What is Business Ethernet Service?
Business Ethernet is the most commonly installed local area network (or “LAN”) technology for businesses today. It primarily uses copper or fiber technology and is useful for connecting to the Internet or connecting offices together.
There are different speeds of Business Ethernet available in the marketplace:
10BASE-T (10 Megabits per second or 10 Mbps) This is the most commonly installed Ethernet system and provides transmission speeds of up to 10 Mbps. Multiple devices are connected to a cable and they “compete” for access using a Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD ) protocol. 10Mbps is 10 million bits per second.
100BASE-T (100 Megabits per second or 100 Mbps) Also known as “Fast Ethernet”, 100BASE-T provides transmission speeds of up to 100 megabits (= 10 times “10BASE-T”) per second and is typically used for LAN backbone systems and for supporting workstations with 10BASE-T cards. 100Mbps is a hundred million bits per second.
Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Megabits per second or 1 Gbps) provides a higher level of backbone support at 1000 megabits per second (= 10 times “100 BASE-T”). That’s a billion bits per second.
10-Gigabit Ethernet (10 Gigabits per second or 10 Gbps) Finally, there is 10-Gigabit Ethernet (= 10 times “Gigabit Ethernet”) which provides up to 10 billion bits per second.
Ethernet comes in many configurations (e.g. EPL, EVPL, VPLS)
Ethernet is a highly scalable flexible service that can be deployed in a wide variety of situations, including:
- Metro Ethernet: Connect various sites together with high speeds across a metropolitan area. Metro Ethernet is flexible and can change with business needs.
- Wide Area Ethernet: Can connect various metro ethernet sites, high value data hubs or call centers together.
- Business Ethernet: This connection offers equal upload/download speeds. Scalable service with a lower cost per megabit.
- Ethernet Private Line (EPL): EPL is a point-to-point Ethernet virtual connection (EVC) between a pair of dedicated user–network interfaces (UNIs).
- Ethernet Private Line (EVPL): EVPL is a point-to-point, or Point-to-Multipoint, connection between a pair of UNIs.
- Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS): VPLS is Ethernet-based multipoint-to-multipoint communication over IP or MPLS networks.
For customers seeking an affordable, scalable and flexible service which supports a diversity of applications, symmetrical high speeds, improved pricing with upgrades, to connect different machines and sites together, Ethernet is probably the most cost effective solution available.
