Ottawa-based LINMOR Technologies Inc. has added a new product to its system of NEBULA Performance Monitors (PM), which will provide network service providers (NSPs) with detailed information on a Marconi Corp. switch.
The latest addition to LINMOR’s product offerings is a reporting module for Marconi’s ASX 4000 ATM switch, to ensure the quality of data services and monitor the switch’s performance in the network, according to the company.
Bogdan Materna, chief technology officer at LINMOR, noted that the company already provides reporting modules for other vendors, including Lucent, Nortel, Cisco, Alcatel, Juniper, PairGain, General DataComm and 3Com. This new module was introduced due to customer demand and marketing requirements, he said.
“They basically requested for us to support Marconi ASX 4000 switch,” he said. “At the same time, we see Marconi being a major vendor in this area.”
Todd Miller, an analyst with Boston-based The Yankee Group, said that it was important for LINMOR to launch this reporting module to round out its offerings.
“Marconi has been very popular in the carrier space. And the reporting feature – especially with ATM – is very important because of the load,” Miller said. “It’s an OC-48-rated switch, which is a very fast and large connection. It’s an immense amount of traffic that’s going on that and it’s increasingly important, as the bandwidth and the speed goes up, that you have very detailed and specific reporting for that.”
LINMOR’s Materna cited two benefits of using the NEBULA PM, the first being that users will be able to get the most from their networks.
“It provides information that any ISP will need to manage the performance of the network. So basically to improve on the original investment and to deliver quality of service to the end customers,” he said.
The second benefit is related to service level agreements (SLAs) and customer network management. Materna explained that in most cases, NSPs will sign an SLA with their customers. The NSPs will be able to provide reports generated from the NEBULA PM as proof that they are able to offer a certain level of performance, he said.
Miller agreed, and said that for carriers especially, reporting modules are significant for that very reason. Carriers have to be able to prove to their customers that they are offering a certain level of service in order to keep their customers happy, he said.
The LINMOR offering enhances the limited tools that Marconi gives the users when they buy the switch, Miller added. He explained that when switch vendors release products, their focus tends to be strictly on the switch itself and on the throughput. They don’t spend a lot of time building and enhancing reporting software. A reporting tool fills that gap for the user.
Last month, LINMOR made additional announcements regarding its NEBULA PM system, and said that it is offering a reporting module for Cisco’s DSL access multiplexers (DSLAMs) 6100 and 6400. As well, a reporting module for Cisco’s ONS 15454 Optical Transport Platform was introduced as a part of the NEBULA PM system, which the company said will provide NSPs with detailed, vendor-specific data on how data traffic is flowing through the platform. This latest announcement marked the first of LINMOR’s planned support for Cisco’s optical equipment, according to the company.
Pricing for the NEBULA PM is module-based, and varies depending on the sizes of the networks and the needs of customers. For more information, see the company on the Web at www.linmor.com.
