December 1998

The Three "Lucky Sevens" -- How We'll Hit The IP Networking Jackpot

BY TONY RYBCZYNSKI

It is difficult not to be awestruck by the Web. Nothing is beyond its scope - for, in my mind, the Web includes the Internet, intranets, extranets, and everything to which the Web connects. Also, it is difficult not to marvel at how quickly the Web has expanded its domain. Who heard of Webtime a few short years ago?

But, as impressive as the Web may be in terms of breadth, it is perhaps even more impressive for its depth. The Web is, in fact, positioned to become the communications infrastructure of the future.

The Web already shares many of the attributes of the current telephone network. In addition, it has its own unique attributes, and it stands to acquire others, that will allow it to supersede the existing network. Indeed, technologies are already emerging that will enhance the Web, and extend its benefits to network operators, enterprise users, and consumers.

In broad outline, the Web possesses certain attributes (I list seven below), which, in combination with certain emerging technologies (again, I list seven), will allow the Web to provide certain benefits (again, seven). Ultimately, all these sevens add up. Just as a string of sevens may click into place in a slot machine, releasing a torrent of riches, the Web's string of sevens will realize a vision of next-generation networks. Even better, with the Web, the jackpot isn't a matter of chance. It is, rather, a matter of design, and the execution of that design.

THE SEVEN ATTRIBUTES
Here they are, the key attributes of the Web that are positioning it as the communications infrastructure of the future:

1. Standards. With the Web, standardization isn't about just IP, but all the protocols built around it, a real acronym soup, including TCP, FTP, HTTP, RTP, H.323, and L2TP - to name a few.
2. Omnipresence. The Web is ubiquitous. It is manifest in the LAN, the campus network, the enterprise, and over the Internet. Yes, there are some desktops that don't yet support the IP stack, but these represent a shrinking minority.
3. Location Independence. The Web shrinks the world, making e-mail connectivity a breeze and information access virtually location independent. The Web is, in a word, global.
4. Ease Of Use. It's easy to use Web-based graphical user interfaces - so easy, in fact, that users are sometimes unaware when they are networking.
5. Addressing. The Web defines an addressing space that everyone knows in the form of e-mail and WWW addresses (of the form [email protected] and www.nortel.com, respectively). IP addresses of the form 47.4.55.128 are critical; however, they are, to a large extent, under the covers from a user perspective.
6. Application Support. The Web, as the application platform of choice, is the basis of all new apps; in fact, there are a million developers out there working on IP. Yes, there are legacy mission-critical applications that are based on Novell's IPX and IBM's SNA protocol suite, and these will be with us for years if they get by the millennium. But there is no debate about new apps.
7. Signaling. The Web defines a growing set of signaling protocols to provide transparent connectivity to get at information and ultimately to connect people.

If you think about it, these same seven attributes make the telephone network the communications network it is today. It's standards-based, it's certainly ubiquitous, it's global, it's easy to use, it's got a global numbering plan, it's got lots of applications riding on it, and it's controlled by a fairly sophisticated signaling system (for example, SS7). So, what is it that the telephone network lacks? Not much: It's got great performance (including low latency), it's highly reliable, it's got a tested business model allowing carriers to bill for service and make money. Fundamentally, when you get right down to it, there's only one thing the telephone network lacks: bandwidth for bursty data traffic.

Enter the IP world, which is optimized for data and can support voice and multimedia. So much for accommodating bursty data traffic. But what does the IP world lack? The telephone network's fabled reliability. And, not only does the IP world need to become more reliable, it has to get more class to support mission-critical applications, including voice. Also, it needs a few more standards (for example, standards to provide interworking with legacy networks, and to match the feature richness of telephone networks).

THE SEVEN TECHNOLOGIES
Here's my list of technologies that will enhance the Web, in its broadest sense, for network operators, enterprise users, and consumers:

1. IP Quality Of Service (QoS). It's all about meeting the needs of applications - the current best-effort model of the Internet has to go! No two apps are created equal - some are mission-critical, others are very delay-sensitive, and yet others are bandwidth guzzlers. Two major IETF initiatives to watch: Integrated Services and Differentiated Services (or IntServ and DiffServ, for short). The former will be used in enterprise nets; the latter is much more scalable and is destined for the Internet. Interworking between the two is a must.
2. IPSec. This is just one of several security-related standards (Public Key Encryption is another). These standards are critical if the Internet is going to meet its potential for e-commerce and virtual private networking.
3. Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). MPLS is being developed by the IETF and introduces a lot more order into IP networking. IP traffic is mapped at the edge of the network into Layer 2 label switched connections, enhancing traffic management and allowing VPN operation to be driven by service level agreements (SLAs).
4. H.323. This family of real-time multimedia communications and conferencing standards are critically important in delivering on the vision of voice/data convergence and collaborative apps.
5. Consumer DSL And Cable Modems. ADSL has been highly touted, but it faces some daunting deployment obstacles. It's not about local loop limitations; it's about having to send a technician to each residence to rewire the house. This is what's behind splitterless consumer DSL - just plug the PC into any telephone jack, and you're in business. Meanwhile, cable modems have their own deployment issues, but are seeing increased penetration.
6. Next-Generation Wireless. This is all about meeting the needs of road warriors for high-speed data access. Next-generation wireless standards are still in the works, but if mobile telephony is any indicator, there is a huge demand for wireless internet access.
7. Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM). DWDM is part of every SONET fiber optics system providing multiple wavelengths of light on a single fiber. For example, with a 32-wavelength DWDM system, a single fiber can support 32 10 Gbit/s OC192 payload or 320 Gbit/s. That's lots of encyclopedias per second! What's happening now is that ATM and IP switches want to get at this bandwidth directly without the SONET layer, which is primarily there for the multiplexing of lower speed channels, protection switching, and maintenance signaling. All this translates in lower bandwidth costs.

That's my top seven. What's yours? Feel free to e-mail me your list. Maybe I'll publish it in a subsequent column.

THE SEVEN BENEFITS
And now the third tumbler clicks into place. Here's my list of seven benefits:

1. Webtone Networks. Continued transformation of the Web into what John Roth, Nortel's CEO, calls Webtone networks: better reliability, class of service support to differentiate applications and traffic, new billing models.
2. Voice On Whatever. Convergence is a given. Transporting voice over frame relay, ATM, and (increasingly) IP is a given looking forward. The real value comes from new IP telephony features that enable new business applications accessible from IP phones, PC phones, Internet-enabled call centers, and wireless sets.
3. Roll Your Own VPNs And VPN Services. This is all about leveraging the connectivity of the Internet: process reengineering and new inter-partner business apps. It's also about outsourcing enterprise networks with improved price/performance and better reliability, and about freeing up resources to focus on leveraging networks rather than running them.
4. Application-Optimized Networking. IP QoS and enhanced security are coming to an IP network near you. But on their own, these can result in havoc rather than improved networking. That's where policy management and directory-enabled networking come in. These will provide needed coupling between end user profiles and networking capabilities: who is allowed to talk to who; who can request what network resources; who should be charged for network resources. These come together to deliver application-optimized networking.
5. Multi-Layer Routing Switches. With the importance of IP routing, the nature of the Web networking engines is changing. Routers are being transformed from software-driven multiprotocol engines to IP-optimized switching platforms (with packet forwarding in hardware) to multi-layer routing switches.
   
   Why multi-layer? Layer 3 is IP. Layer 2 is frame relay, ATM, or MPLS, and it is there to enhance the traffic management of IP networks and to strengthen the delivery of IP and VPN service guarantees. Layer 4 is moving closer to the application and allows the network to better meet application needs.
   
   So, expect to see lots of product innovation for the campus, and for enterprise wide area and public networks. These will be the platforms for application-optimized networking.
6. Consumer Always On Broadband Access. PCs on LANs are always attached to the network and this enables a range of applications from message notification to multicast news and stock quotes. This model traditionally is broken in the residential environment, in which case narrowband switched modem and ISDN access is used. This is all changing to always on access over broadband cable modem.
7. Death Of Distance. The Web signals the death of distance, making the desktop area network almost seamless with the global network.

THE JACKPOT
The cumulative effect of all these "sevens" is to realize a vision of next-generation networks that eliminate the boundaries between LAN/WAN in latency and bandwidth, between voice and data, between wireline and wireless, and between service providers.

Tony Rybczynski is director of strategic technologies and marketing for Nortel's Bay Network Division. This business unit offers a full range of enterprise workgroup, campus, and wide area unified networks, through direct and indirect channels. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.nortelnetworks.com. E-mail questions or comments to the author at [email protected].