(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Network service provider Mzima Networks (www.mzima.net) has partnered with network infrastructure software and solution provider Ciena (www.ciena.com) to deploy Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Service Delivery portfolio across the Mzima IP Network, which offers a combination of route-optimized transit and private peering for high performance and reliability.
According to Mzima’s announcement, Mzima will leverage one of Ciena’s connection-oriented Ethernet technology options, specifically choosing a Provider Backbone Bridging-Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE) implementation, allowing Mzima to optimize network performance, ensuring greater path resiliency, faster re-routes, and overall maximum efficiency, making it a cost-effective alternative to traditional Tier 1 service providers and multi-homed networks.
“Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet solutions, including PBB-TE implementations, provide a level of scalability and Quality of Service that will immediately benefit our customers,” Mzima chief technology officer Grant Kirkwood said in a statement. “Ciena is the standard-bearer in the exciting new space of Carrier Ethernet products, and their innovative technology continues to occupy the vanguard. Mzima is proud to work with Ciena to offer the latest in network technologies to our growing roster of service providers, content delivery networks, and enterprise clients who rely on our cutting-edge IP network backbone for their critical communications.”
For service providers to succeed in the rapidly growing Ethernet services market, carrier Ethernet business and transport services must overcome the shortcomings of legacy technologies, such as increasing costs, the inability to scale bandwidth, and the lengthy interval from customer order placement to service activation.
Ciena’s CESD portfolio combines intelligent devices and software to deliver the full range of Ethernet services, simplifying the process associated with provisioning, service activation, and quality routing across Mzima’s network, creating a low-touch, high-velocity, integrated Ethernet access and aggregation network.
Ciena chief technology officer Steve Alexander said Ciena’s flexible platforms support a variety of connection-oriented deterministic protocols as well as IP/MPLS capabilities, allowing service providers to choose the approach best suited for their architecture. “Our carrier Ethernet solutions provide customers the flexibility to build a transport network for their specific traffic engineering requirements,” Alexander said in a statement. “We share a common vision and dedication to high-quality products and superior customer service with Mzima; we both recognize that the only true measure of innovation is the end-user experience.”
Also, PBB-TE combined with Ciena’s Ethernet Services Manager (ESM), a carrier-grade, automated service activation, creation, and management platform, enables significant acceleration and automation of service activation. As well, it minimizes the number of backbone device configurations while expanding Mzima’s operations, administration and maintenance capabilities.
Originally developed at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center in the mid 1970′s, Ethernet has been given new life as the Ethernet services market continues to contribute to the evolution of what has become the most widespread wired LAN technology. Earlier this week, Verizon Business (www.verizonbusiness.com) added a new, dynamic bandwidth solution that lets its Ethernet Virtual Private Line and Private IP customers have broader control over network speed and capacity.
