Each of the Carrier Ethernet solutions and its respective evolution toward optimizing
delivery in Service Provider networks is discussed in a fair amount of detail in
Part II of the book.
Carrier Ethernet: The Attributes
The five attributes that define Carrier Ethernet essentially provide the additional capabilities
necessary to use Ethernet in much the same way as the other preceding
service provider technologies such as ATM and Frame Relay.7 Each of these attributes
is elaborated upon and its rationale highlighted in the sections that follow.
4 A Network Operator is distinguished from a Service Provider by the fact that the former??™s infrastructure
is employed in the delivery of Carrier Ethernet services; however, the service itself is commercially offered
to the customers (usually on a subscription basis) by the Service Provider. Service Provider often lease
infrastructure from network operators to deliver services.
5 More accurately, as will be evident in Part II, the solutions strive to offer the attributes of Carrier Ethernet.
6 Because at these lower layers inherently address only a subset of the higher-level service.
7 Especially helpful today because Ethernet is largely being used as a substitute for Frame Relay and ATM.
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