Hello all,
My company is searching for some Ethernet over DS3 converters / adaptors for a specific installation. I see several options from Adtran, RAD-Direct, and a couple other (smaller) vendors and was wondering if anyone out there has suggestions or insights.
Our needs are pretty simple:
We'll need to pass multiple VLANs unless that's simply not possible.
We'll need copper 10/100 interfaces on each side.
Here are the two main products we're currently eyeing....
Adtran Product:
http://www.adtran.com/web/page/portal/Adtran/group/3024
RAD-Direct Product:
http://www.rad.com/10/Fast_Ethernet_over_T3_NTU/2480/
Thanks very much for any suggestions.
Brad Fleming wrote:
Hello all,
My company is searching for some Ethernet over DS3 converters / adaptors for a specific installation. I see several options from Adtran, RAD-Direct, and a couple other (smaller) vendors and was wondering if anyone out there has suggestions or insights.
Our needs are pretty simple:
We'll need to pass multiple VLANs unless that's simply not possible.
We'll need copper 10/100 interfaces on each side.
Here are the two main products we're currently eyeing....
Adtran Product:
http://www.adtran.com/web/page/portal/Adtran/group/3024
RAD-Direct Product:
http://www.rad.com/10/Fast_Ethernet_over_T3_NTU/2480/
Thanks very much for any suggestions.
--
Brad Fleming
Network Engineer
Kansas Research and Education Network
Office: 785-856-9800 x.222
Moblie: 785-865-7231
NOC: 866-984-3662
We currently use Overture Networks for Ethernet over DS3:
http://www.overturenetworks.com/products/name/ISG34-45.html
You can use them as a simple Ethernet bridge if that is all you need/want, but they also will handle VLAN tagging, tag-in-tag, VLAN switching, rate-limiting, CoS, etc. Some people don't like them because there is no CLI for management only a web-based GUI and SNMP.
I like the Overture Networks products.
Take a look at the link provided by Bryan.
Vince
/me wonders how many ISPs still have old NetEdge boxes leftover
from mae-east/mae-west extensions lurking in dark cabinets and
hidden corners of colos in the san jose and vienna areas they would
be more than happy to give away... ^_^;
(for those who missed out on that flavour of joy 15 years ago...
http://www.networkworld.com/archive/1994/94-01-24rout.html
http://web.archive.org/web/19961112045539/www.netedge.com/pages/edge40_datasheet.html
OK...that was a frightening bit of reminiscing. ^_^;;
*goes back into power-lurking mode again*
Matt
I used some RAD T3-FE media converters from 8 years back or so. They had really small buffers (just a few ms) so if power usage is not a problem, I'd definitely recommend a used 7200 (non-vxr) with NPE-225 and IO-FE and a PA-T3. It probably uses 10x more power than the T3-FE converter, but it does a much better job of getting the traffic thru in a nice friendly manner (fair-queue is really nice).
I've been using the RAD products for years. The price is right and they are extremely reliable.
+1 for Overture. We have a pretty large deployment of 5100s and ISG45s.
Be aware on the 5100 and lower, that if you run MPLS over it, it
cannot currently put that traffic in the appropriate queues. They're
working on that feature (fingers crossed for Q1). We work around that
by setting ToS bits on outgoing interfaces and configuring the switch
rule to look at that instead.
The 5000/5100 and 6000 does have a CLI and SNMP, but lacks the queue
details that the 45+ has. They just tell you something dropped, not
which queue had the drop.
The MPLS limitation also applies to bundling multiple DS3s (if you
can't get GFP bonding to work due to differential delay limitations).
That traffic gets stuffed onto one DS3. Non MPLS traffic appears to be
hashed pretty evenly across multiple DS3s on the newer code. Also, the
hash is dynamically sized based on # of DS3s in the bundle. Again,
hopefully Q1 for MPLS capabilities.
It is my understanding (haven't tested them for that purpose) that the
6000 can see into MPLS headers and properly queue today based off of
DSCP markings. However, they are a bit pricier.
Their TAC is also fantastic if you ever need them.
jason
Long time ago I assited on consultation for this device. Probably
provide what you are looking for:
http://www.zhone.com/products/ETHX-2200-DS3/
Here is another product family that supports also GE over PDH.
http://telrad.com/pages/products/eopdh-cpe.aspx
Regards,
Uri Joskovitch
VP Product Management
Telrad Products Division
Telrad Networks
Office: +972-73-2467-195
Fax: +972-73-2467-592
Assistant: +972-73-2467-750
Cell (IL): +972-52-2467195
Email: uri.joskovitch@telrad.com
Website: www.telrad.com
Check out our *NEW* website, www.telrad.com
" Playing to Win..."
Brad Fleming wrote:
My company is searching for some Ethernet over DS3 converters / adaptors for a specific installation. I see several options from Adtran, RAD-Direct, and a couple other (smaller) vendors and was wondering if anyone out there has suggestions or insights.
Our needs are pretty simple:
We'll need to pass multiple VLANs unless that's simply not possible.
We'll need copper 10/100 interfaces on each side.
Hey Brad. We're doing this with Overture 2200s and 5100s. However, as others have pointed out, they have some issues. Their redundant PSUs for models below the 5x00s are a joke. A single DC PSU for those models requires 1U of space. The PSU has 2 power sources but is still a single PSU. A redundant PSU requires another 1U of space. Inside the 19" x roughly 8" 1U chassis is a PCB that's about the size of a wallet. Why they couldn't incorporate that into a modular PSU or make the external PSU chassis modular so a 2nd PSU didn't take up any more space I do not know. The CLI in the 2200 and 5100 can do a lot. I must admit that I still do not understand it. They just work and I don't have to mess with them very often so I struggle each time I get into one. I found their VLAN grooming to be confusing. Even tech support wasn't able to help in some cases.
The ISG models (34, 45, 140, 180 for example) are completely different than the 2200s and 5x000s (I don't know about the ISG 2x models). They were an acquired from another company. What the others said about there being no CLI is right. They only have a web GUI. You can't pull off their config with common CLI tools like RANCID, CatTools, COSI tools, etc. That's a big deal for us. That to me makes them feel like non-telco grade equipment. You can certainly book-end the back to back but be absolutely certain that you get a config dump from each end every time a tech gets into one. I believe the 34, 45 and 140 models use the same PSU as the 2200 above. They can only connect to a single PSU though (the 180 supports 2). Same caveats as above.
They are generally feature rich; I'll give that to them. They could be an excellent solution if the product was more mature and honed. Anyone wanting to bond T1s with MLPPP on the 140 and 180 back to a router BEWARE. They require BCP. On most platforms (anything that doesn't use a SPA) that requires disabling routing (research BCP configs on Cisco.com). They will work but understand the caveats before trying them. I'm sure that OV will send you demo units if you ask. I'll send you a picture of a 2200 with the PSU setup later tonight.
Justin