All of DCL's portable protocol software is designed within the same architecture and using the same development tools and common libraries. This ensures that combinations of products can be used in a single device or application, and minimizes the integration cost, risk, and development time.
The individual products are available as pre-integrated control plane solutions for a wide range of applications and devices, including
- Enterprise Routers and Firewalls
- Edge Routers
- Multi-service Switches and Routers
- Optical ADM and Cross-connects
- ATM Switches.
Data Connection's portable protocol software can be readily integrated with any operating system and underlying hardware, as well as custom user applications, third-party components, and legacy systems. It is available pre-integrated with third-party management, transport and data plane components for a complete out-of-the-box solution. Click here for details on Component Integration. These components can also be integrated with third-party software. Please see our Partners pages for more details.
Enterprise Routers and Firewalls
Enterprise routers incorporate a selection of IP Routing protocols, including OSPF, RIP and BGP, along with static routes. There is also a requirement to leak routes between the protocols.
Multiprotocol IP Routers
All of Data Connection's IP Routing product family (DC-BGP, DC-ISIS and DC-OSPF) share a common Routing Table Manager (DC-RTM), which maintains a master routing table and controls the leaking of routes between the protocols.
For further information, see IP Routing Architecture.
Edge Routers
Edge Routers combine all of the function of an Enterprise router (described above), with
- more extensive inter-domain routing including IS-IS
- MPLS to signal paths across the network core
- virtual router capabilities with VPN services
- scalability
- redundant architecture for high availability.
MPLS-enabled Routing
Data Connection's Route Selection Manager (DC-RSM) mediates between DC-MPLS and DC-OSPF or DC-ISIS to allow RSVP to determine the CSPF route through the networks. This provides a fully functional IP/MPLS control plane for core, optical and edge routers.
Virtual Routers
Increasingly, Service Providers wish to provide a different view of the network to each customer (a VPN). This can be securely and effectively achieved by providing virtual routers for each customer. Data Connection's N-BASE architecture enables efficient use of multiple instances of products or of individual components, and this provides natural support for virtual routers.
BGP/MPLS RFC2547 VPNs
DC-VPN Manager provides label space management for RFC2547bis VPNs. It integrates with DC-BGP and DC-MPLS to provide a complete RFC2547bis control plane.
For further details, please see VPN Solutions or DC-VPN Manager.
Scalability
Data Connection's IP Routing and MPLS software is designed for massively scaled systems. This is achieved by
- distributing processor intensive operations to the line cards
- allowing multiple component instances to load-share on multi-processor systems
- using balanced trees and other efficient indexing of control blocks, with no hard coded limits.
Redundant Architecture for High Availability
Data Connection's IP Routing and MPLS software is designed to support systems that require carrier-class availability. Its features can allow data forwarding to be unaffected and MPLS signaling only affected minimally by failure of software or hardware. The software achieves this by
- replicating state and configuration information to a hot standby, which can quickly take over in case of failure of the primary
- distributing components between cards, to allow processing to continue on failure of one or more cards, while the failed components are restarted.
For further details, please see High Availability Framework.
Multi-service Switches and Routers
Multi-Service Switches combine IP Edge Router functionality (described above) with ATM, Frame Relay, Ethernet and other layer 2 access methods to provide a single converged access device for next generation converged networks.
ATM Services
Data Connection is the leading supplier of ATM signaling. DC-ATM provides a complete ATM source code solution. The suite includes an entire range of fully fault-tolerant and fully distributable portable ATM software, including UNI, PNNI, IPoA and ILMI.
For further details, please see DC-ATM.
VPLS Services
VPLS Services provide private layer 2 VLAN across the MPLS core, suitable for the provision of Ethernet service between multiple sites. DC-LDP fully supports the signaling required to control VPLS and the underlying mesh of tunnels.
For further details, please see VPLS Solutions.
VPWS Services
VPWS Services provide private layer 2 links across the MPLS core, suitable for the provision of ATM, Frame Relay and Ethernet links between customer sites. DC-LDP fully supports the signaling required to control VPWS and the underlying mesh of tunnels.
For further details, please see VPWS Solutions.
Optical ADM and OCX
Optical multiplexes and cross-connects access to and interconnection between the next generation networks based on optical ring technology. They combine IP routing and MPLS with optical extensions to control light paths across the network.
OIF UNI-C, UNI-N and NNI Solutions
Data Connection provides a fully integrated optical control plane encompassing DC-MPLS with UNI and NNI extensions, and DC-OSPF with DDRP extensions. Interaction between these products is achieved using Data Connection's Route Selection Manager (DC-RSM) and includes
- support for the RSVP flavor of the UNI signaling protocol
- extensions to the TE-MIB interface to support UNI connection establishment.
A single instance of the DC-MPLS stack can provide UNI-C, UNI-N, NNI, MPLS and GMPLS functionality simultaneously.
For further details see Data Connection's Optical Expertise.
ATM Switches
Data Connection is the leading supplier of ATM signaling. DC-ATM provides a complete ATM source code solution. The suite includes an entire range of fully fault-tolerant and fully distributable portable ATM software, including UNI, PNNI, IPoA and ILMI.
For further details, please see DC-ATM.
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