Extreme Networks IP and Ethernet services, Ridgeline Service Advisor Overview

Simplifying the Management of Converged

Services over Ethernet Transport Networks with

Ridgeline Service Advisor

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© 2010 Extreme Networks, Inc. All rights reser ved. Do not reproduce.

Abstract: Carriers are deploying next generation networks that converge IP and

Ethernet services over a common Ethernet Transport network in order to
maximize revenue opportunities. With this convergence however, network
operators face complex operational challenges that can delay revenue,
adversely impact subscriber satisfaction, and result in inefficient use of
the network.

Extreme Networks® powerful service management software,
Ridgeline™ Service Advisor, allows carriers to address these tough
challenges. By enabling the shift from reactive circuit monitoring
to proactive service management, Ridgeline Service Advisor
helps carriers to monetize the network. This paper highlights
Ridgeline Service Advisor’s key capabilities.

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Introduction

Carriers are deploying next-generation networks that
converge IP and Ethernet services over a common Ethernet
Transport network in order to maximize revenue opportuni­ties. With this convergence, network operators face
complex operational challenges. Services are constantly
activated or deactivated, subscribers added or removed,
connectivity configurations frequently changed, and
services continuously monitored for problems among other
tasks. With hundreds of thousands of subscribers with
varying requirements all supported over a common transport
network, the complexity in carrying out these processes
increases significantly.

The Command Line Interface (CLI) method, most com­monly used today, involves time-consuming manual tasks to
provision services. This increases the probability of human
error which adversely impacts service fulfillment and
subsequently delays service revenue. Providing service
assurance is also challenging since effective monitoring and
troubleshooting of services means having detailed, real-time
visibility into the network. Responding to network issues
quickly and efficiently is critical in order to maintain service
quality and enhance subscriber satisfaction.

The interplay between bulk traffic and time-sensitive
applications such as streaming videos and voice calls
supported on the same network also increases the
complexity of service engineering. Proper utilization of
network resources is crucial in order to maximize network
efficiency. Supporting as many services as possible without
compromising service quality translates directly to the
carrier’s profitability.

To address these challenges, carriers are shifting from
reactive circuit monitoring to proactive service management.
Proactive service management accelerates revenue, enhanc­es subscriber experience and increases network efficiency.
Proactive service management enables carriers to monetize
the network by greatly simplifying network operations.

Extreme Networks Ridgeline Service Advisor is service
management software with powerful features that provide
the shift to proactive service management. This paper
highlights these key capabilities.

Shifting to Proactive Service
Management

Increased competition and revenue pressures drive the
fundamental need for service providers to accelerate time
to market of revenue-generating services. With this
challenge, there are trade-offs made when balancing rapid
deployment with ideal service management that ensure
outstanding services.

Ridgeline Service Advisor provides specific capabilities for
carriers to address this challenge. Features include point­and-click provisioning to ease service fulfillment, powerful
visual service monitoring to accelerate resolution of
network problems for service assurance, and simplified
service engineering that maximizes network efficiency.

Service Fulfillment Using Point and
Click Provisioning

A vast majority of service issues are a result of human error
when using the CLI that require manual effort to configure
and provision services—which in turn delays the turn-up of
services. Ridgeline Service Advisor’s point-and-click feature
eases this process, enabling carriers to accelerate revenue.

When using the CLI method, prior to any provisioning task,
the network operator must manually create a table (for
example, a spreadsheet) that defines various network
configuration and connectivity parameters. Using these
parameters, the network operator configures each network
element involved in the service using CLI commands over a
telnet/SSH session or console port. Because the CLI
interface lacks intelligence, it is important for the network
operator to have at hand detailed information on the
physical connectivity of the network when parameter
entries are made. For example, the operator must manually
keep track of which ports on which switches are connected
to each other and the VLANs that are associated with the
links in order to ensure the correct parameter entries (such
as traffic profiles). Ensuring correct syntax and format is
also important. Not only is the amount of manual involve­ment and focus required on the part of the network
operator extensive, having to configure and provision each
network element in this manner is tedious and time­consuming. Given the wide range of services and service
types that must be handled, the likelihood of human error
during this process is significant.

Another example is adding a business E-Line service to a
network which involves four key tasks. Tasks include
defining connectivity parameters, configuring the resiliency
domain such as Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching
(EAPS), creating the E-Line service, adding the service to
the resiliency domain, and finally activating the service.

Ridgeline Service Advisor’s powerful visualization capabili­ties provide detailed graphical representations of the
network coupled with point-and-click provisioning to
greatly reduce the likelihood of human error. A user-friendly
interface allows the operator to select and auto-provision
specific network elements by choosing the appropriate
application to execute from a drop-down menu. This is
illustrated in Figure 1A where the network operator selects
two switches to provision for E-Line service. Right-clicking

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on one of the highlighted switches will open up a drop-down
menu. When the network operator chooses and runs the
E-Line application, a new window is displayed with configu­ration parameters pre-populated in the right format and

syntax as shown in Figure 1B. The network operator merely
makes changes to this data as necessary and then the
E-Line service is automatically provisioned.

Figure 1A. Service Fulfillment using

Provisioning – Select Network Elements

Figure 1B. Service Fulfillment using

Provisioning – Activate E-Line Service