Transcript Level (3) - Educause

Network Overview
Copyright Level 3 Communications, Inc. 2002. This work is the intellectual property of
the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial,
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disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1
Level 3’s Experience
Over the last three years, Level 3’s engineering team recently oversaw the design
and physical construction of a $10 billion global network from whiteboard to
completion. This project was one of the largest construction projects in history
when measured by dollars spent per month
In addition to physical
construction, Level 3 built a
global operational organization
numbering 4,500 people in
eleven different countries
Level 3’s management team has
extensive network construction
experience through MFS and
Kiewit
Level 3 built a Tier 1 IP
backbone in less than 3 years
Level 3 was the first to deploy
an MPLS backbone
Level 3 operates the largest
SoftSwitch based network in the
world. SoftSwitch based service
include voice over IP (with PSTN
quality) and managed modem
services
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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ONTAPSM - World Class Provisioning Process

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ONTAPSM = On-Net Transport
Activation Process

Capacity verification at order entry

Acceleration of customer’s revenue
recognition

Clear commitment at the time of the
order

Reduced exposure to forecasting risk

Vendor-neutral architecture

Masergy
“We are big believers in ONTAP.
Level 3 was able to turn up a
national private-line backbone for
Masergy in less than 10 business
days. Such rapid provisioning has
enabled Masergy to directly tie
capital outlays to solid forecasts of
demand and to offer better service to
our own customers.”
– Gerald Poe, Sr. Mgr.
Infrastructure Engineering and
Provisioning
ONTAPSM
Winner of the 2002 Frost & Sullivan
Customer Service Innovation Market
Engineering Award.
2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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ONTAP Process
Order to Delivery Process
Complete
Service
Request
Design, Assign, and
Activate
Industry: 10 Days
ONTAP : 0.5 Days
Industry: 60 Days
ONTAP : 1.0 Days
Process Changes:
• Provisioning/billing
info validated before
sign off
Customer
Lead
• Reservation
capabilities
Industry: 40 Days
ONTAP : 3.5 Days
Process Changes:
• Handoffs between organizations
eliminated
Process Changes:
• Handoffs with Field
Management eliminated
• Real-time consumption
management provided
• Billing is automatically
activated
• Remote activation of logical
network elements
• Credit approval prior
to signoff
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Test and Turn Up
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
4
Industry Leading Provisioning Time
Service Activation
Cycle Time
Performance

Customer Sign Date to Bill Start Date

Leading industry cycle times for OC-3 and
above services, < 20 days for On-Net services

Migration to Level 3 network enabled > 50%
cycle time reduction in 2001
80
Cycle Time
Cycle Time
70
60
Days
50
40
45
35
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Oct-01 Nov-01 Dec-01 Jan-02 Feb-02 Mar-02
2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Meeting Customer Commitments
Service Activation
Customer Commitment
Dates
100%
% CCD Met

Currently meeting 99% of Customer
Commitment Dates (CCD)

CCD performance reflects change in
focus from construction to operation
97% 96% 98%
92%
93%
97%
95%
98% 99%
% CCD
87%Met
90%
81%
84%
80%
70%
60%
50%
Apr-01 May-01 Jun-01
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Jul-01
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Aug-01 Sep-01
Oct-01
Nov-01 Dec-01
2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Jan-02 Feb-02 Mar-02
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Operational Excellence
Level 3 is committed to excellent operational performance to enhance our
customers’ experience and satisfaction
•
Industry leader for core round-trip latency
across the Network for IP services
•
Consistently meet our guarantee of less than
1% packet loss performance for IP services
•
Network availability guaranteed at 99.99% for
terrestrial On-Net services
•
Online visibility to network statistics, utilization,
and traffic flow through the Online Customer
Service Center (OCSC)
PERFORMANCE
RELIABILITY
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Level 3 North America Network
 16,000 U.S. route miles
 Upgradeable 12 conduit
system
 Private Line Service
available in 56 cities
nationwide
 Substantially completed
 Fully owned,
homogeneous
 No spurs or laterals
 6.5 Million square feet
of colocation facilities
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Level 3
European Network
 Cable completed in 4Q00
 Initially operates 320
gigabits per second
 Upgradeable to 1.28
terabits per second
 Connects Level 3’s US
and European networks
 Diverse capacity available
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The Level 3 Conduit Advantage
At some point it is more cost effective to light additional fibers.
At some point it is more cost effective to use next generation fiber.
Level 3 conduits support both options.
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Lowering the Cost of Transport
SMF
10,000.00
N2DSF
LEAF
Gen 4
Level 3 Cost Curve
1,000.00
Gen 5
Gen 6
Gen 7
Gen 8
100.00
 Level 3 built its Network
to be upgradeable,
leveraging new
generations of fiber and
optronics in 12 parallel
conduits
Gen 9
Unit Cost 10.00
$ per Gbps
mile
 Newest generations
purchased in large scale
= best unit cost
1.00
0.50
0.01
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Source: Corning, Inc., Nortel Networks, Inc.,
Level 3 Engineering
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The Level 3 Network Is Completely Route Diverse
The Level 3 network does not
have any spurs or laterals – it is
completely route-diverse.
It is important to be sure that the topology
map a provider shows you is a true
representation of their network.
Network
Spurs
Sometimes
carriers want
you to see
this.
Richmond
Richmond
POP
In reality, this is
often what the
network truly
looks like.
POP
Non-Diverse
City Laterals/
Collapsed Rings
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Metro Networks
 Broad geographic coverage
• 27 major North American
markets
• 9 major European markets
 Deep metro presence
at duct level
 Industry-leading Colocation
facilities
• 70 Global “Carrier Grade”
Colocation Data centers
• 6 million square feet of
colocation space
• 2,150 total local route miles
• 500+ On-Net buildings
• Up to 864 fibers per cable,
per conduit
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Metro POP Route Diversity
Level 3 has complete diversity in our
metro networks and facilities.
Carrier
service
Provision/
gateway
facility
As in the case of intercity networks some
carriers lead you to believe that they have
complete diversity.
Non Diverse
Entrance
Facilities
What you should
beware of
What carriers
want you to see
On-Net
building/
Non Diverse
Risers in Gateways
Customer
location
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The Level 3 IP Network
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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IP Logical Diagram
Voice
Network
Voice
Interne
t
MOSS
Core MPLS
Network
Level (3)
Internet
Network
Voice
Interne
t
Management
/OSS
Network
MOSS
Voice
Peering
(public
Internet)
Interne
t
MOSS
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Industry-Leading Performance
 Uniform Global Network
• Designed and built for performance from the ground up
 MPLS-enabled backbone
• Carries multiple protocol traffic
• Improves routing and QoS
 Peering
• > 600 peering sessions, 51+ Gb of Connectivity in North America
• 95% Private peering
 Consistently Ranked in Top 3 by Keynote Systems
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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(3) Packet Ethernet, Frame Relay and
ATM over MPLS
Ethernet Switch
VLAN
Level 3 MPLS
Backbone (LSR)
LER
Virtual Circuit A
VC
LER
VLAN
VC
Virtual Circuit B
ATM Switch
Ethernet Switch
ATM Switch
Virtual Circuit C
Router Running
Frame Relay
DLCI
DLCI
LER
LER – Labeled Switched Router
Router Running
Frame Relay
ATM Switch
LSR – Labeled Switched Router
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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North America Peering
Interconnection
Peering Capacity:
51+ Gb/s active
2.0 Gb/s
11.6 Gb/s
6.2 Gb/s
3.7 Gb/s
7.8 Gb/s
7.1 Gb/s
932 Mb/s
6.4 Gb/s
6.4 Gb/s
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Level 3’s Academic and Research
Community Focus
 Dedicated team of sales, marketing, business development and
engineering resources
 Efforts focused on national network initiatives, consortia and
traffic aggregators, not on individual institutions
 Specific product programs for academic and research
community
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Thank You!
[email protected]
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2001 Level 3 Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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