At Colt we continuously improve our network infrastructure to keep up with the latest industry trends and make sure we offer the best possible service to our customers today and in the future. One important development in telecommunications in the last years is the so called Network Layer Integration (NLI). Purpose of this development is to integrate different functions of a telecommunications network into single network instances to reduce complexity, reduce power consumption and increase performance.
We at Colt have been working on NLI on different network levels for quite some time and we now see the first changes that are visible to our customers and partners. For our IP products we offer a so called managed router feature. The purpose of this feature is to provide enhanced layer 3 functionality for our base services such as routing, DHCP, enhanced resilience etc. Naturally so far that meant the deployment of a routing device at the customer’s premises. However, with NLI we are now able to provide exactly the same functionality without an additional physical router. The routing functionality and all the features are instead done by the high performance edge routing device in a colt node.
For the customer that has a number of advantages. There is no additional box in his equipment area, hence less space is required and less power is consumed – green IT. The routing device is not accessible so nobody will accidentally switch it off or pull plugs. The equipment in the colt node is very powerful and provides better performance reserves. It also is protected against unauthorized access and power loss. Bandwidth upgrades are easier, with no physical changes at the customer’s premises necessary. In the unlikely event of a failure the equipment in the Colt node is better accessible and faster fixed. In terms of features or behaviour of the service the customer will not notice any difference between a physical CPE or a virtual CPE (vCPE).
Colt has started now to provide the managed Router service with vCPE for its IP Access and IP VPN products recently. During the order phase of the service our systems will determine if the feature set ordered by the customer allows the usage of a virtual CPE. If it does a vCPE will automatically provide for the customer.
If you have any questions regarding NLI or vCPE in particular please don’t hesitate to contact your Colt account manager or get in touch with the Channel Marketing team.
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