Wednesday, May 12, 2010 11:00am - 11:30am
Provider Backbone Bridging , a.k.a IEEE 802.1ak, is a tool which service providers can leverage to scale their networks. Unfortunately, there often are misconceptions associated with PBB and its applicability to Service Provider networks. It is often pitted against other technologies available in the industry such as MPLS/VPLS. Further, it’s common associated with Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) or Provider Backbone Bridging - Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE), causes many service providers to shy away from adopting it. However, PBB should be considered one of many tools which can be used to scale both native Ethernet and MPLS-based Ethernet networks in the service provider arena. It’s ability to scale both VLAN space and hide customer MAC addresses from the SP network lend it to application in several areas. This presentation will discuss how Service Providers can leverage PBB to better scale their Ethernet service networks.