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traditionally used internet transit for
inter-site purposes, can now use inter-
site transit and will save an absolute
fortune.
Business Info:
Are there any other
benefits in addition to simpler
management and lower costs?
Tom Fellowes:
Yes, the technical stability
and guaranteed bandwidth between
sites make our solution far superior to a
VPN-based solution. Because there is no
internet transit between sites, you can
guarantee that a 100Mb circuit between
point A and the MPLS and a 100Mb
circuit between point B and the MPLS
will provide 100Mb between point A and
point B. You can’t do that on an internet
VPN. So where bandwidth quality is
required, for example on voice solutions,
which we provide a lot of, you will see
better quality at a lower cost. You don’t
have to throw bandwidth at the solution
to get the quality you need.
Business Info:
Do Spitfire MPLS
solutions differ from those offered
by other providers and, if so, in what
ways?
Tom Fellowes:
Spitfire does do things
differently. First, because we are both
the carrier and the provider of the MPLS,
we terminate the circuits directly on the
MPLS nodes rather than having to buy
wholesale circuits from a third party
and botch it into our solution via an
IP VPN tunnel or equivalent. Ours is a
much cleaner solution.We can guarantee
that at no point is the public internet
traversed to get through to the MPLS.
That reduces complexity and it reduces
cost. The overhead we charge on MPLS
is a small increment per circuit. Some
carriers require a much more complex
back-end or core to enable multiple
carriers to terminate on the MPLS, which
adds overhead and complexity.
Another key point is that most
providers of MPLS services seem to
see this as a licence to print money.
Spitfire’s MPLS solutions carry only a
small additional cost and project charge,
with the monthly MPLS charge normally
being offset by the reduction in Internet
transit. I think we probably offer the best
value MPLS solution, with the greatest
flexibility, on the market today.
Finally, one of our real strengths is
providing converged Voice and Data.
We are an Interconnected Operator
and Business VoIP/SIP Trunking Service
provider and offer voice services with
Quality of Service QoS as an integral
part of our MPLS solutions. Most MPLS
providers use a separate voice provider
to deliver SIP Trunks and call termination.
Business Info:
MPLS solutions have
been around for more than a decade.
What were some of their limitations
before and how have you overcome
them?
Tom Fellowes:
The largest one was the
complexity of building the solution.
But because our MPLS is built from
the ground up as an MPLS solution,
circuits terminate directly into the MPLS
network; it is managed within a tier of
our core and is designed specifically for
MPLS purposes; and it is very, very low
cost compared to traditional solutions.
Effectively, we’ve just configured part of
our core network as a multi-tenant MPLS
VPN, so it doesn’t touch the internet
but terminates in our data centres in the
same way that an internet circuit would,
except that those break out directly
to the internet, whereas this stays
contained in the MPLS.
Business Info:
Is there anything
about the way organisations operate
today that makes MPLS an attractive
solution?
Tom Fellowes:
Yes, one factor is the
centralisation of IT systems. For example,
if a five-site organisation moves each
site’s systems into a datacentre or
consolidates them on one site, that
datacentre can be part of the MPLS.
Rather than having lots of complex inter-
siteWAN links, having the datacentre on
the MPLS is much more attractive and
economical.We can also build resilience
into the solution far more easily than
with an IP Sec VPN-based network.
The other thing is that Spitfire’s MPLS
does allow non-MPLS sites to connect
– for example, where a homeworker is
working from home or where a client site
needs to communicate into the MPLS
as a trusted network.Working across
boundaries is made more effective by
MPLS. In fact, we do have clients that
have MPLS built predominantly on
broadband circuits. For example, retail
organisations that might have multiple
sites with just one computer that
wouldn’t warrant an Ethernet circuit.
If you have any questions regarding
Spitfire’s MPLS service, would like
more information or would like a
quotation, please call
0800 319 6363
or visit
.
01732 759725
Why Spitfire MPLS
1. Converged voice and data.
ManagedWAN supports a converged
voice and data network across
multiple sites, improving site-to-site
collaboration and productivity.
2. Cost saving.
Compared to
dedicated point-to-point circuits,
Spitfire’s solution potentially offers
large savings, especially where sites
are geographically distant and high
bandwidth is required.
3. Flexibility.
Unlike a standard Virtual
Private Network, Spitfire can add
new sites to the MPLS very simply.
This saves time and cost because an
engineer will not need to configure
every router to allow the new site to
talk to existing sites.
4. Negates need for onsite internet
access.
MPLS provides site-to-site
connectivity without having to access
the public internet, so improving
security and compliance.
5. No expensive routers required.
Spitfire managedWAN is set up on
Spitfire’s core network, so simple
routers can be used and no on-site
VPN expertise is required.
6. Flexible IP access.
Spitfire MPLS
is compatible with a wide variety of
circuits including Fibre, EFM and GEA
Ethernet, SDSL M, Annex M, VDSL &
ADSL2+. Each site can use the circuit
that best suits their needs.
7. Managed Internet Access.
A centralised secure firewall allows
shared internet access across multiple
sites, reducing costs and increasing
control.
8. Improved business continuity.
All sites connect to the MPLS and
Internet independently, so none
are reliant on the other unlike with
traditional point-to-point circuits. In
addition, each site can have multiple
connections for resilience, e.g. Ethernet
as the primary connection with a free
Broadband back-up.
9. Remote VPN support.
The solution
supports remote access via IPSec VPN.
This is useful both for home/remote
workers and for allowing access from
sites with non-Spitfire circuits e.g.
overseas offices.
