Service providers can share MPLS VPN traffic data with customers, company claims, and boost the value of their VPN offerings.

[October 28, 2008]

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Packet Design announced last week the ability for service providers to give their MPLS VPN (Multi-protocol Label Switching-Virtual Private Network) customers an in- depth look at traffic usage on their VPN networks, enabling them to better assess traffic trends, identify top users and plan for network growth, has been introduced by Packet Design, Inc.

The VPN Traffic Customer Reporting Module is a software option for Packet Design's VPN Traffic Explorer, introduced in early 2008 as the first network management system to give service providers network-wide visibility into MPLS-VPN traffic by customer. With VPN Traffic Explorer, providers gained the ability to visualize individual customer VPN topologies overlaid on their network, monitor site-to-site reachability, and view traffic by customer and class of service (CoS) across their entire network, improving VPN service quality and reliability. With the new module, they can now share detailed VPN traffic information with customers through existing customer portals or via reports.

The Customer Reporting Module allows data to be extracted from VPN Traffic Explorer and delivered in provider- customized reports for individual VPN clients. Customers can view their VPN traffic data by WAN link, class of service, top traffic sources and destinations, and many other parameters. Service providers can leverage the reporting capability as a value-added differentiator for their service portfolios, while their sales teams can use them internally as business intelligence tools that can show when customers may be ready for service upgrades.

Regaining visibility into outsourced MPLS VPNs
Jeff Raice, Packet Design executive vice president of marketing and business development, said, "When enterprises contract with their service providers for MPLS VPN services, they not only give up management of their WAN networks, but they also lose visibility into traffic usage on their WAN. There's no way for them to understand traffic volumes by site, whether a traffic change reflects normal usage or points to an anomaly, or which users or applications consume the most bandwidth. This inhibits their ability to effectively plan for growth and change, or ensure that traffic levels within each CoS are as expected. The new Customer Reporting Module lets service providers deliver meaningful data to customers so they can see exactly how they're consuming network services, and know when they'll need to adjust and budget for additional services."

MPLS VPN usage data
By accessing the comprehensive data available from the VPN Traffic Customer Reporting Module, service providers can deliver daily, weekly and monthly traffic information to their customers, including:

• WAN link traffic reports: ingress and egress statistics for each VPN WAN;
• Site-to-site traffic reports: statistics on traffic loads between all WAN link pairs in the customer's network;
• CoS traffic reports: traffic breakdown by class of service, both overall and for each WAN link;
• "Top N" traffic reports: top talkers and listeners overall and per WAN link.

With the VPN Traffic Customer Reporting Module, the service provider can extract data from VPN Traffic Explorer via an XML API interface, and offer customized reports in their delivery method of choice—e.g., integrated into an existing customer portal or reports periodically e-mailed to their customers.

Pricing and availability
The Customer Reporting Module is available immediately as an option to the VPN Traffic Explorer. A $25,000 add-on license enables reporting for up to 100 MPLS VPN customers and includes a sample customer portal which service providers can use as a reference implementation to quickly integrate customer traffic reports into their own customer portal.

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