I have been given an offer to move to a flex T1 MPLS service with internet and PRI for 3 sites. It worries me because we are moving lots of data over the network and we already have issues with the local loop. The way it was described to me was a bunch of T1s coming in and sharing the bandwidth throughout the network. At the same time I was offered a fiber solution for all sites. What are the benefits to the flex service? We are about to roll out a VOIP as well. The flex provider wants 7 T1s at one site and 3 T1s at the other. They will have a PRI at each as well. Another carrier offered a full fiber MPLS topology. I know that the fiber network does not have too many downsides but what about the flex service?
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Currently we have 3 sites with a possibility for a 4th. We have a 3mbps bonded T1 for data and 1 T1 for voice.We also have an old 3mbps ATM connection to another. Bandwidth is an issue and due to the fact that the local MPOE at the main site has very bad wiring it is steering me to fiber. The costs for conduit is only about 12,000. This would help accommodate growth in the future rather than throwing T1s at the topology. What are your thoughts. I don't have any experience with the flex service and hearing about having everything riding on the same lines concerned me.Currently our T1s go down 4 times per year and the last mile even with another T1 provider would not change the wiring at the MPOE. This is what is making me side with fiber even if cost were a bit higher.
If the T1's are dropping with consistency, and the outages last for a decent amount of time it's probably worth the extra few grant a month just for the uptime, let alone the scalability. Plus the old ATM T1's you might have a harder time effectively bringing that into the mix when you start to implement VoIP. QOS on the ATM side is usually a little different and some of these MPLS setups.
are the proposals for the T1's and fiber setup as a Layer 2 MPLS network or Layer 3?
alrighty, so cost aside, fiber's your better bet. if you need to do a cost justification it should be pretty easy to justify an additional 2500 / mo. as compared to lost productivity when the T1's drop, especially if you're planning on implementing VoIP. the stability of fiber, again presuming infrastructure like proper backup power is going to be worth more than the couple thousand a month. Say you have 100 employees each making $30 an hour and you have an average of one T1 outage per quarter, during which your T1's are down for 4 hours. That's 100x30 = 3000. $3000x say four hours lost productivity per outage = $12K. Compared to a service cost increate of 2500x3 = 7500. Even if you figure that lost productivity is only say 60% that's $7200 per in lost productivity which is a mere $300 difference. And 60% productivity loss when your phones AND network don't work is pretty generous.
go with the fiber
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by: rpalmeira22Posted on 2009-08-22 at 22:02:33ID: 25161405
Without knowing price differences, and leaving aside the install costs of fiber, which can be significant, the T1 services are pretty much all around less ideal. if you're rolling VoIP, make sure you check with both providers on what kind of QOS you can get across their respective networks. How much of the bandwidth for each site can be prioritized for voice? Your T1's are pretty much 1.5 each and generally that's CBR across the network, a fiber connection, you may have larger overall bandwidth but make sure you have a clear service level agreement for the entire network. CBR, burstable rates.
If your T1 flex service is MPLS, I'm going to guess it's a full 24 channels of IP data back to the providers MPLS cloud. Couple of things to consider for that. Can the provider gaurantee you a minimum bandwidth from each remote/branch back to the main site? For example if you have 4 T1's at each branch and 7 at main, you won't have full capacity at the main site should all the sites start dumping a bunch of data too it simaltaneous, MPLS-TE would provide some comitted bitrate between each branch and main so that there's some level of connectivity. This is sort of like what channelized private line T1's would offer except more flexible because if one site isn't sending traffic, a point to point channel goes wasted, in an MPLS setup that bandwidth at the main site is still available.
Also be sure you're clear on how the Internet traffic gets put into the mix. You generally don't want to be bleeding public internet routes into your private network's route tables. This can happen regardless of transport type, so be sure to ask both providers about how they deliver the Internet service.
The other thing with T1's is power backup. Generally fiber requires additional electronics at your prem to hand off as Ethernet or whatever handoff you're getting. T1's are pretty much T1's unless the provider is also giving you the CPE to terminate the circuits. In either case, find out what you need to provide in terms of rack or backboard space, power, UPS backup, cooling, etc.