High Availability Networks

Why and How

Agenda
The need for high-availability networks The cause of network failures Protected network topologies General requirements for network protection mechanisms Protection methods Examples for network protection Q&A Summary

The Need for High-Availability Networks

Customer issues
Loss of business continuity Financial losses Disruption of mission-critical operations (emergency response, etc.) These QoS issues are driving todays stringent requirements of Service Level Agreements (SLA)

Service provider issues

Failure of the backbone affects service of many customers Low network availability impacts customer satisfaction (customer acquisition and retention) Network failures incur penalties for non-compliance of SLA

The Cause of Network Failures

Protected Network Topologies

General Requirements for Network Protection Mechanisms

Key elements:
Resource redundancy Failure detection capability Automated switchover capability Operator notification

Key characteristics:
Fast Ultra reliable Cost-effective Versatile

Secondary characteristics:

Protection Methods
Protocol-based re-routing:
IP Spanning Tree MPLS primarily used in mesh topology Sonet / SDH primarily used in ring topology Electro-optical All-optical

Hardware-based re-routing:

Protection Examples
Fiber protection -

Protection Examples
Equipment protection -

Protection Examples
Fiber & Equipment protection -

Protection Examples
Dual Homing -

Protection Examples
Path Protection in a Mesh Network -

Protection Examples
Path Protection in a Ring Network -

Q&A

Summary
The need for network availability increases with the missioncritical nature of the networks and the transported data rates