IP Clear MPLS Pricing

Bakedgoods

Bakedgoods

Bakedgoods

Capodecina
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Can anyone give some rough example figures of how much an IP Clear topology over BTs MPLS network would cost?

I've got different bandwidth requirements at a couple of sites and i'm trying to get a rough understanding of cost, versus the setup of a old frame relay network.
 
Cheers, the 2Mbit pricing is only available on application though and I can't seem to find the availability checker. (Shouldn't be an issue, major locations Manchester, London, Edinburgh).

Any thoughts on how this compares to frame relay?

What additional equipment is required of premises? External router/Firewall and??
 
I'd suggest shopping around, I've only just looked at their pricing and I'd expect some other ISPs could beat that pricing. Zen have an IP VPN solution (which my understanding is an MPLS L3 VPN), and I'd guess quite a few other players provide the same thing.

Generally its cheaper than frame relay, allows an any-to-any design, and supports QOS mechanisms.

The premises will require a router, this will have a link into the provider core network. This hosts a dedicated Virtual Routing and Forwarding table, essentially a separate routing table purely for your connections. A firewall should only be necessary at one site if you wish to allow external access (such as from the VPN to the internet, or vice-versa), though many ISPs would be willing to host the firewall, so that if you lose a link to a site the Internet service isn't lost.

Any decent provider would be able to talk to you about your present infrasture and how the migration to an MPLS system would be managed.
 
Thanks for that, great reply.

Do any other ISPs offer more scalability than the 2Mbit to 32Mbit jump? Or would it be a case of multiple lines?

The idea of the firewall being in the cloud is great, but if you're running any sort of web filtering software at a central site then surely this makes doing that pretty null and void as if you lose that server you'd be buggered regardless of where the firewall is.

Do you pay extra for having the link go out to the internet, rather than just connecting your sites in the MPLS cloud? Or is it simply a case of routing (and including a firewall).

Would a seperate internet line be a reasonable option, or pointless?
 
Wardie said:
Thanks for that, great reply.

Do any other ISPs offer more scalability than the 2Mbit to 32Mbit jump? Or would it be a case of multiple lines?

The idea of the firewall being in the cloud is great, but if you're running any sort of web filtering software at a central site then surely this makes doing that pretty null and void as if you lose that server you'd be buggered regardless of where the firewall is.

Do you pay extra for having the link go out to the internet, rather than just connecting your sites in the MPLS cloud? Or is it simply a case of routing (and including a firewall).

Would a seperate internet line be a reasonable option, or pointless?
Click to expand...

NTL:Telewest business do IPVPN, they offer pretty much any bandwidth you want from 512kbps PPC up to 1Gbps, you could go for 10Mbps Ethernet and have it rate limited to any speed you wanted.

Normally, an internet connection is a totally seperate thing, but obviously if you buy an entire solution it'll include a seperate internet connection and a default route will be advertised into the IPVPN - or they can redistribute an already existing default route from a 3rd party connection into the IPVPN, pretty much however you want to do it.

Some customers go for having an internet connection coming directly out of the cloud, normally this involves hosting your own firewalls in a ISP headend next to their routers, the firewalls then simply get put into the same VRF as the rest of the IPVPN and serve as the gateway to the normal IP cloud outside of MPLS.
 
The great thing about mpls vpn is you can use any access technology, be it dsl, leased line or even Ethernet (and others) so you can have a range of speeds. And like with the firewall if you normally filter through a server then the ISP will normally be able to host that centrally. You do normally pay an additional fee for the Internet breakout.
 
Cheers.

The issue is that one area will only have access to either dial-up, ISDN or a satellite connection, so would that put this IP Clear MPLS setup out of the picture?

The other two have access to frame relay, DSL or MPLS
 
Wardie said:
Cheers.

The issue is that one area will only have access to either dial-up, ISDN or a satellite connection, so would that put this IP Clear MPLS setup out of the picture?

The other two have access to frame relay, DSL or MPLS
Click to expand...

Can't comment on IP Clear, but other companies that provide MPLS VPN would be able to support dial-up and ISDN. I'm not sure about satellite, as I do not know the technology, but I assume it could be connected via an standard IPSEC vpn to the MPLS VPN if it couldn't be directly provisioned.
 
Thanks, looking around it seems that ISDN to access the MPLS network is totally fine.

However, a rather dim query here....

When you pay for a MPLS IP VPN connection, do you pay for the ISDN/ADSL/Leased line seperately or is it included in the cost?

Can you recommend a service other than BT with clearer pricing as that list above isn't the best?

As I said, i'm trying to connect 3 sites. One of them only has ISDN/Dial-up/Satellite availability and doesn't have a large bandwidth requirement anyways.
 
Normally the line is included in the cost. But again this could depend on individual companies billing methods. Not many will publish the pricing online, it will be best to call them up and ask for a quotation.
I'd recommend zen Internet, but do shop around. One to avoid would be Netservices.
 
Hey guys,

Two questions...

1) One site has the option of frame relay or DSL into the MPLS network, should I go for DSL?

Or have I not grapsed the concept of this properly? Do you pay for a 128kbit, 1mbit, 2mbit or whatever MPLS connection and the provider/location will decide how you are connect to the providers edge router?

For example...

1 sites has access to frame relay (possibly ISDN/DSL)
1 site has access to frame relay, DSL, ISDN
1 site has access to ISDN, Dial-Up, Satellite (big distance from local exchange no 'broadband' providers)
 
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Wardie said:
Two questions...

1) One site has the option of frame relay or DSL into the MPLS network, should I go for DSL?
Click to expand...

Afraid this is still going to be your call. I would expect DSL to be cheaper, but its more likely flake out at some point. In terms of reliability SDSL is normaly the most stable, maxDSL (the upto 8mb product) the least stable, and normal ADSL somewhere between the two. The SLA's from BT on sorting DSL issues aren't great, the majority do get sorted quickly, but the ones that drag out can cause you to tear your hair out. There is an option to pay for enhanced care where they'll give you a better SLA for trying to resolve any issues, but it does come with more obligations from the customer such as guaranteeing BT's engineers 24x7 access to the customer site.


Wardie said:
Or have I not grapsed the concept of this properly? Do you pay for a 128kbit, 1mbit, 2mbit or whatever MPLS connection and the provider/location will decide how you are connect to the providers edge router?
Click to expand...

Generally the customer decides the technology and the speed of the technology that is used to connect into the MPLS network. So you could get a 2mb DSL connection, a 2mb leased line, a 2mb Ethernet (throttled down from 10mb), or even a 2mb bundled ISDN Connection (thats exceptionally unlikely) all of which can be brought into the MPLS network. The choice of connection type is dependant on cost, reliability, SLA, future needs, and availability.
 
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