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Ethernet over Copper Project

By Duncan Bond, OIT

Network Services staff have worked with FairPoint technical representatives to successfully test a new transport architecture called Ethernet over Copper (EoC).  EoC is a new communication technology for the State offering substantial benefits over traditional copper T-1 lines.   Along with the uptime and reliability benefits, EoC gives us increased bandwidth options.  Five remote sites in Augusta have been connected via this technology to FairPoint's interconnected 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) high-availability rings, as well as two core sites (Central Maine Commerce Center and the Cross Office Building ), all in test mode not affecting live data.  The State's two core routers for this architecture are implemented in redundant fashion so that if one loses connectivity, the other automatically picks up the load within seconds. The connection at the edge sites is multi-paired copper bonded together.  In the event of disruption of some of the pairs, available bandwidth may be reduced but connectivity is not lost.  From the State's perspective, the solution appears as a VLAN-based (virtual local area network) Ethernet circuit into a VLAN based in Augusta , bringing the power of VLAN technology to the wide area network (WAN) infrastructure.  Some of the benefits of this technology are:

• "Postal" pricing, which means that a circuit to an Augusta end-point costs the same as a similar circuit to any other city/town in the State, all logically terminated in Augusta. Over time, the very costly routers and traditional high-speed circuits at remote core locations can be eliminated.  This reduction of cost at the core locations can be applied to more bandwidth at the edge sites, resulting in much faster service with little net increase in cost to the State.
• Much higher reliability, because degradation or loss of a single copper pair to a site will not cause a loss of service, and because the core router fabric for remote sites becomes redundant. Most site outages historically have been due to last-mile connectivity issues including copper failures and the endpoint electronics.
• Speeds from 5 to 20 megabits per second (Mbps) on existing copper facilities.  For comparison, the current T-1 lines run at 1.5 Mbps.
• Integration into FairPoint's new Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network, which will provide end-to-end quality of service aligned with the State's contracted requirements. This network will also integrate fiber-based solutions for bandwidth requirements higher than 20 Mbps.
• Ethernet handoff to the State at all locations eliminates the requirement to support more costly serial interfaces, substantially simplifying installation and maintenance for State personnel.