the application fluent network - delivering a high-quality user

W H I T E P A P E R

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The Application Fluent Network Delivering a High-Quality User Experience

Table of contents

1 The Growing Crisis in the Enterprise Network

1 Real-time Applications Push Legacy Networks to Their Limit 1 Smart Devices Increase the Pressure 1 Virtualization Squeezes the Network from the Inside

2 Application Fluency: A New Approach for Enterprise Networks

3 High-Quality User Experience

3 Lower Network Administration Costs

3 Better Return on Investment (ROI)

3 Building the Application Fluent Network

4 Resilient Architecture

4 Simplified Network

4 Virtualization

5 Transparent Resiliency

5 Embedded Security

6 Streamlined Operations

6 Automatic Provisioning

6 Converged Management

6 Common Operating System

6 Energy Efficient

7 Automatic Control: The Intelligent Network

7 Profile Directed

7 Autosensing

7 Policy Driven

7 Solutions Enabled by the Application Fluent Network

8 Converged IP Network

8 The Data Center

9 Service Aware Networks

10 Managed Access Services

11 Managed Communication Services Networks

11 Application Fluency: The Next Generation of the Enterprise Network

12 Why Alcatel-Lucent?

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper 1

The Growing Crisis in the Enterprise Network

The corporate network is facing an unprecedented set of challenges today—challenges that threaten itsabilitytomeettherisingexpectationsofitsusers.Atthesametime,thesechallengescreateoppor-tunitiesforbusinessesthatchoosetomeetthemhead-on.ThispaperwillshowhowyourorganizationcanrespondeffectivelytoashiftingITclimatetocreateacompetitiveadvantageanddrivecustomerloyaltywhileminimizingcost.

Butfirst,let’stakealookatsometrendsthatareputtingpressureonthenetworktoday:real-timeap-plications,smartdevices,andvirtualization.

Real-time Applications Push Legacy Networks to Their Limit Deliveringreal-timeapplicationsisatop-of-mindissuetodayforbusinessmanagers.VoiceoverIP(VoIP),video,customerservice,andcollaborationsuitesarefastbecomingessentialtoolsforcorpo-rationstocompeteeffectivelyandstayengagedwithcustomers,employees,partners,andvendors.Thesenext-generationapplicationsrequirelevelsofperformancefromthecorporatenetworkfarbeyond the needs of the typical enterprise application in terms of throughput and latency.

Inresponse,ITdepartmentsmustbuildanetworkthathassufficientresourcestoprovideasatis-factoryexperiencetousersoftheseapplications.Traditionally,theenterprisenetworkhasplayedalimitedroleinoptimizingapplicationdelivery:itsimplytransportedrawinformationfromplacetoplacewithoutregardtotheapplication’sindividualrequirements.Inthisenvironment,architectsde-signedthenetworkwithenoughrawbandwidthtomeetpeakapplicationdeliveryrequirements.Thisapproach—knownasover-provisioning—providedanadequateuserexperience,butisclearlyacostlymodel for network design.

Tocomplicatematters,manyenterprisenetworksarealreadyrunningclosetotheirpracticallimitsintermsofcomplexity,performance,andreliability.Thereasonsarevaried.Insomecases,networksgreworganicallyoveryearsorevendecadeswithlittlestandardizationorcentralcontrol,resultinginincompatiblecomponents,protocols,andmanagementtools.Portionsofthenetworkfrequentlyweremodifiedtomeettheneedsofspecificapplications,addingcomplexityanddrivingupoperatingcosts.Mergersandacquisitionscreatedsilosofincompatibletechnologyexistingside-by-sidewithinasinglenetwork.Thebusinessimpactofthesetrendsissignificant:arigidinfrastructurethatwillnotbeabletodeliveragooduserexperienceforthenewwaveofbusiness-critical,real-timeapplications.

Smart Devices Increase the PressureThestressonthenetworkisonlygoingtoincrease,thankstotherapidadoptionofalways-connecteddevicesbybusinessusers.Inrecentyears,ITdepartmentsstruggledtosupportawiderangeofsmartcommunicationdevicessuchasBlackberries,iPhones,andAndroid-poweredphones.Thenextwaveofsmartdevices—tabletcomputers—isalreadywellunderway,drivenbythephenomenalsuccessoftheAppleiPad.Apple’scompetitorsarerespondingbyintroducingtabletsoftheirown,andbusinessesarefindingnewandinnovativewaystoincorporatetabletsintotheiroperations.

Thesenewrich-mediadevicesdomorethaneatupbandwidth:theymakeitincreasinglydifficultfornetworkmanagerstopredictbandwidthconsumption.Intheabsenceofaclearpictureofnetworktrafficpatterns,thetraditionalpracticeofsettingstaticprioritylevelsforspecificapplicationsnolongerworks.Networkplannersneedafreshapproachtosupportthenewgenerationofconnecteddevices.

Virtualization Squeezes the Network from the Inside Unliketheprevioustwotrends—real-timeapplicationsandsmartdevices—virtualizationisaninter-nallygeneratedpressure.However,itsimpactonthecorporatenetworkcanbejustasdramatic.Toincreaseagilityandreducecosts,corporationsarevirtualizingservers,storage,andnetworksinever-largernumbers.Therelentlesspushtovirtualizethedatacenter,includingthegrowinguseofcloud-basedservices,increasesbaselinenetworktrafficdramatically—andrewritestherulesofnetworkdesign and operation.

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper2

Virtualizationisalsomovingbeyondthedatacenter.ITgroupsaredeployingnetworkappliancestodeliverspecializedservicessuchasintrusionprotectionandtrafficmanagement.Virtualizeddesktopsare gaining in popularity due to their reduced support costs and better security. These and other ap-plicationsofvirtualizationwillcreateadditionaldemandforrawbandwidthandrequirethenetworktoautomaticallyreacttotheneedsofvirtualizedsystems—somethinglegacynetworkswereneverdesigned to accommodate.

Forthefirsttimeinhistory,thedemandforbandwidthwillexceedtheeconomicalcapacityofthenextgenerationofnetworkswitchingequipment.Thetime-testedsolutionofaddingmoreandmorerawbandwidthwillnotwork.What’sneededisanewresilientnetworkarchitecturethatminimizeslatencybyallocatingbandwidthselectivelytospecificapplications,ensuringahigh-qualityuserexperienceforreal-timeapplications.Thisnetworkalsoneedstobefareasiertomanageandmain-tainthanlegacynetworks,freeingITstafffromtheday-to-daystruggletodeliveracceptablelevelsofapplication performance to users.

Application Fluency: A New Approach for Enterprise Networks

Applicationfluencyrepresentsauniqueapproachtoenterprisenetworking.InAlcatel-Lucent’sview,theapplicationfluentnetworkpossessesbroadknowledgeofbothnetworkdevicesandtheapplica-tionstowhichtheyareconnecting.Mostimportantly,theapplicationfluentnetworkunderstandsthecontextoftheconversationbetweendeviceandapplication—andmakesdecisionsbasedonthatunderstanding.

Alcatel-Lucent’s application fluent network is based upon a resilient architecture with streamlined operations and automatic control as shown in Figure 1.

Resilient Architecture:Asimplified,singleIPnetworkwithbuilt-insecurity.Streamlined Operations:Reducedcomplexitythroughautomatedprovisioningandintegratedtroubleshooting tools.Automatic Control:High-quality,real-timeapplicationdeliverywithuniquedynamictuningofnetwork performance.

Theapplicationfluentnetworkbringssignificantbenefitstotheenterpriseincludingahigh-qualityuserexperience,lowernetworkadministrationcosts,andabetterreturnoninvestment(ROI).

Architecture

OperationsControl

Figure 1. The Application Fluent Network

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper 3

High-Quality User ExperienceTheapplicationfluentnetworkallowsnetworkmanagerstoofferahigh-qualityuserexperiencewithcontrolsthatautomaticallyensureservicelevels,avoidpacketloss,andprovidesecuritysuchas:

•Dynamic tuning of network performance. The application fluent network automatically adapts to maintainservicelevelsforindividualconversationsbaseduponcontextandbusinesspriorities.

• Automatic recovery from switch and link faults.Theapplicationfluentnetworkrecoversrapidlyfromsingleswitchfabricandlinkfailures,avoidinganyperceptibleserviceinterruptions,evenforvoiceandvideo.

• Embedded security. Security features in the application fluent network operate transparently to protectusersandtheirconversationsfromthreats.

Lower Network Administration CostsTheapplicationfluentnetworkeasestheburdenonITstaffwithbuilt-infeaturesforautomatedpro-visioningandintegratedmanagementofthenetworkincluding:

• Low-touchoperations.Theapplicationfluentnetworkmanagesprovisioningofedgeswitches,wire-lessaccesspoints,andendpointswithminimalskilledhumanintervention.Theuseofnetworkpoliciesensuresconsistentconfigurationsacrosstheentirenetwork,reducingtimespenttweakingtheconfigurationofindividualcomponents.

• Convergedmanagement.Intheapplicationfluentnetwork,aconsolidatedmanagementtoolpro-videsasinglepaneofglassformonitoringandmanagingthenetwork.Italsoallowsadministratorstomanagethenetworkinfrastructureasasinglefabricratherthanindividualcomponents.ITstaffspendlesstimeswitchingbetweenprogramsandscreens,andmoretimeonproductivework.

Better Return on Investment (ROI)Theapplicationfluentnetworkbothminimizestheinitialcapitalinvestmentandlowersoperationalcosts,whichallowstheenterprisetorecoupitsinvestmentfasterthrough:

• Flatternetworkarchitecture.Byeliminatinganentirenetworklayer,theapplicationfluentnetworkreducesthenumberofswitches,links,andothercostlynetworkcomponents.

• Networkvirtualization.Theapplicationfluentnetworkvirtualizesbothswitchesandlinks,result-inginoptimizedutilization,lowercapitalrequirements,andhigherROI.

• Greendesign.Thenewgenerationofenergy-efficienthighdensityswitchesusedintheapplicationfluentnetworkreducesexpensesforspace,power,andcooling.

Building the Application Fluent Network

Theapplicationfluentnetworkisidentifiedbyanumberofkeypropertiesthatarerequiredtodeliverthedesireduserexperience:architecture,adaptability,andmanagement;thisisshowninFigure2and described in more detail below.

ResilientArchitecture

Simplified Network• Port Density• Switch Capacity

Vitulization• Chassis & Link

Transparent Resiliency• Repid Recovery

• Ethernet Ring

Embedded Security• Identity Driven• ACL Controlled

Automatic Control

StreamlinedOperations

Profile Directed• Fine Grained QoS• VLAN & ACL’s

Auto-Sensing• User & Endpoint• Service Level

Policy Driven• Profile Assignment• QoS Adjustment

Automated Provisioning• Edge Switch• Endpoints

Converged Management• Voice & Data• App Visibility• Troubleshooting

Common Switch OS

Low Power• 40-70% Reduction

Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Fluent Network

Figure 2. Key properties of the application fluent network

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper4

Resilient Architecture

Thearchitectureofanapplicationfluentnetworkcanreducecomplexity,cutcosts,andprovideuserswithabetterexperience.Thesebenefitsareenabledby:

• Alow-latencynetworkdeliveredviaasimplifiedarchitecture

• Anoptimizedutilizationofswitchandlinksachievedbyvirtualization

• Aresilientnetworkenabledbyminimizedre-convergencetimes

• Theremovalofsecuritycomplexity

Intheremainderofthissectionwewillexploreeachoftheseaspectsofanapplicationfluentnetworkin more detail.

Simplified NetworkTheapplicationfluentnetworkeliminatestheaggregationlayer,resultinginatwo-tierednetworkthatsupportsvoice,video,data,andstorageonasinglenetwork(seeFigure3).Theswitchesusedintheapplicationfluentnetworkpermittheremovaloftheaggregationlayerbecausetheyfeaturewire-rateandnon-blockingcapacityaswellasahighportdensity,alongwiththeabilitytoprovideLayer3switchingfunctionalityinaLayer2network.Theremovaloftheaggregationlayerisalsokeytoachievingalowerlatencynetwork.

VirtualizationByvirtualizingswitchmanagementandnetworklinks,theapplicationfluentnetworkoptimizesresourceutilization,reducesoperationalcomplexity,andincreasesscalability.Thevirtualizationofbothswitchmanagementandnetworklinks,referredtoasmulti-chassislinkaggregation(MC-LAG),is central to allowing the new two-layer architecture of an application fluent network to operate as a Layer3networkwithoutrequiringtheuseofthespanningtreeprotocol(seeFigure4).

Core

Distribution

Access

Core Layer

Access Layer

Traditional Three-Tiered Network

Simplified Two-Tiered Network

Figure 3. Flattening the enterprise network

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper 5

Transparent Resiliency Real-timeapplicationsrequirelowlatencyandhighavailability,whichcanbecompromisedbyhardwareproblems.Theapplicationfluentnetworkrecoversrapidlyfromcomponentfailure—withoutimpactingapplicationtraffic.Ofcourse,allnetworkswitcheshaveredundantpowersupplies,fans,management,andfabric.EthernetRingProtection(ERP)alsoensuresquickre-convergencetimeincaseofswitchorlinkfailure(seeFigure5)forgeographicallydistributednetworks.

Embedded Security Becauseeveryenterprisehasuniquesecurityrequirements,theapplicationfluentnetworkincludesarobustsetofembeddedsecurityfeatures.Built-innetworkaccesscontrol(NAC)andintrusiondetec-tionandprevention(IDP)offeradditionallayersofprotectionthatsupplementexistingendpointandserversecuritysolutions.LANsecurityisbasedonMACaddress,notswitchport,providingspecificendpointanduserpolicyenforcement.PostadmissioncontrolisbaseduponAccessControlListsnotsimplyVLANassignment,providingfine-grainedcontrols.Networkswitchesfeatureoverloadprotec-tiontopreventfailureduetoDenialofService(DOS)attacks.IntrusionpreventionfortheWLANguards against rogue access points and hacker attacks.

MC-LAG LAG

MC-LAG

LAG

MC-LAG

LAG

LAGSTPBlocked

MC-LAG and LAG Spanning Tree Protocol and LAG

MC-LAG increases switching bandwidthMC-LAG allows dual-homingMC-LAG change only impacts link

STP blocks linksSTP does not allow dual-homingSTP change impacts whole network

Figure 4. MC-LAG verus spanning tree protocol

Figure 5. Ethernet Ring Protection (ERP)

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper6

Streamlined Operations

• TorelievetheburdenonITstaffsandreduceoperationalcosts,theapplicationfluent networkfocusesonseveralessentialneeds:Providingautomationwhereverpossible,such aswithprovisioning

• Consolidatingmanagementtools

• Ensuringoperationalconsistencybetweenswitchfeatures

• Designingequipmenttominimizepowerconsumption

Intheremainderofthissectionweexploreeachoftheseneedsinmoredetail.

Automatic Provisioning Theapplicationfluentnetworkincludesautomaticsetupcapabilitiesforswitches,wirelessaccesspoints,andendpoints.Whenanaccesslayerswitchisaddedtotheapplicationfluentnetwork,itdownloads the right configuration through the network. The switch becomes a functioning member ofthenetworkwithminimalhumanintervention.Inasimilarway,WLANcontrollersautomaticallydownloadconfigurationinformationtonewlyconnectedwirelessaccesspoints,integratingthemintotheexistingwirelessnetworkinfrastructure.SpecializeddevicessuchasVoIPhandsetsareautomati-callyrecognizedandconfiguredaswell.

Converged ManagementAcommoncomplaintbyITadministratorsistheproliferationoftoolsformonitoringandmanagingthenetworkinfrastructure.Theapplicationfluentnetworkhelpsrelievethisproblemby:

• Consolidatingmanynetworkmanagementfunctionsintoasinglemanagementtool.ITstaffcanaccessthissystemremotely,allowingthemtomonitorandcontrolthenetworkfromanylocation,at any time.

• Enablingmanagementofthenetworkinfrastructureasvirtualizedsegments,(forexample,allswitchesononefloorofabuildingwouldbetreatedasonevirtualizedcomplex),ratherthanasindividualnetworkelements.Includingapplicationtrafficmonitoringtoolsallowingnetworkoperatorstocollectstatisticssuchasloss,jitter,latency,responsetime,andpacketloss.

• Offeringthecapabilityofintegratingthird-partytools. Common Operating System Multiple operating systems in a network can lead to spiraling training costs and operational ineffi-ciencies.Intheapplicationfluentnetwork,asingleoperatingsystempowersallswitchesandrouters,which allows administrators to manage the network using common tools. Technicians no longer needtorefertoacomplexmatrixtodeterminehardwareandsoftwarecompatibilitywheninstallingpatches and upgrades to network components. Energy Efficient Moreandmoreenterprisesaremovingtogreennetworksasacost-savingmeasureaswellasacorpo-rateresponsibilitymandate.Theapplicationfluentnetworkminimizespowerconsumptionthroughtheselectionofnetworkcomponentsdesignedforenergyefficiency.Asamajorcontributortonetworkpowerconsumption,allswitchesintheapplicationfluentnetworkhavemarket-leadinglowpower consumption characteristics.

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper 7

Automatic Control: The Intelligent Network

Ensuringahigh-qualityuserexperiencerequirestheabilitytoadjustkeynetworkparametersinrealtime.Thisabilitytomakedynamicadjustmentsrequiresthefollowing:•Knowledgeaboutendpointsandusersdeclaredinprofiles

• Theabilitytomonitoractualservicelevelsprovided

• Policiestodeterminewhenandhowtoadjustnetworkparameters

Theapplicationfluentnetworkrecognizesendpointsautomaticallyandassignsprofilesthatregulateaccessandbandwidthusage.Thenetworkisthencontinuouslymonitored,withpoliciesinformingtheupdateofkeynetworkparametersthataffecttheuserexperiencewhenneeded.Eachrequirementisexploredinmoredetailbelow.

Profile Directed ProfilesembeddedwithinthenetworkcontaininformationabouttherequirementsforQoSandsecurityforconversationsthatwillbecarriedbythenetwork.Intheapplicationfluentnetwork,profilesforusers,endpoints,andapplicationsaregloballydefinedandembeddedinthenetworkswitches.TheseprofilesspecifyQoSandsecurityrequirements.TheprofilealsoindicatesappropriateVLANassignment.

AutosensingAutosensingallowstheapplicationfluentnetworktotreatindividualconversationswithinthenet-workasfollows:

• Assigninitialallocationofnetworkresourcesbaseduponpriority.Aseachuserandendpointaccessestheapplicationfluentnetwork,itisautomaticallyrecognized—regardlessoflocation—andassigned the right profile.

• Dynamicallyadjusttreatmentoftrafficforaparticularconversationwhentherequiredservicelevelisnotbeingmet.Bymonitoringnetworkstatuseventstheapplicationfluentnetworkcandeter-minetheservicelevelandtakecorrectiveaction.

Policy DrivenA policy engine and rule set embedded in the application fluent network determines which actions to takefornetworkeventssuchas:

• Anendpoint,user,orapplicationrequestingaccesstothenetwork

• Aconversationthatisnotexperiencinganappropriatelevelofservice

• Amoverequestforavirtualmachineinthedatacenter

Solutions Enabled by the Application Fluent Network

The application fluent network is suitable for the most demanding deployments in the enterprise and serviceprovidernetworks.Typicaltargetdeploymentsfortheapplicationfluentnetworkinclude:

• ConvergedIPnetworks

• Thedatacenter

• Service-awarenetworks

• Managedaccessservices

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper8

Eachoftheseexamplesisdescribedinmoredetailbelow.

Converged IP NetworkAsdiscussedearlier,enterprisestodaymustdeliverreal-timeapplicationswithguaranteedqualityandreliability.Theemergenceofnewrich-mediadeviceschallengesthebusinesstokeepupwiththede-mandsoftheircustomers.Whencoupledwiththeshifttocloudcomputingandvirtualization,thesenewpressuresforcetheenterprisetoviewtheinfrastructureasasetofutility-basedservicesthatmustworkinharmonywiththeirapplications.Importantrequirementsfortheseenterprisesinclude:

• Integratedwiredandwirelesscapabilities

• Mobilitywithinthecampusandremotelocations/workers

• Anetworkthatadaptsandrecognizesnewapplicationssuchasvideoconferencingsuites,onlinecollaboration,andnewdevicessuchastheiPad

• Integratedsecurityandconsolidatedmanagementcapabilities

Figure6showsatypicalconvergedIPnetworkbasedontheapplicationfluentnetwork.Itincludesasimplifiedtwo-tierLANarchitecturewithintegratedmobilityandsecurity.Integratedmonitoringandtroubleshootingtoolsprovideend-to-endmonitoringofapplications.Thenetworkcanadaptservicelevelsautomatically,easingtheburdenonITstafftoensuretheuserapplicationexperienceiswithinacceptablelimits.Allusers,whetherlocatedatcorporateheadquarters,abranchorhomeoffice,orontheroadhavesecureaccesstoacommonsetofbusinessapplicationsandnetworkservices.

The Data CenterThedatacenterisundergoingtransformationdrivenbytheneedtoreducecostsandimproveagility.Atthecoreofthistransformationistheconsolidationofserversinthedatacentertoreduceequip-ment,space,cooling,andenergycosts—allmadepossiblebyservervirtualizationtechnology.Contin-uedtransformationinthedatacenterisexpectedwiththeeventualconvergenceofdataandstoragenetworks.Thisconsolidationisdrivingarefreshoftheswitchingfabricinthedatacenterwiththefollowingrequirements:

• Simplifiednetworkdeliveringresilient,lowlatency,andlowpowerswitching

• Efficientdeliveryofintra-servertrafficaswellasclient-servertraffic

• Networksupportforautomaticmovementofvirtualapplicationsbetweenservers

• TheabilitytocarrybothdataandstorageinformationoverEthernetnetworks

• Disasterrecoverybetweendatacentersites

Figure 6. Converged IP Network

Core

Access

Home Office

BranchOffice

WAN

Mobility Security Management

Applications

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper 9

Withinthedatacenter,asshowninFigure7,anapplicationfluentnetworkprovidesatwo-tierresilientandlowlatencynetworkarchitecturethatsupportsservervirtualizationwithautomatedvirtualmachinemigration.ItalsoprovidesforconvergenceofdataandstoragenetworksontoasinglelosslessEthernetnetwork.IntegratingtheapplicationvirtualizationmanagementwiththenetworkenablestheabilitytomovevirtualmachinesacrosstheWAN,providingfordisasterrecoveryandload balancing between data center sites.

Service Aware NetworksService-awarenetworksextendthecorporateLANacrossaprivateWANandaretypicallydeployedbyorganizationsthathavespecificrequirementsforreliable,high-qualityservicedeliveryinruggedenvironmentswheresecuritycannotbecompromise—forexample,inutilities,transportation,andpublicsafetyorganizations.Theseorganizationsareunderpressuretodeliveradditionalserviceswhilereducingcosts,whichoftenrequiressignificantmodernizationoftheexistinginfrastructure.Impor-tantrequirementsfortheseorganizationsinclude:

• Ahighlyscalableandreliablenetwork–includingtheabilitytooperateinharshenvironments

• Integratedsecuritythatprotectsthenetworkfromattackandpreventsunauthorizedaccess

• Guaranteedservicelevelsforspecifictrafficbaseduponbusinesspriorities

• End-toendmanagementandvisibilityontheservicelevelsactuallydelivered

Storage

VitalSuites Rock MountServers

BladeServers

ServersStorage

Data CenterConnect

Data CenterSwitching

Core Switch

Top of Rack

ServiceRouter

VirtualMachines

Security

OV2500

Management

MPLS

Figure 7. The Data Center

Node RedundancyIP/MPISBackbone

HardenedDevices

MC-LAG MPLS/VPLS DualHomed

ERP

End to End Management

Access SwitchesCore SwitchesCore Switches

Service Routers

Service Routers

Access Switches

Figure 8. Service Aware Network

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper10

Theend-to-endapplicationdeliveryrequirementsofserviceawarenetworksdemandanMPLSback-boneasshowninFigure8.ApplicationfluencyisachievedinthisnetworkwiththeimplementationofVirtualOutputQueuing(VOQ)toensurehigh-qualityapplicationdeliverybyaddingcarrier-classQoStotheMPLSbackbone.Additionalimportantelementsincludecarrier-classreliabilityfeaturessuchasmulti-chassislinkaggregation,Ethernetringprotectionanddual-homedlinkaggregation.Forharshenvironments,devicesthatcanoperateathightemperatureswithoutrequiringafanforcool-ingareamust.Managementisprovidedend-to-endacrossalldevicesdeployedinthesolutionwithacommonmanagementplatformforvisibilityandtroubleshooting.

Managed Access ServicesEnterprisesthatrelyonaservice-providerWANtodeliverhigh-qualityapplicationsarenolongersat-isfiedwithsimplepacketdelivery:theyaredemandingthatproviderscommittoalevelofserviceforthesecriticalapplications.Tomeetthisneed,serviceprovidersneedtoextendtheQoScontrolfromtheircorenetworkallthewaytotheenterpriseedge.TheymustalsomanageQoStothedemarcationpoint at the customer premises.

Figure9showsatypicalmanagedaccessservicenetworkbasedontheapplicationfluentnetwork.Thekeyarchitecturalfeaturesinclude:

• IP/MPLSinfrastructureforametronetwork

• Supportforbusiness,residential,andmobileusers

• AnEthernetaccesslayerinadditiontoEthernetVPN,xDSL,andGPON

• Visibility,monitoring,andtroubleshootingcapabilitieswithonemanagementplatform

• Seamlessintegrationwiththecarrierinfrastructuretoprovideend-to-endvisibility ofapplicationdelivery

• Abilitytotroubleshootavailablecircuitswithcarrier-basedtoolsthatmonitor theavailability,reliability,andend-userexperience

• Plug-and-playcapabilitiestoreducecomplexityanddeploymenttime

Service Edge Service Aggregation Service Access CPE, CLE & Cellsite

Inbuilding

Wireless

DSL, GPON

Home, GW

EthernetVPN

IP VPN

MPLS

Access Node

BUSINESS

RESIDENTIAL

MOBILE

Medium andLarge Enterprise

SmallEnterprise

AggregationRouters

EdgeRouters

Figure 9. Managed Access Service Networks

The Application Fluent Network | White Paper 11

Managed Communication Services NetworksMoreandmoresmallenterprisesarelookingtoserviceprovidersforacompleteall-in-onecommuni-cationssolutionthatincludesvoice,data(wiredandwireless),collaborationtools,andvideo.Tomeetthesecustomerexpectations,serviceprovidersmustensureend-to-endQoSfromthehostedapplica-tion platforms to the endpoints at the customer’s site.

Figure10showsatypicalmanagedcommunicationservicesnetworkbasedontheapplicationfluentnetwork.Thekeyarchitecturalfeaturesinclude:

• Anall-in-oneconvergedbusinessaccessgatewaythatenablesmigrationfromlegacyvoice telephonytoSIP,andincludesredundancybyconnectingtoanall-IPnetworkwhilefailing back to the PSTN network.

• QoSthatextendstosmallbusinesseswithcarrier-classvisibilityandmonitoring.

• Managedservicereadinessandintegrationthatallowsthesolutiontobedeployedanywhereandanytime as a plug-and-play solution.

Application Fluency: The Next Generation of the Enterprise Network

Thedemandingrequirementsofrichmediaapplicationsandvirtualizationwithintheenterprisecombinedwiththelimitationsoflegacynetworksareforcingenterprisestolookforinnovativewaystoimproveapplicationperformancewhileminimizingoperatingcostsandcapitalinvestment.Theapplication fluent network as defined by Alcatel-Lucent promises to transform the way enterprises deliverapplicationsthroughoutanorganization’sglobaloperations.Itfeaturesaresilientarchitecture,streamlinedoperations,andautomaticcontrol,whichtogethermeetthechallengesfacingenterpriseITgroupstoday.Withtangiblebenefitssuchasahigh-qualityuserexperience,reduceddemandsonITstaff,andafastertimetoROI,theapplicationfluentnetworkrepresentsmarketleadinginnova-tioninnetworkdesignandoperation—onethatAlcatel-Lucentisuniquelyqualifiedtolead.

PC w/ SIP Client

IP Phones Ethernet WAN

DSLLocal Call*

Analog phones and FaxSMB/Branch

ISP OA&M

ISP

PSTN

Wi-fi phones

SIP Servers

ISDN Phones

SMB

ISDN BRI

ISDN BRI

ISDN BRI or PRI or FXS

ISDN BRI/PRI(E1 or T1)*

Provisioning

SCM, ACS, AAA, NTP,SSH/HTTPS client

LAN

End to End Management

Figure 10. Managed Communication Service Networks

www.alcatel-lucent.com Alcatel, Lucent, Alcatel-Lucent and the Alcatel-Lucent logo are trademarks of Alcatel-Lucent. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The information presented is subject to change without notice. Alcatel-Lucent assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein. Copyright © 2011 Alcatel-Lucent. All rights reserved. EMG5246110102

Why Alcatel-Lucent?

Alcatel-Lucent is taking the lead in the industry’s migration to the application fluent network. Why is Alcatel-Lucent the best choice for building the application fluent network?

• Unlikecompetitors,weofferdisaggregatedsolutionsthatprovidechoiceandallowthe enterprisetotailoritsnetworkarchitecturetoindividualbusinessrequirements.

• Ourcommitmenttoanopennetworkinfrastructureenablesamultivendorstrategyby:

oProvidingrichinterfacesintotheswitchinginfrastructure

o Supporting industry standards

o Accommodating third-party management tools

• Ourprofessionalservicesareavailabletoassistourbusinesspartnerswithspecializedknowledgewhenneeded.Ourconsultantsaretrainedinawiderangeoftechnologiesandplatforms,allowingthemtosupporteffectivelycomplex,multivendornetworkinstallations.

• Alcatel-Lucent’ssystematicmultivendorapproachmaximizesexistinginvestments.

• Ourexpandingecosystemaugmentsthevaluedeliveredtothecustomer.