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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: ATM Utility
On Mon, 31 Oct 1994, Vadim Antonov wrote: > >cost-effective in a number of applications today. In particular, > >the cost of wide-area DS-3 ATM services can be very attractive > >when compared to a number of point-to-point DS-3s. > > TAANSTAFL. You keep forgetting that underneath ATM there are the same > SONET or clearline DS-3s/OC-3s etc. So, just by using IP routers > instead of ATM switches you get 30% more bandwidth for the same price. > ATM does not appear to make economical sense when applied to both > data and voice communications. So, from the point of view of a user > purchasing something carriers offer ATM may make sense (if carrier > does not offer native IP) -- but from the point of view of a carrier > ATM does not look that attractive. > > You still have to run IP over ATM (there's no such thing as native ATM > applications yet), and the extra level of encapsulation does not bring > anything worth 30% of bandwidth. > > In terms of real switching capacity (i.e. user data payload) the new > generation of IP routers is pretty much close to ATM switches -- > and quite cheaper. But, if you don't need the full 45 Mb/s, you can find a more cost-effective solution in the wide-area Fast-packet services. In the case of the MCI Hyperstream offerings, you don't have to pay for the full amount of a circuit from point A to point B -- you simply pay a monthly subscription fee and then a usage charge per Megabyte of data. So, you can build a multi-megabit/s backbone that is (say) 10 Mb/s and not end up having to purchase the entirety of the DS3 circuits needed to provision it. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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