Ethernet is picking up its growth not necessarily for the speed but the ability to transfer various technologies. Ethernet is actually one of the troublesome innovations of our era. Earlier Ethernet was used to connect home-based computers to gain access to the internetwork; however these days it is used as a WAN (wide area network) solution. The benefit of using it as a WAN is not only to provide the speed in single port but to save a great deal of money in terms of provisioning and infrastructure.
Ethernet is now evolving from LAN Ethernet to Metro Ethernet. Most business end users would like to embrace the Ethernet as last mile/first mile because of its low cost and large advantages.
The definition of Carrier Ethernet from a Business User Perspective “A ubiquitous service defined by the five attributes named as Standardized Services, Scalability, Reliability, Service Management and Quality of Service. “
a) Standardized Services:- EVC (Ethernet Virtual Connection) is defined as service container which connects two to more user networks. It prevents data communication between the sites which are not part of same EVC. Further EVC is divided into three types:-
•Eline (Point to Point Services)
•Elan (Multipoint to Multipoint)
•Etree (Routed Multipoint)
b) Scalability:- Easily upgradable.
c) Reliability:- In case of failure of links, minimum time to converge.
d) Quality Of Service:- Define QOS for SLA (Service Level Aggrements)
e) Service Management:- Standard OAM
Definition of Metro Ethernet from SP point of view “A set of network elements that connects to transport Ethernet services fo all users locally or globally.”