With broader service support and expanded management capabilities, CE 2.0 will make service delivery more reliable and less costly

Ethernet creator and former InfoWorld columnist Bob Metcalfe this week announced Carrier Ethernet (CE) 2.0, representing an array of advances to the networking technology that will be a boon for both service providers and customers in an increasingly cloud-based, service-oriented world.

The idea behind CE 2.0 is to make the delivery of Internet-based services faster, more reliable, more predictable, and less expensive, thanks to support for multiple classes of services, increased interconnectivity, and superior management capabilities. In a nutshell, whereas CE 1.0 was geared toward delivering standardized Ethernet services over a single provider network, CE 2.0 aims to deliver multiple classes of service and manageability over interconnected networks.

CE 2.0 will be particularly impactful in the world of cloud computing: Enterprises running fiber networks will effectively have end-to-end Ethernet between the data centers and clouds. The fact that it's Ethernet end to end means better QoS (quality of service) and reliability through bandwidth guarantees and prioritization for the most important apps and class of service for the most important customers.

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Deployments Being Driven by the Accelerated Adoption of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS According to Synergy

RENO, NV, Nov 28, 2011 -- Synergy Research Group announces the publication of its Cloud Market Share Report, which provides quarterly market shares, sizing, and forecasts for the Public and Private Cloud equipment markets. The foundation of Synergy's segmentation includes the networking, computing, and storage platforms deployed for Private Cloud, Public Cloud (VPN), and Public Cloud (non-VPN).

Synergy's report shows the Cloud Equipment market for the first half of 2011 exceeded $17B in sales. The fastest growing segment includes Private Cloud platforms, which is growing at over 30% annual growth. Synergy defines a Private Cloud platform as a virtualized data center, which resides behind an organization's firewall. Synergy believes this growth will continue as larger Enterprises realize the economies of scale and other cost benefits associated with the virtualization of their data centers.

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Speaking at the recent NetEvents 2011 APAC Press & Analyst Summit in Thailand, MEF President Nan Chen outlined the proceedings of the MEF’s last quarterly meeting for 2011, held in Singapore last month, and their particular relevance for APAC business. Key issues for the region include Carrier Ethernet Multiple Classes of Service (Multi-CoS), Ethernet mobile backhaul, and the rise of wholesale Ethernet services – and all three issues were addressed by new technical specifications progressed at the Quarterly meeting. He also announced strong support for the new MEF Carrier Ethernet Certified Professional (CECP) certification program, which is already boosting the skills availability in a highly competitive market. Nan Chen explained how the letter ballot acceptance of the MEF’s Phase 2 on Multi-CoS and Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreements – extending MEF 23 and MEF 22 respectively – is an especially important issue for the region where, without a strong legacy network of fixed line connections, it is doubly attractive to leapfrog traditional leased line connections from cell cites to core network and go for an all-Ethernet solution. According to Infonetics’ Michael Howard: “IP/Ethernet MBH is the universally accepted solution to lower the costs of growing mobile data traffic, and to facilitate migration to next generation all-IP/Ethernet networks. This two Implementation Agreements will be especially welcome for addressing explosive growth of mobile Internet traffic, as well as pointing the way to simpler 4G migration.”

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The latest edition of the NetEvents EMEA Summit in Italy set the record straight about the cloud hype through an extensive
gathering of telecom leaders who discussed the cloud merits.  The hype around cloud computing is “deafening,” according to
Hype Cycle report from the Gartner Group. From multinational consulting firms and systems integrators down to freelance
consultants, they all claim a suite of cloud related services, and Gartner warns that such ”cloud washing” risks accelerating the
entire industry into a trough of disillusionment.

According to James Walker, Head of Global VPN Services, Tata Communications, the cloud is actually that wavy diagram that
we as vendors tend to put on whiteboards when we’re talking to customers. And there’s a multitude of sins that are hidden behind that wavy shape. “So you’ll get some illustrations of that wavy cloud shortly but we tend to talk about the network as obviously existing or obviously doing the service that it’s expected to do. But in fact there’s some quite serious challenges that we as carriers are starting to face about how to link together all these various platforms whether it’s private
cloud or public cloud,” he added.

Walker was clear that the cloud brings a variety of opportunities but it also brings a number of challenges. “I think the opportunities are ones that we as an industry are very focused on because it looks like there’s money attached to it hopefully. But there’s also a significant number of challenges and particularly it’s a challenge of bringing technology and networking platforms and data centers and indeed whole concepts that were originally expected to do something different and changing those to actually deliver cloud services,”  commented Walker.

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Matt Walker, Principal Analyst, Ovum, forecast a $233 billion cloud services market by 2016. He pointed out that although cloud is not a core focus for telcos, they can still benefit from the connectivity gap, as the last mile is an issue. He summarized the benefits of carrier ethernet as flexibility, scalability, diversity and redundancy - describing it as a facilitator of the cloud: “Ethernet is now the de facto access standard.”

The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) has chalked up its 10th-year anniversary and is very close to signing up its 200th member. The latest member is Thai service provider UIH. Australian carrier members include Telstra, Optus and the NBN. Uecomm, now part of Optus, was the first Australian carrier to join MEF in 2007.

Members pay US$15,000 for the membership and work towards certification. There are 30 standards which are verified by MEF members but these constantly need updating. The main activities of MEF are marketing, education, compliance, certifying equipment and certifying service carriers’ services.

The CEO of MEF, Nan Chen, said, “MEF activities include a new class of service extensions ratification in January 2012; packet loss is becoming important and we will prioritise service level agreements (SLAs) for different applications; mobile backhaul for multiclass service access, wholesale carrier access and carrier ethernet for cloud carriers.”

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