In fact, Carrier Ethernet essentially encompasses the deterministic and other
service delivery aspects for standardized Ethernet services. This point is key because it
highlights the focus on standardized Ethernet services and the specific characteristics
of such services and not necessarily the underlying transport infrastructure itself. So
what is Carrier Ethernet?
Carrier Ethernet: A Formal Definition
The MEF1 has defined Carrier Ethernet as the ???ubiquitous, standardized, Carrier-class
service defined by five attributes that distinguish Carrier Ethernet from the familiar
LAN based Ethernet.??? As depicted in Figure 2.1, these five attributes, in no particular
order, are
1. Standardized services
2. Scalability
3. Reliability
4. Quality of Service (QoS)
5. Service management
Carrier Ethernet essentially augments traditional Ethernet, optimized for LAN deployment,
with Carrier-class capabilities which make it optimal for deployment in Service
Provider Access/Metro Area Networks and beyond, to the Wide Area Network. And conversely,
from an end-user (enterprise) standpoint, Carrier Ethernet is a service that not
only provides a standard Ethernet (or for that matter, a standardized non-Ethernet2)
handoff but also provides the robustness, deterministic performance, management, and
flexibility expected of Carrier-class services.
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