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DEALING WITH ATM IN A GIGABIT ETHERNET ENVIRONMENTA moment of silence, please. ATM, the transport that was going to change the world, has reached a momentousmilestone: Its attained the status of legacy technology.

That may not be news for enterprise networkers, many of whom have been struggling to work around ATM rather thanwith it. And its probably no shock to service providers intent on getting Gigabit Ethernet to the edge of their networks,where corporate customers want it.

But theres something crucial to consider: Legacy infrastructures have a tendency to linger. Theyre leftovers from

another agein this instance the not-too-distant past when 25 Mbps on the LAN was considered cruising, 622 Mbpson the backbone was seen as smoking, and even rudimentary quality of service (QoS) was something to marvel at.Simply said: Legacy technologies tend to get in the way.

To make sure that doesnt happen, Extreme Networks is shipping the OC-3 ATM module for its BlackDiamond family ofGigabit Ethernet core chassis switches. Of course, since this is an Extreme offering the latest BlackDiamond moduledoesnt merely deal with ATM. Its the only ATM module on the market that maps 802.1Q VLAN tags onto ATM PVCs.This enables service providers and enterprise networkers to simply nail up PVCs and deliver Layer 2 transparent LANservices. In the enterprise this is crucial to maintain security within VLANs. For service providers, it enables the deliveryof far superior services based on Ethernet, while leveraging existing investments in the ATM core.

Whats more, the BlackDiamond boasts eight queues on every port so IT professionals and carrier engineers canmaintain consistent QoS and bandwidth management from Ethernet to ATM and back. Add to that Layer 3-4 traffic

classification at the full gigabit line-rate. Makes ATM gear look pretty anemic.

Why all this attention to a technology whose time has passed, especially from Extreme, a company thats completelycommitted to Ethernet Everywhere? Extreme understands that forklift upgrades are fantasies, especially in thesetough economic times. Customers need help easing the migration from legacy infrastructures, and Extreme is thereevery step of the way, with support for frame relay, T1, E1, T3, SONET/ SDHand now ATM. Extremes Ethernetinfrastructure makes network expansion painless and cost effective.

ATM ANYWHERE?Its ironic that ATM has been supplanted by the very technology it was supposed to force into retirement: Ethernet. Theagain, ATM advocates didnt see Gigabit Ethernet coming (possibly because of a bad case of tunnel vision), and anyonewho dared to suggest 10 Gigabit Ethernet would have been laughed out of the data center. Ethernet QoS, which

outperforms anything ATM can offer on the LAN, was another unknown.

The conclusion is inescapable: ATM has failed in the LAN. Its expensive, cumbersome (remember LANE with its LES,LEC, LECS, BUS, PNNI, Q.2931 and data SVCs?), and cant match the performance of Ethernet.

But ATM still has to be dealt with. At many organizations, its Ethernet from the wiring closet to the workstation and ATMfrom the wiring closet to the backbone. Service providers, meanwhile, may be building out their metro Ethernetofferings, but if they need to reach a customer and all thats available is an ATM circuit, theyve got a headache in themaking. The same holds if they want to link metro Ethernet rings in different cities and their Tier 1 carriers tells themits ATM or nothing.

And corporate networkers have a new ATM woe to worry about. Marconi PLC, the company that bought Fore Systems a

few years back, has explicitly stated that investment in enterprise-specific technologies would cease, according to aSeptember 2001 Gartner Group report. No big deal? Fore Systems was the largest manufacturer of ATM LANequipment. Good luck to customers who need support for products already deployed in the field or who want helpmoving their infrastructure ahead.

Stay calm. Theres no reason to panic. Extremes BlackDiamond ATM module has enterprise networkers and serviceproviders covered.

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EXTREME ENTERPRISEAt this point, given the turnover in IT departments, many network administrators have probably inherited ATMinstallations that they would not have deployed in the first place (and may not even understand). If theyre alreadyrunning an Extreme BlackDiamond core chassis, all the better. Dealing with their legacy ATM backbones is as simple asslotting a module into the BlackDiamond. If theyre running ATM LANE, theyll have to connect their backbone to themodule via RFC 1483 PVCs, using a so-called one-armed router to map the old world to the new. The most tedious part:ATM subnets have to be migrated one at a time onto the Gigabit Ethernet LAN.

As noted, Extreme is looking to make this migration as easy as possible. Because the BlackDiamond ATM module

maps IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tags onto ATM PVCs, network administrators are that much closer to a seamless enterprise,even though theyre still dealing with different transports. And with the BlackDiamonds full complement of quality-of-service queues and Layer 3-4 traffic classification at gigabit wire speed, any QoS classes already in place (preventingthe CEOs e-mail from getting backed up behind HRs latest bulletin, perhaps) will still give priority data prioritytreatment.

FEELING EDGY?Theres another logical location for the BlackDiamond module: on the edge of the enterprise network. IT professionalsare building out their networks, extending them to remote offices and home workers, as well as partners and suppliers.

The BlackDiamonds ATM module is the perfect solution if medium- or long-haul Ethernet services arent available fromprovidersor if network administrators would prefer to lease their own connections and take it from there. Think of itthis way: The fact that ATM is all thats available across the metro or wide area does not prevent the extension ofEthernet wherever its wanted.

Finally, since the BlackDiamond module is built to be part of a unified product strategy, it plays perfectly with whateverother Extreme switches have already been deployed, whether those are BlackDiamonds or Alpines in the server room oSummits in the wiring closet.

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ATM LAN Escalation

Ethernet Distribution

BlackDiamond 6808with ATM Module

BlackDiamond 6808

Bus Connect ion Configuration Joining & Registrat ion

BUS

LEC 1

LECS LES

ATM

ILMI

DataDirectSVC(Switched Virtual Circuit)

PVC (Permanent Virtual Circuit)

LEC 2

Alpine 3808Alpine 3808

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ETHERNET AT YOUR SERVICEService providers dont have to be sold on Ethernet; most of the players in the metro market are pushing to get thetransport of choice to their customers as quickly as they can.

Unfortunately, three little letters can get in the way: ATM.

Consider a carrier thats already delivering Ethernet services to a customer campus. The account adds a sales office inthe new office park thats just gone in downtownand of course it wants its crack sales staff to have exactly the sameapplications and resources at its disposal.

Only one problem: The metro carrier can only get a short-haul ATM circuit into that part of the city, and it doesnt havethe right of wayor resourcesto start tearing up streets in midtown.

Problem solved: Thanks to the BlackDiamond ATM module. Just slot it in and deliver Ethernet wherever and wheneverneeded (which is everywhere, but Extreme is admittedly prejudiced in this department). Whats more, since theBlackDiamond module maps IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tags onto ATM PVCsthe only product on the market that can dososervice providers can reach multiple customers over a single ATM circuit. The BlackDiamond in the basement of amultitenant unit sorts out the data streams and shunts them to the right recipients.

TRAVELING BUSINESS CLASSIt gets better: Thanks to the eight priority queues on each of the BlackDiamonds inbound and outbound ports, carrierscan continue to charge forand deliverpremium service classes to premium customers. ATM may be all thatsavailable, but its no reason to get in the way of business as usual.

Its pretty much the same story for metro providers with Gigabit Ethernet rings in different cities. Their Tier 1 or Tier 2carriers may only offer ATM links between the relevant points, but with a BlackDiamond at each end of the connection,theres no reason to settle for second best or let the Tier 1 carrier call the tune.

But why bother with a BlackDiamond at all? Why not just slot an Ethernet module into an ATM switch? Its a goodquestion, and Extreme has a good answer. Ethernet modules for ATM gear tend to be pricey and less than stellarperformers (a less-than-compelling combination, at least for service providers that need to pay attention to the bottomline). They also represent yet further investment into a legacy platform. The BlackDiamond offers an unbeatable one-twopunch: standards-based ATM on the module and a wire-speed workhorse in the box.

But what about customers who are perfectly happy with their ATM infrastructure? Well, they may not want or even beinterested in Gigabit Ethernet, but they will want to access the metro area. Once again, the BlackDiamond gets the jobdone. Simply deploy it as CPE at the edge of the customer enterprise, where it bridges ATM onto the Gigabit Ethernetbackbone. This approach may actually qualify as reverse psychology in an Ethernet environment.

GOING GIGABITTechnologies come and go. The trick is in not letting legacy infrastructure get in the way of what needs to be done, whilepreserving what may be a sizable investment in less than leading-edge hardware. The Extreme BlackDiamond doesboth, with one simple module that deals with ATM effectively and effortlessly, while keeping the door wide open tosimpler, faster, cheaper Gigabit Ethernet.

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jurisdictions. Alpine, ExtremeWare Vista, Extreme Standby Router Protocol, ESRP, Summit1 i, Summit4, Summit4/ FX, Summit5 i, Summit24, Summit24e2 ,Summit24e3 , Summit48, Summit48i , SummitLink, SummitGbX, SummitRPS, SummitPx1, PxSilicon, EPICenter, vMAN, t he BlackDiamond logo, the Alpine logoand the Extreme Networks logo are trademarks of Extreme Networks, Inc., which may be registered or pending registration in cer tain jurisdict ions.ExtremeWorks, the Extreme Turbodrive logo and the Go Purple-Extreme Solution Partner logo are service marks of Extreme Networks, Inc., which may beregistered or pending registration in certain jurisdictions. All other registered trademarks, trademarks and service marks are property of their respectiveowners. Specifications are subject to change without notice. L-MO-ATM-112

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