Metro Ethernet for Multi Location Businesses

Metro Ethernet is a rapidly growing way of obtaining cost effective bandwidth for your company.  Metro Ethernet as an alternative to Ethernet over Cooper and is being driven by industry trends including decentralized IT and cloud computing deployments.  As a result Metro Ethernet provides High Bandwidth at an Affordable Price for multi location businesses.

Questions to ask about Metro Ethernet for Multi Location Businesses

There are a variety of considerations when deploying Metro Ethernet for a multi location business: 

• Is this a multi location business and what are the traffic patterns between locations? 
• Does each location need internet connectivity? 
• Do you need cloud services at each location? 
• How may cloud service providers per location? 

Deployment Options for Metro Ethernet at Multiple locations 

If most branches connect only with headquarters, the appropriate connectivity for each branch may be to use an EPL connection.  Metro Ethernet is available as a point-to-point Ethernet private line (EPL).  Point-to-multipoint E-LAN service  Either service can be offed as a port-based offering or virtual service that enables multiple virtual connections to be configured over a single port. 

If individual branches exchange a considerable amount of traffic directly with one another, it may be more appropriate to use an E-LAN service. Here too, a virtualized service would be appropriate for Metro Ethernet if individual locations also need connectivity outside the corporate network, such as to the Internet or a cloud service provider.

If individual locations also need to connect to the Internet or to a cloud service provider, it is prudent to consider using virtual circuits to headquarters and to the Internet and/or cloud providers.

Cloud service providers often are located in some of the most popular colocation facilities.  These facilities typically have multiple service providers also collocated there.

Other Considerations from Metro Ethernet

Cable companies often are among those providers because their geographic diversity has strong appeal for cloud providers and the companies that use cloud services and require Metro Ethernet. 

Companies with locations in multiple metro markets, that may limit the pool of service providers from which to choose, as some service providers — including some cable companies, offer Metro Ethernet service only within individual metro markets. 

There are a variety of considerations for companies deploying Metro Ethernet for Multi Location companies.  If you are migrating from legacy internet contact your Metro Ethernet specialist for an assessment of options.