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Issue 8 | March 2008
see share evolve

technology update

Top of the Class

The uptake of MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) networks is undeniably on the increase, but often releasing its benefits can be far more complicated than you might realise. Network World said in its Complete Guide to MPLS Migration that "most companies are either moving to, or considering a move to, MPLS-based services." Despite this enthusiasm from the industry, network migration often 'stalls' after the first phase of implementation (while migrating from leased lines or private networks) and prior to the implementation of Classes of Service.

Unfortunately, Highlight visibility shows that while many customers benefit from improved MPLS stability, generally all their traffic uses the Default Class. To reap full benefit, customers need to proceed to Phase II and prioritise traffic into Classes which segments utilisation and stops competing traffic negatively impacting performance.

Often customers don't know what applications make-up their traffic profile, and/or their relative proportions. How can they then expect the provider to correctly define and assign traffic into Classes? You might imagine that providers would know precisely how to perform such analytical consultation, and yet too often this simply isn't the case, because trouble-shooting tools in their network operations centre simply aren't geared to providing this level of service.

Thankfully, Highlight is here to help. Customers can view the traffic on the MPLS bearer at Phase I and use Application Insight (AI) to determine the proportions, so that the Provider can assign classes. Both customer and provider can then use the Highlight visibility of the bearer AND classes for ongoing proof of service. Customers can even use Performance Insight to show network delays through each Class of Service to confirm that prioritised VoIP traffic is 'platinum class', other business critical apps are 'gold class', email is 'silver' and only the rest are left in 'default'.


notworking

BeStuff!

Described by its owners as "an open, organic, polymorphous site which, depending on the user, could take on diverse forms and meanings", BeStuff! is a visual delight. Simply volunteer your ‘best stuff' - whether that be a book you recommend constantly, a DVD you've worn out, a CD that gets you through the day, a recipe you roll out for important guests, a shirt you're keeping for that job interview or the most essential power-tool in your shed. In return find out what other people around the world think is the best stuff around and share ideas with just a glance at an eclectic collage. Add items, categories, descriptions, images and comments, then browse the best.

Jeremy Edwards, NetEvidence services director

welcome

...to your March 2008 issue of The Monthly Highlight. This is a regular newsletter created exclusively for NetEvidence customers, partners and users of our core product, Highlight.

This month we take a look at the impact of MPLS in TechnologySpotlight, reveal the latest enhancements to Performance Insight in FeatureUpdate, and provide a first look at Resource Centre in FeatureFocus. Finally, catch up on the latest Notworking or browse ‘the best stuff' with NotworkNews during all that uptime!

Please do get in touch with any comments on this newsletter or to share your own ideas for The Monthly Highlight. I hope you enjoy this latest issue.

All the very best regards,

- Jeremy

Jeremy Edwards, NetEvidence services director
jedwards@net-evidence.com


network news


Green doesn't always mean go

IT managers aren't motivated to improve efficiencies because they don't have ultimate responsibility for power costs, claims analyst Quocirca. Principle analyst Dennis Szubert says that in order for IT to become greener, there must be greater incentives for tech departments to reduce overall energy consumption and carbon footprint through better insight into the power their hardware consumes.

Quocirca research commissioned by GDCM questioned 300 businesses in Europe, UK and the US. It found less than one in five IT decision makers have responsibility for the electricity bill, with 54 per cent never made aware of it. Only 43 per cent of respondents said they have a formal carbon footprint reduction policy, while just 35 per cent of those said they pass them on to IT departments as a formal objective.

Szubert told Silicon.com: "If they had responsibility for the power bill then they would recoup that through chargeback to the business. If you want to make changes in the datacentre, you need to put in incentives. The technologies are there, the techniques are there to save power but there's not the will, there's not the incentive to do so."


Europe demands more fat pipes

The European Commission hopes to drive economic growth by boosting broadband internet penetration in the EU to 30 per cent by 2010, compared to 20 per cent today. Information society commissioner Viviane Reding said in her annual update on competition in telecoms markets, that currently only eight of the bloc's 27 member states were ahead of the US in broadband use. Denmark, Finland, Netherlands and Sweden lead the way with over a third of homes connected, while the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg and France make up the numbers.

The EU's €300bn (£236bn) telecoms market grew 1.9 per cent last year, with investment up for a fifth year running at over €50bn, in line with the US and higher than in China and Japan. According to ZDNetUK, some 19 million broadband lines were added in the EU in 2007, the equivalent of more than 50,000 households every day.


VoIP security not taken seriously

A new survey from In-Stat reveals that many businesses have yet to increase security to take account of converged comms systems, despite VoIP becoming commonplace in mainstream networking. The survey of US businesses found that despite 80 per cent of respondents already deploying some type of VoIP solution in their companies, a worrying proportion admitted they had yet to establish any form of VoIP security programme. In-Stat analyst Victoria Fodale revealed: "No mechanisms for securing VoIP had more than 50% penetration across all sizes of business. Proactive measures, including periodic security audits and pre-deployment assessments had low percentages of penetration, even among the larger organisations."

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