corporate private branch exchange (PBX) to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). This physical trunk carries the phone calls from the corporation to the PSTN providing the corporation with phone service. A SIP trunk allows companies to replace physical cables with telephone service over a data network — whether it’s through a dedicated line, a shared connection with a data service or even by using the Internet for connectivity.

A SIP trunk can deliver much more value to a company than a traditional PSTN trunk. First, there’s no real limit to the number of voice sessions that can be carried over a SIP trunk (other than bandwidth), whereas a traditional PSTN trunk is limited to the number of channels available. Also, SIP can deliver many of the unified communications (UC) functions that companies are looking at today. Chat services, presence, conferencing capabilities, the ability to share applications, etc., can all be delivered over a SIP trunk, allowing companies to look at purchasing UC as a service rather than investing in premise-based hardware and software.

SIP trunks also allow organizations to extend VoIP past the physical LAN, where most of the deployments are today. This removes the need for organizations to purchase costly gateways, bridges or other equipment that help connect the corporate VoIP environment to the PSTN. That connectivity is done within the IP telephony service provider’s network, which means the enterprise does not have to incur the cost.

To deploy a SIP trunk you really need only three things: An IP PBX with a SIP-ready trunk, a device that sits at the edge of the enterprise that can talk SIP and a service provider that offers a SIP-trunking service (not all do today). The device is similar to the gateway needed for PSTN connectivity, but it’s typically much cheaper on a per-user basis than a gateway and it can be a gateway to many more services, other than just voice, providing a much faster return on investment than with a traditional trunk.

Overall, a SIP trunk is a simple, cost-effective method of increasing the value of the investment you’ve made in VoIP. There are many other benefits as well, such as increased user productivity, convergence of multiple lines, better bandwidth utilization and, if deployed correctly, more uptime than traditional telephony .

I urge anyone who has deployed VoIP or has a rollout under way to take a serious look at using SIP trunks to maximize the benefits of your investment. For more information on Windstream/NuVox’s SIP options, call Jonathan Kirby 615-620-5223

Ethernet equipment maker Hatteras Networks has landed a plum contract with rural LEC Windstream Corp. (WIN).

Windstream, in its new efforts to move away from consumer landline services, is emphasizing business communications products – hence its takeover of CLEC NuVox Corp. To that point, it’s installing Hatteras Ethernet-over-copper and TDM gear so it can provision up to 40gbps of bandwidth.

“Our modular solution affords Windstream the long-term flexibility to pursue a gradual, pay-as-you-grow strategy while ensuring that its customers stay availed to the leading edge of Ethernet service innovation,” said Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Hatteras Networks, in a prepared statement.

Windstream sells IP voice and data services, along with phone systems and equipment, to companies and government agencies. Of course, it also still provisions phone, Internet and television access to residential users; but the company is reducing its reliance on that sector as more people cut the cord, for which the wireless migration, high unemployment and a weak economy all are to blame.

To that point, Windstream executives said on Feb. 28 during a Telarus-hosted conference that Windstream is not taking over NuVox to dismantle what works. Rather, Windstream wants its employees to assume NuVox’s competition- and business-focused ways of thinking so the rural LEC can grow past its revenue-losing legacy residential base and into the profitable business-services market. And NuVox staff are thrilled.

Windstream’s installation of Hatteras infrastructure should help the new Windstream-NuVox reach that sales goal. The deal with Hatteras includes an Ethernet switching and labeling platform for delivering up to 100mpbs of symmetrical services; customer premise equipment for Ethernet-over-copper; demarcation devices for Ethernet over TDM; and repeaters for interconnecting with enterprises or mobile towers.