Carrier Ethernet 2 Aims For Global Connectivity

alphadogg provides this extract from Network World: "The Metro Ethernet Forum has updated its Carrier Ethernet specification, hoping to standardize the use of Ethernet for global multicarrier services. 'With Carrier Ethernet 2, we're expanding Quality-of-Service [QoS] well beyond best efforts, and will now allow carriers to interconnect to provide worldwide [Ethernet] service,' said Bob Metcalfe, co-inventor of Ethernet, during a Metro Ethernet Forum Web conference held Thursday to announce the specification. The forum introduced Carrier Ethernet in 2005 as a set of extensions that describe how data communications carriers should use Ethernet in a consistent manner. The new specification, Carrier Ethernet 2, establishes an additional set of rules."

Comments

Sweet Jesus

[squidflakes]

The possibility that I could get something like a 10Mb metro ethernet line to my house for the same price I'm paying for shitass DSL makes me shiver in delight.

Of course, this means that it won't happen until the entrenched telcos figure out a way to oversell it by 50% and charge you like it was a T1 from the mid-90s.

Re:Sweet Jesus

[Anonymous Coward]

It isn't about "last mile" edge connectivity, it's about replacing SONET backhaul links with Ethernet, partly because it's cheaper, and partly because Ethernet these days packs a lot more bits onto into relatively cheap copper than a single SONET link manages even on single-mode fiber.

It's also a lot about Bob Metcalfe. You ever watch a show called Royal Pains? There's a character who introduces himself to everyone, no matter how unrelated to a business transacton, with his full name and title, "Evan R. Lawson, CFO of HankMed". The inventor of Ethernet, Bob "I invented Ethernet" Metcalfe, who invented Ethernet is kind of like that. Did I mentioned he invented Ethernet? He will.

Re:Sweet Jesus

[uncledrax]

My thinking is pretty much what Wiki cites it as "Overselling or Overbooking refers to the selling of a volatile good or service in excess of actual capacity. Overselling is a common practice in the travel and lodging industry. In telecommunications, sometimes the term oversubscription is preferred."... There may be a more specific usage of the term I'm not familiar with.

SLAs and BE can cover/handle congestion situations (possibly covered by Oversubscribed services being all used at once).. they are more often cited for their service restoration and availability clauses.
QoS being of course "What/Whose packet goes first if theres not enough room".. again.. a possibility in an Over-sub'ed system.

Re:Sweet Jesus

[uncledrax]

Yes and No. There's a world of difference between the world of basic or unmanaged switches you'd find on a LAN, and the world of Carrier-grade MPLS-TE or PBB-TE. The good is if you're a really GOOD small LAN admin, you at least understand the unpinnings concepts of Ethernet switching and hopefully some basic routing.. ...but Elvis help you if you go from a little 3Com switch and a Linksys Router into 'big iron' routing....

Re:Sweet Jesus

[Charliemopps]

Oversell it by 50%? You're kidding right? It's considered good policy to oversell by 60% or so. The problem is ISPs are overselling by between 200%-800% as standard now, with some extreme cases where entire small towns are fed by a single 5mb trunk while they are selling 8mb+ DSL/cable. Not only will the entire thing be swamped the second ANYONE downloads a large file, no-one is able to reach the speed they were sold unless they are connecting to someone else in the same town.

Re:Sweet Jesus

[jon3k]

Yeah I should be more specific. I mean actual trained LAN administrators. In the days of SONET/ATM/Frame-Relay a CCNA was absolutely lost when you stepped into the world of long haul transport. But with Metro-E a lot of that knowledge becomes directly applicable. Sure you might not know what G-PON is or an add drop mutliplexer, but at least an gigabit ethernet interface runs at 1Gb and has speed and duplex settings!