IP Convergence

Over the past several years, many protocols have competed for a dominant position among users, and the Internet Protocol (IP) is the winner. With the positive results of network effects (where more users create the need for more applications and services, which draws still more users, and so on), most companies have converted their networks to IP. Virtually all new networks and devices, from computers, to phones, to wristwatches, are compatible with IP.

IP has many benefits over other protocols, especially with the ability to transport non-IP protocols. This benefit helps companies still using legacy systems because it gives them the ability to fully convert to IP at a pace that makes sense for them.

Converting to IP can be a slow and expensive process, and many companies want to use IP to transport their information across a WAN but keep their legacy systems in place. Using IP as a third- party transport requires that the original data be modified in some way. IP uses a process called encapsulation to transport the data through point-to-point tunnels (tunneling).

Although all this movement toward convergence is good for IP, the huge increase of traffic on IP networks sometimes results in congestion, which can seriously affect the quality of time-sensitive information such as live voice data. IP’s ability to use quality of service (QoS) allows network administrators to prioritize certain types of traffic, which can be expedited through the network.

IP convergence can also address the issue of security IP uses a public network for long-haul transport of information, which means that companies risk their private information being eavesdropped or stolen. Security schemes such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) allow strong encryption so that if information is stolen, it is unreadable.

One of the biggest issues with maintaining separate networks is the staffing requirements for maintenance, upkeep, and after hours (on-call) personnel. By running separate networks, companies spread their support resources thin among competing interests such as IP, time-division multiplexing (TDM) voice, and other legacy systems such as Systems Network Architecture (SNA), AppleTalk, or other proprietary protocols. The choice then becomes hiring additional staff or overworking existing staff, risking burnout.

With IP convergence, you can train all IT staff on a single protocol and support a single converged network.

Managing multiple networks adds complexity and extra cost. Companies are working to converge as much network traffic as they can into single-protocol IP networks. The advantages to a converged network include the following:

• Reduced equipment costs and design complexity
• Reduced training
• More predictable traffic patterns and response times
• Singular quality of service (QoS) and availability strategy

The primary mechanism for converging traffic onto a common IP network involves tunneling. Simply put, IP tunneling is the process of putting one type of packet into an IP packet. The packet traverses the IP network to the IP destination, in which the receiving device extracts the original packet from the IP packet and then passes it onto the destination device on its native network. Examples of technologies that can tunnel through IP networks include the following:

• SNA (Systems Network Architecture)â€'Developed by IBM for IBM mainframes
• Telephonyâ€'Traditional voice traffic between phones
• Storageâ€'Protocols that allow servers to communicate with disk drives over a network

Because these technologies tunnel through IP networks, they benefit from IP services such as QoS and availability functions such as Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP). As a result, you can apply a single comprehensive strategy for prioritizing important traffic and handling network outages across application types.