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IPF.net GmbH in Germany Enhances Its Network Infrastructure
BackgroundIPF.net GmbH, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, has watched its business grow as fast as the Internet itself. In just four years, the company has become one of the largest Internet Service Providers in Europe, providing Internet connections to multinational corporations in the banking, publishing and manufacturing industries and offering services to over 90 percent of Germany's population.
To support its customers, IPF.net's network infrastructure has also expanded. Starting out with a single point of presence (POP) in Frankfurt, the company soon had to add two remote POPs -- one in Darmstadt and one in Wiesbaden. Today, through agreements with its franchise partners, the company maintains 35 POPs throughout Germany that provide nearly 5,000 business customers with Internet access for the price of a local phone call.
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Dozens of incoming analog phone lines and modem banks were installed in each POP to support the growing number of analog subscribers. To support its customers with high-bandwidth needs and ISDN connections, IPF.net installed separate banks of incoming ISDN lines and terminal adapters. The modems, mounted in dozens of 19-inch modem racks, were very difficult to cable together and even more difficult to service. When breakdowns occurred -- and frequently they did -- isolating the problem was nearly impossible. To make matters worse, if a single modem in one of the racks malfunctioned, others in the same rack wouldn't work until the problem was detected and fixed. The separate ISDN terminal adapters also proved difficult and costly to support. Eventually, these support problems became so commonplace that the company's technical staff found they were spending more time fixing equipment than helping their customers. |
Application
Current Approach The Need |
IPF.net GmbH Previous Network
The Solution
IPF.net GmbH found a solution to its modem problems, and a lot more, when it learned about the MAX 4000 from Ascend Communications. The MAX, which is used by 28 of the 30 largest Internet service providers worldwide, is the ideal Internet POP solution. By consolidating the functions of modems, terminal adapters, routers and terminal servers in a single, compact box, the MAX eliminates the need for separate modem banks, DSUs, terminal adapters and other difficult-to-manage equipment. It also supports traffic from all analog and digital services, including ISDN, leased line and frame relay.
The company now has replaced all of its cumbersome modem racks with MAX 4000s, which accept calls from both analog and ISDN subscribers, combined. "Ascend's MAX 4000 is the proven hardware standard for IPF.net," said Daniel David, owner of IPF.net GmbH. IPF.net is also supplying Pipeline 50s to ISDN subscribers, who use them to connect their LANs to the Internet over either 64- or 128-Kbps circuits.
How it Works
The MAX serves as a concentrator for all of IPF.net's traffic, aggregating calls from dial-up and ISDN subscribers onto E1/ PRI lines and then passing them through its Ethernet port onto a frame relay router. The router is connected to the company's 34-Mbps frame relay backbone. Alternatively, the MAX could be connected directly to the frame relay backbone through its high-speed serial port at speeds up to 8 Mbps.
The remote management capabilities of the MAX allow the company to perform all support functions from its main POP in Frankfurt. Technicians can either manage the MAXs with SNMP, or establish a Telnet session to perform configuration, diagnostics and other control functions remotely. Digital modems installed in the MAX handle calls from analog modem users at speeds up to 28.8 Kbps. Support for different types of ISDN services -- synchronous PPP, asynchronous PPP or SLIP -- is built directly into the MAX. Digital services, such as E1-R2 and T-1 Rob Bit Signaling, are also supported. Fully configured, a MAX can handle up to 120 simultaneous calls over four E1/PRI lines, a feature that allows it to service up to 1,200 subscribers (assuming one port for each 10 users). Standardizing on the MAX has eliminated all of the IPF.net's management problems and lowered its support costs. Within the next year, when the company proceeds with its plans to build 40 more POPs on the European continent, all of them will contain Ascend MAX 4000s. |
Ascend
Equipment
The Benefits |
IPF.net GmbH - Ascend Solution
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