Monthly column
How to Create Your Own MPLS Grade Network for Less
By Klaus Majewski
In a relatively
short space of time, the Internet has become a de facto conduit for business. For simple
information-gathering purposes to advanced online banking and data transactions, its significance
as a business tool means that losing it to a connection failure could quickly add up to lost
revenue and damage to one’s business reputation.
In many respects, modern enterprises are at the mercy of Internet Service Providers to deliver
robust connectivity and must often pay a high price to ensure it stays that way.
The typical solution for an enterprise distributed geographically across countries and
continents that require a fast and secure connection to the Internet is Multiprotocol Label
Switching (MPLS). MPLS is a fast, simple and transparent solution, ideal for companies who wish to
connect a range of remote workers, branch offices or sites to the head office corporate network,
but it’s not the only one.
When Internet connectivity is a must, companies entrusting their connection to a sole service
provider may well be putting their business at risk. Stonesoft has nevertheless examined the
problem from a business perspective and has come up with Multi-Link™ - a solution that
enables companies to spread their connectivity bases and ensure the optimal Internet connection at
highly competitive prices. Multi-Link™ does not discount the inclusion of MPLS as part of any
enterprise’s connectivity portfolio. Rather it creates a range of connection possibilities that
ensures that inbound, outbound and VPN traffic can move through the network without incident or
downtime due to unexpected outage or maintenance.
More about MPLS
MPLS was originally designed to speed up routing processes by moving data based on simple labels
rather than full IP address-based routing table decisions. This use of labels in a network core
meant that service providers could build one network and use it to offer completely independent and
separate services to their customers.
Nevertheless an MPLS service does not come without its own problems. An MPLS contract
involves significantly more interaction than in a typical leased line environment. Additions,
removals and changes to MPLS connectivity need to be communicated to the ISP and there is
inevitably a delay before they are implemented. MPLS services that cross nationals borders are
expensive and it gets even more expensive if connectivity speeds start to go over the 1Mbps range.
ISPs also claim that point-to-point solutions are physically secure but in reality only "the
last mile" of the actual communication line is dedicated to one customer. At point A's end there is
"the last mile" and another "last mile" at point B's end. Between these points there is the ISP
backbone which is used by many customers. ISPs use a number of software techniques to keep
different customer messages separated. In reality, however, configuration mistakes can and do
happen, meaning that data packets may end up in the wrong hands. This makes encryption a must, even
for MPLS solutions.
Downtime from an ISP for maintenance becomes a major issue when a company relying on their
service is powerless to affect it. It is not uncommon for construction workers to accidentally cut
through communication cables. If a company has only one connection to the Internet and to its
remote locations, then all activity is stopped before the actual cable is repaired.
The Multi-Link™ solution
Multi-Link™ is the ideal alternative for companies distributed around the globe requiring
always-on Internet connectivity. Multi-Link™ also provides a competitive advantage for companies
such as financial trading companies where always-on connectivity is an absolute must between
offices and trading floors.
Very few, if any, service providers are able to offer global-wide service provisioning to
their clients. Multi-Link™, on the other hand, creates a “cluster Internet connection” of
several low-cost ISP connections, thus getting around the problem. With Multi-Link™, companies are
now free to choose basic low cost Internet providers that are available everywhere and build
redundancy into their connectivity solution. By adding affordable layers of ADSL or XDSL
connectivity and combining them with Multi-Link™, an enterprise can be assured of resilient
connectivity and high availability whatever problems may arise.
In addition, Multi-Link™ incorporates the high availability of multiple connection
possibilities with central management ensuring that a company’s IT personnel can keep on top of the
situation at any given time, no matter what the scale of their operation.
Multi-Link utilizes Internet mature technologies to ensure safe and above all affordable
alternatives to the point to point solutions offered presently by ISPs. Companies are already
discovering the benefits that Multi-Link has to offer and its application is particularly suitable
for SMBs doing business across Europe and the rest of the globe. The corporate office as we know it
has become a virtual office for many, and the innovative Multi-Link solution ensures that business
across the Internet gets through as it should.
Multi-Link™ is a part of the StoneGate Platform – the unified
centrally managed system that combines deep network security and assured end-to-end availability.
StoneGate utilizes a combination of layered architecture and central monitoring to create security
control and ensure fast response times to security breaches and network disturbances. Its
load-balancing feature for gateway and Web server increases performance and eliminates
downtime.
