John, I think you brought an interesting topic.
With all these pitches about Layer 3 VPN, the question has been bothering me for a while, how many enterprises out there really need to have an any-to-any solution? Less than 0.5% is my guess. Most of the enterprise client/server applications fit into the hub-spoke topology pretty well, really have no reasons to get direct connections among their branches. Theoretically, MPLS should give the service providers the ability to provide more scalable and cheaper fully meshed VPN solution, as the SPs do not have to manage those hundreds of thousands PVCs, ect. From the enterprises' perspective, if this gives them a reliable and affordable alternative to the traditional hub-spoke frame relay network, it sounds attractive, but seems to me all the current implementations are even more expensive, not to mention their reliability probably is no where near the legacy frame network, at least not for a while. The vendors want to sell their MPLS VPN solutions to SPs, the SPs who built the network want to sell it enterprises , but my guess is that 99% enterprises will not buy it, not till... My .02 Kent ------------ True for today - looking forward VoIP, Collaborate Apps, and Desktop video conferencing will shift traffic flows and create more need for more any-to-any communication. The other driver for L3-VPNs is IP QoS support from the Service Provider. I've worked with a few customers to help them evaluate MPLS-VPN services, the general consensus is that unless you need a partial or full mesh, or IP-QoS within the SP network, traditional Frame Relay in a hub-and-spoke design is still the better alternative. YMMV. Irwin ------ Irwin Lazar Senior Consultant and Practice Manager, Burton Group www.burtongroup.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] Office: 703-742-9659 Cell: 703-402-4119 "DrivingNetworkEvolution" Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=37866&t=36670 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
