Verizon 5G goes live in three major sports and entertainment arenas

Enterprise Mobility, Mobile Infrastructure

Article | June 16, 2023

The promise of Open vRAN is to give back to mobile operators some form of control over their networks. The “open” refers to the opening of RAN interfaces. It is critical because it gives operators the possibility to buy the radio unit and the baseband unit from different vendors, rather than having to buy an integrated system, and therefore helps them diversify their suppliers and reduce their dependence on traditional vendors. The “v” refers to virtual. Virtualization is about disaggregating hardware and software and enabling the use of commercial off-the-shelf servers, instead of the usual purpose-built hardware, to run network functions in order to increase flexibility and reduce costs. Across Asia-Pacific, the announcements and activities from operators including Airtel, Axiata, NTT Docomo, Rakuten Mobile, Smartfren and Telkomsel indicate a growing appetite for open and virtualized radio access networks. In countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, open RAN can for example help to address the challenges of remote connectivity and to deploy a network in places where it has been traditionally difficult to achieve a satisfactory return on investment.

Wireless, 5G

Article | May 18, 2023

The Verizon 5G Business Internet rollout that started in parts of Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles continues this month in 21 new markets with more on the way, the company announced Thursday. Verizon Business is marketing fixed-wireless connectivity as an alternative to cable for enterprise and small to midsize customers. In a press release, Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business, said, "As 5G Business Internet scales into new cities, businesses of all sizes can gain access to the superfast speeds, low latency and next-gen applications enabled by 5G Ultra Wideband, with no throttling or data limits."

5G

Article | September 28, 2023

Discover key network performance metrics to enhance user experience. Explore in-depth latency, throughput, jitter, packet loss, VOIP quality, and MOS score to optimize network performance analysis. Contents 1. Importance of Network Performance Metrics for Performance Analysis 2. Critical Key Network Performance Metrics to Monitor 2.1 Latency 2.2 Throughput 2.3 Jitter 2.4 Packet Loss 2.5 VOIP Qualiy 2.6 MOS Score 3. Steps to Monitor and Measure Network Performance 4. Significance of Monitoring Metrics in Network Troubleshooting 4.1 Provides Network Visibility 4.2 Prevents Network Downtime 4.3 Observe Bandwidth Usage 5. Overcome Monitoring Challenges in Network Performance Metrics 6. Key Takeaway 1. Importance of Network Performance Metrics for Performance Analysis Network performance involves analyzing and evaluating network statistics to determine the quality of services provided by the underlying computer network. Considering various key network metrics, it is primarily measured from the end-users’ perspective. Measuring these metrics, analyzing performance data over time, and understanding the impact on the end-user experience is essential to assess network performance. Measuring network performance requires considering factors such as the location and timing of measurements. For instance, network performance may differ when comparing paths between cities or during periods of varying user demands throughout the day. Therefore, a comprehensive approach to monitoring network performance involves identifying these variables and identifying areas for improvement. Network performance metrics offer valuable insights into any network infrastructure and services. These metrics provide real-time information on potential issues, outages, and errors, allowing one to allocate IT resources efficiently. Understanding end-user demands can create an adaptive network to meet future business needs. However, comprehensive monitoring requires an advanced network monitoring tool to gather, analyze, and interpret data effectively, optimizing network performance. Leveraging relevant metrics can improve network performance, help make informed decisions, enhance network reliability, and deliver a superior user experience. 2. Critical Key Network Performance Metrics to Monitor 2.1 Latency Latency, or network delay, is a crucial performance metric in network monitoring and management. It quantifies the time required to transmit data between destinations. Factors like packet queuing and fiber optic cabling affect network latency. Consistent delays or sudden spikes in latency indicate significant network performance issues. Monitoring and minimizing latency are essential for ensuring optimal network performance. By actively tracking latency, organizations identify and address issues that may cause delays in data transmission, thereby improving overall network responsiveness and minimizing disruptions for end-users. 2.2 Throughput Throughput metrics for network monitoring enable measurement of the data transmission rate across various network segments. Unlike bandwidth, which represents the theoretical data transfer limit, throughput reflects the successful delivery of data packets to their destination. Variations in throughput can occur across different network areas. A low throughput indicates the presence of dropped packets requiring retransmission, and highlights potential performance issues that need attention. Monitoring throughput is crucial for effective network management. By monitoring this performance metric, organizations can gain insights into the actual data transmission rate, ensuring that it aligns with expected levels. 2.3 Jitter Jitter, a key performance metric in network monitoring, refers to the variation in delay between packets, measured as the difference between expected and actual arrival times. It results due to network congestion, routing issues, or other factors, leading to packet loss and degraded application performance. Jitter disrupts the standard sequencing of data packets and can arise due to network congestion or route changes. Monitoring jitter is crucial for identifying and addressing network stability issues and ensuring reliable data transmission. By actively monitoring this performance metric, organizations can address variations in packet delay, mitigating issues that leads to packet loss and enabling proactive troubleshooting. 2.4 Packet Loss Packet loss, a performance management network monitoring metric, represents the number of data packets lost during transmission. It directly affects end-user services, leading to unfulfilled data requests and potential disruptions. Packet loss can arise from various factors, including software problems, network congestion, or router performance issues. Monitoring the entire process precisely to detect and address packet loss, ensures reliable data transmission and optimal network performance. Monitoring packet loss with the right network monitoring software enables timely troubleshooting and optimization of network infrastructure, ultimately enhancing overall network reliability and performance. 2.5 VOIP Quality VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) quality is a crucial network performance metric. It refers to the overall performance of a VoIP system in delivering clear and reliable voice communications over the Internet, replacing traditional phone lines. Factors influencing VoIP quality include network bandwidth, latency, packet loss, jitter, and the quality of end-user devices. Monitoring VoIP quality ensures optimal system functionality and high-quality voice communications. Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as mean opinion score (MOS), jitter, latency, packet loss, and call completion rates are utilized to assess and optimize VoIP quality. 2.6 MOS Score Mean opinion score (MOS) is a vital performance metric in network monitoring, rating the perceived quality of a voice call on a scale of 1 to 5. It is a standardized measurement developed by the ITU, an international agency focused on enhancing communication networks. Initially designed for traditional voice calls, the MOS has been adapted to evaluate Voice over IP (VoIP) calls. The MOS score considers various factors, including the specific codec employed for the VoIP call, providing a comprehensive assessment of voice calls quality in network monitoring. 3. Steps to Monitor and Measure Network Performance Step 1: Deploy a Software for Network Monitoring To effectively measure network performance, deploying dedicated network monitoring software is crucial. While temporary tools like traceroutes and pings can provide insights into ongoing problems, they are insufficient for troubleshooting intermittent network issues. Relying on periodic tools for intermittent issues is reliant on chance, as it may only detect problems when they occur during tool usage. By implementing comprehensive network monitoring software, one can proactively monitor and analyze network metrics, historical data, and performance, allowing for timely detection and resolution of both ongoing and intermittent network issues. Step 2: Distribute Monitoring Agents For comprehensive network performance measurement, businesses must distribute monitoring agents strategically across key network locations. These specialized software agents continuously monitor network performance using synthetic traffic, simulating and assessing the end-user perspective. By distributing Monitoring Agents, organizations can: • Measure key network metrics, including jitter, packet loss, and throughput. • Identify and troubleshoot intermittent network issues that are challenging to pinpoint. • Receive alerts regarding any performance degradation, ensuring a timely response. • Collect valuable data for in-depth troubleshooting and analysis, facilitating proactive network management and optimization. Step 3: Measure Network Metrics After deploying the monitoring agents, they continuously exchange synthetic User Datagram Protocol (UDP) traffic, forming a network monitoring session. During this session, the agents measure network performance by evaluating key metrics and conducting network traffic analysis. The metrics used in the analysis include specific parameters, and the results of these measurements are presented in a network response time graph, providing a visual representation of the network's performance characteristics. Monitoring and analyzing these metrics enable organizations to gain valuable insights into network performance, facilitating informed decision-making and convenient network performance troubleshooting. 4. Significance of Monitoring Metrics in Network Troubleshooting 4.1 Provide Network Visibility Monitoring metrics plays a vital role in network troubleshooting by offering network visibility. They enable the identification of performance bottlenecks, configuration problems, and security vulnerabilities that detrimentally affects network performance. These issues can be addressed through targeted troubleshooting efforts, resulting in improved network performance and enhanced end-user experience. Organizations identify and resolve network issues by monitoring metrics, ensuring optimal network functionality and overall business productivity. 4.2 Prevent Network Downtime Effective monitoring metrics are instrumental in preventing network downtime, a costly concern for businesses. Swift identification and resolution of network issues through proactive network performance troubleshooting help minimize downtime, ensuring uninterrupted business operations. By promptly addressing potential problems, network troubleshooting safeguards against lost productivity, revenue, and customer dissatisfaction. Maintaining a proactive approach to monitoring and resolving network issues to enhance network reliability and business continuity. 4.3 Observe Bandwidth Usage Monitoring metrics are essential in network troubleshooting as they enable the observation of bandwidth usage. This allows organizations to detect abnormal or excessive utilization, pinpoint key performance issues and ensure optimal resource allocation. It allows for identifying critical bandwidth-hogging applications or network intrusions, helping experts take immediate action to mitigate risks, safeguard data, and protect the overall network integrity. Additionally, experts can optimize network performance and ensure a seamless user experience for organizations relying on efficient network infrastructure. 5. Overcome Monitoring Challenges in Network Performance Metrics Enterprises seeking to ensure optimal network performance and improve overall business operations must overcome network monitoring obstacles. Effectively monitoring, tracking, and improving network performance requires a strategic combination of skilled personnel, advanced technologies, and well-defined strategies. Failing to address these requirements results in various challenges that hinder the ability to enhance network performance effectively. The challenges that businesses often encounter include managing scalability, handling massive data volumes, achieving real-time monitoring, dealing with multi-vendor environments, addressing network security and privacy concerns, and adapting to evolving network demands. Each obstacle presents unique complexities that require tailored approaches and expert insights. To overcome these challenges, enterprises must invest in comprehensive monitoring tools capable of handling the scalability demands of growing networks. These tools should provide real-time network visibility, robust analytics capabilities, and intelligent data filtering mechanisms to extract meaningful insights from vast network data. Establishing clear monitoring objectives aligned with business goals and defining key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential in effectively addressing network performance challenges. 6. Key Takeaway Monitoring network performance metrics is crucial for assessing the quality of services a computer network provides from an end-user perspective. It involves continuously tracking and analyzing key metrics such as latency, throughput, jitter, packet loss, VOIP quality, and MOS score. Organizations can actively monitor and assess performance, proactively identify intermittent issues, and collect valuable data for in-depth analysis by implementing dedicated network monitoring software and strategically deploying monitoring agents across the network. In addition, it is imperative to emphasize the significance of monitoring metrics in mitigating the potential financial impact of network downtime, enhancing the utilization of available bandwidth resources, and efficiently tackling the complexities inherent in scaling operations, real-time monitoring, diverse vendor ecosystems, security concerns, and the ever-evolving requirements of modern networks.

Article | April 16, 2020

GlobalConnect and Versa Networks entered into a SD-WAN partnership last year. Under the terms of the collaboration, Versa’s Secure Cloud IP architecture, which is a next-generation software platform that delivers integrated cloud, networking and security services, accelerated the productivity of GlobalConnect’s 18,000sqm of data centre space and more than 42,000km of optical fibre network. “With the Versa Networks partnership, GlobalConnect aims to efficiently and securely manage more features with a higher level of flexibility,” said Sebastian Vad Lorentzen, head of SD-WAN engineering at GlobalConnect.