Bandwidth to Support Convergence
Convergence means combining or converging voice, data and video
onto a single network. Enterprises usually need to expand their
LAN bandwidth and set up a QoS or Quality of Service priority
system to give priority to real-time streams such as telephone
calls or video conference feeds, which are more sensitive to network
delays than data transfers. Most often, the common protocol for
convergence is IP.
What does Convergence mean?
Convergence is the merging of voice, data and often video onto
a single network. Most often that network is a company LAN with
enough bandwidth to accommodate all users and QoS or Quality of
Service control to ensure high quality voice and video transmissions.
Where does a VPN make sense?
A VPN or Virtual Private Network is a security technique to allow
public networks, like the Internet, to be used for secure private
data transmission. Since Internet access is almost universally
available, using VPN software to encrypt data into private tunnels
is more cost effective than building a fully meshed network to
connect many locations.
How does Spanning Tree Protocol
work?
STP or Spanning Tree Protocol is a technique used by Ethernet
switches to ensure that there is one and only one physical path
from source to destination. This is done to prevent forwarding
loops.
What is the Cost Advantage
of Carrier Ethernet
Where available, Ethernet transport services from competitive
carriers may cost less than half the lease price of DS3 service
for over twice the bandwidth. The difference in cost between SONET
optical carrier service and Gigabit Ethernet WAN service is even
more dramatic.