SONET ring questions

Fri Oct 16 09:55:57 UTC 1998

> 1) Bell Atlantic assures us that, because of the redundancy, we can
>    expect 100% uptime from the OC-12.  I would like feedback as to 
>    whether this is a realistic portrayal of the SONET environment.

Don't just buy from one carrier. Even if they give you dig plans,
and diversity warranties, they are likely to reroute things without
telling you. Even if you get around this one, and all the other problems,
and are satisfied you have permanent, true, diversity which will protect
you against any one fiber break, it doesn't protect you against a
procedure break, like someone terminating the wrong circuit on misreading
a circuit ID.

The above is certainly true in the UK, and from my experience in the US
I'd think it's doubly or quadruply true.

Also, use the lowest level routing redundancy you can find. I may get flamed
for this, but if bandwidth is not an issue, you might consider ATM switches
instead especially if cutover time is critical.

-- 
Alex Bligh
GX Networks (formerly Xara Networks)