I'm currently on a project where we are at a crossroad.
One of the companies that is involved in this project has indicated the need for an all ATM network from backbone to desktop.
I'm not an expert in ATM technology so I thought that I would pose the question here. What are our options ? Is it a good bet to go with an all ATM network or are there strong suggestions not to do it.
One of my own considerations was that there aren't that much ATM NIC suppliers in the market. So we would be depending on a single supplier. And it would require that we would spend a lot of money on training our network engineers in mastering the ATM secrets.
Can anyone give me an informed answer on the pro's and con's of ATM and why it is a better or worse choice over Ethernet.
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The main advantages of ATM these days is encryption speeds due to the fact that as of recently the fastest IP encryptor is only 60 MB/s and the fastest AT< encryptor is up to 10 GB/s. If you are not running a classified encrypted network then IP should suffice. You can always use a combination of both like was already suggested. Any respectable ATM box is going to have a SAR (Segmentation And Re-assembly) function which will convert ATM cells to IP packets and vise versa. SO running ATM at the core and IP at the desktop is very possible and viable.
you need to ask why do they require an atm network. ATM is great for differenciating and prioritizing services, like voice, video, and data; unless they have a need to do this you are going to pay extra in equipment over ethernet. not only that, ATM is highly specialized and takes time to learn, if you plan to train your network engineers in house you are in for a long ride, you will likely end up hiring someone with ATM experience or outsourcing, which will cost you.
even if they do need to differentiate and prioritize services, IP diff services today are almost on par with ATM, you will save money and have more options if you avoid ATM. ATM is a dying technology, most carriers are moving away from it and toward IP based diff services or layer 2 proiritized services, again bumping up the price for ATM services. implementing ATM today would be a bad move.
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by: jjeff1Posted on 2001-03-23 at 14:45:46ID: 5953996
Running ATM to every desktop is a great idea for speed, but very expensive.
You should probably do a ATM to the closet design.
I work with Marconi ATM gear ( used to be Fore System ). You could install the core network with ASX-200BX switches, or the larger ASX-1000 switch if needed.
Then run the closets up to the core with a dual OC3 netmod on an ESR5000 or ESR6000 chassis. Fill the rest of the chassis up with 10/100 ports. Run ethernet to the desktop.
Typically, ATM will be more expensive than ethernet unless you have a specific reason for it. If you are trying to combine this with a telephony or video system, then ATM is the way to go.
Even still, ATM to the desk is probably overkill.