Telephony • September 11, 2000 • www.internetferent types of equipment supporting these two types of service have little in common, including their amperage requirements.. Keeping up wit
Trang 1Telephony • September 11, 2000 • www.internet
With so much growth and change taking
place, and given the complications of
build-ing a network, it’s not surprisbuild-ing that service
providers seek simplicity wherever they can
find it And with so many changing
technolo-gies to consider, industry players might
mis-takenly relegate powering equipment to the
“no-brainer” category
The truth is, without thorough planning,
power easily can become the weak link in the
chain of devices needed for successful service
delivery Providers that simply replicate old
powering formulas in a new environment,
leave powering decisions to vendors or put
off consideration of power issues until the
last minute could be placing themselves, their
networks and even their market shares and
revenue streams at risk
In business, even seemingly minor
tech-nical decisions can have larger implications
The question isn’t just, “How does this com-ponent function in a network?” but also,
“How does it affect our profitability?” The reason is that even a profitable operation can
be vulnerable to competitive pressure from more profitable players, and telecommunica-tions markets are nothing if not competitive
The more profitable competitor is freer to cut prices to gain market share or to use prof-its to fund growth and innovation Over time, even small differences in profitability are multiplied That’s why every decision should include considerations of long-term financial impact, in terms of controlling cost and in-creasing revenue
The impact of power
The next time you think of disregarding power as a critical issue in network design, think about the last time your lights went out
Power is a show-stopper Without it, systems don’t operate When it malfunctions, it can damage other equipment, start fires or injure people For myriad reasons, power is not the place to cut corners Unfortunately, many ser-vice providers could be cutting corners with-out even realizing it
Service providers should take the time to examine policies and procedures They should make appropriate choices now, codify them as purchasing specifications and opera-tional rules, and follow them Then they can rest assured that they are not going to be blindsided by disaster or “nibbled to death”
by small recurrent problems that could have been prevented by incorporating the appro-priate power solution into the network
In today’s deregulated markets, an in-creasing number of service providers are de-livering both voice and data services The
dif-bedfellows
As deregulation’s effects broaden, ILECs and CLECs are finding themselves in increasingly close quarters
Strange
byDAVIDSCHOMAKER
I f, in this political season, you are reminded that politics makes strange bedfellows, consider that deregulation
makes even stranger ones Not only are voice and data converging, but, in the process, incumbent and compet-itive carriers are literally becoming roommates, sharing facilities in central offices and remote locations as mandated by the FCC It may not be a match made in heaven, but it is part of a market explosion that could be rewarding for all involved.
Trang 2Telephony • September 11, 2000 • www.internet
ferent types of equipment supporting these
two types of service have little in common,
including their amperage requirements
Telephony gear typically has required
GMT fuses with capacities of up to 15 A Data
gear such as routers, DSL access multiplexers
and DSL interfaces are more likely to use
KLM fuses (up to 30 A) or even TPA fuses (up
to 50 A) or panels housing high-amperage
circuit breakers
Then there’s the matter of shared
facili-ties Deregulation requires incumbent local
exchange carriers (ILECs) to lease certain
areas of their facilities to competitive local
exchange carriers (CLECs) As hosts, ILECs
are setting strict rules governing the shared
facilities; as guests—and to protect their
continued access to the shared facilities—
CLECs would do well to follow those rules to
the letter
Competition already has been mentioned,
but it is worth repeating Consider the ease
with which customers can change service
providers If a service provider disappoints
them, they can be gone before the provider
even knows that there’s a problem
Con-versely, if a competitor disappoints them, the
incumbent can win their business just as
quickly To gain and retain customers, service providers must be able to deliver new ser-vices quickly and keep them running, come what may
Finally, there’s the labor market: It’s tight
Support personnel are hard to find and ex-pensive to hire Service providers might even have to settle for less experienced people
Keeping up with a growing workload simply costs more; getting by on the old budget could impact service and reduce revenue
There’s only one way out of the squeeze:
Providers should do anything to eliminate, speed up or simplify work on their networks
It will save money and protect their earnings
Start with standards
Components installed in complex networks face all sorts of challenges, from heat and hu-midity to earthquakes There’s no way a net-work builder could identify them all, let alone evaluate equipment for performance under all circumstances That’s why panels of seasoned experts develop standards Using equipment that complies with standards will reduce risk
But for CLECs, there’s another reason to go with standard-compliant systems ILECs de-mand compliance from any equipment
in-stalled on their premises and their networks The most critical standard is Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS)
Level 3 (Table 1) Full compliance with this
strict standard can only be guaranteed through independent testing Vendors that may not be able to meet the stringent re-quirements of independent testers may do their own testing or simply describe compo-nents as being “manufactured to NEBS standards.”
The only way for service providers to pro-tect themselves is to demand independently tested NEBS 3 compliance, as the ILECs do Other standards relevant to power systems include: UL, NEC (written by the National Fire Protection Agency), Telcordia (formerly Bellcore) approval, CSA (Canadian Standards Association) guidelines, the CE (Conformité Européenne) mark for installation within the European Union, and IEC standards (written
by a worldwide body governing public net-work equipment)
A step beyond standards
Important as it is, independent NEBS 3
test-Table 1 NEBS criteria levels
System fire test and Plastics = 94 V-0 or better
materials/components Components = Agency approved Same Same
Electrical safety GR-1089 Same Same
Listing requirements UL, CSA or ETL Same Same
Bonding and grounding GR-1089 Same Same
EMC/EMI FCC Part 15, CISPR 22 FCC Part 15, CISPR 22 FCC Part 15, CISPR 22
(emissions) (emissions and immunity) Emissions and Immunity
with doors open Short circuit Tip to ring for 30 minutes Same Same
Lightning immunity 5 KVAC, 2 milliseconds 2.5 KVAC, 10 milliseconds Same as level 2
Current limiting Specify protection device
as required Same Same
AC power fault 600 VAC, 15 minutes 1000 VAC, 300 sec Same as level 2
Voltage limiting Specify protection device
as required Same Same Thermal operation 5 to 40 C -5 to 55 C, 5% to 90%
10% to 85% relative humidity relative humidity (operating) Storage and transportation -40 to 70 C, Drop and
transportation vibration Earthquake Zone 2 Zone 4
Office vibration GR-63 Same
ESD Operation/install/repair Same
Airborne contaminantes Indoor Outdoor
Steady state power induction GR-1089 GR-1089
Source:ADC
Trang 3ing checks only a hand-picked product
sample provided by the manufacturer To
en-sure the same level of performance in the
de-vices a service provider installs, the carrier
must put faith in the consistency of the
man-ufacturing process
Service providers could monitor the
capa-bilities of the vendor it is considering, but
there is an easier way They should insist on
ISO 9001 certification This is an assurance of
quality and consistency in the process and,
consequently, in the product
And in the manufacturing process,
quan-tity is just as important as quality All
net-work managers believe in planning ahead,
but in fast-moving markets, that’s often
im-possible For example, a service provider
re-ceives a large service order and discovers that
its power systems vendor can’t meet the
deadline The carrier could apologize to the
customer and hope that they’ll stick around
But even if the provider retains the customer,
it still loses revenue while it waits
A service provider also could look around
for another vendor willing and able to meet its
schedule, but then the carrier runs two risks
First, it may have to compromise on quality
Second, as soon as it starts mixing equipment
types in the network, it increases training
load and risks installation and repair
slow-downs The service provider also increases
the likelihood of errors To avoid these
prob-lems—not to mention the higher overhead
cost of dealing with multiple vendors—
providers should make sure the vendor has a
large, flexible manufacturing capacity
Finally, the equipment
In a data/telephony installation, with its mix
of high and low amperage, it makes sense to
use equipment that supports the same mix,
preferably within a single panel (Figure 1).
Otherwise, a service provider could end up
configuring too many partially populated
shelves, driving up space requirements and
equipment costs Space itself is costly and,
therefore, a major concern for any carrier But
it is especially important to CLECs working within the limited space allocated by the host ILEC
Of course, installation density is always an issue, whether in a multi-amperage or single-amperage installation Take secondary power distribution, for instance Start by examining overall panel design for compactness Then look at the effect on installation density of various mixes of high and low amperage The ability to mix varying amperages in one panel will save space
It’s important not to be limited to the few specific configurations in a manufacturer’s catalog Service providers should ask about the vendor’s ability to provide configura-tions in the future Some vendors may be willing to meet requirements, but only at significant cost and with extremely long lead times Carriers should consider these
“red flags.” Service providers with limited space probably have limited time and money, too These providers could benefit from a vendor with “mass customization”
capability Typically built into the product design, mass customization allows fast and easy factory tailoring in a universal platform
with minimal impact on cost or lead time Finally, carriers should look for high relia-bility and long life Downtime and repairs can
be expensive, both in personnel costs and customer satisfaction And premature re-placement of failed equipment is even worse
No one knows the future, but there is some-one who knows the power compsome-onents than providers do: the manufacturer
Manufacturers test their products and re-veal their product quality in the type of war-ranty they offer If the warwar-ranty is short—say three to five years—expect failures and the associated costs to rise sometime after expi-ration Look for lifetime warranties; they do exist
The bottom line
Power is never a no-brainer Power systems
do the “heavy lifting” for a network They are subjected to a lot of stress, and they take down circuits—and sometimes entire net-works—if they fail
The good news is that the path around the pitfalls is clearly marked Service providers should look for standards and certifications such as NEBS 3 and ISO 9001 They should ask about lead times, not just for standard products but for special configurations Carriers need to closely consider cost but not just product cost They should add in
“real estate” costs, replacement costs and costs of support and lost revenue in the event
of failure or delayed delivery They should be conservative in these calculations; it doesn’t take much to wipe out the small savings on cheap equipment
And finally, service providers should be demanding They have a right to expect a lot
It takes every bit of extra profit to stay on top It’s a jungle out there, and if there’s one thing the big cats understand, it’s power.■
David Schomaker is the Senior Product Manager for PowerWorx products for ADC’s Broadband Connectivity Group, in Minneapolis His e-mail address is David_Schomaker@adc.com.
DC fuse panel
Splitter DSLAM Aggregation router
Loop management system
Source: ADC
Figure 1 Varying Amp Equipment
Reprinted with permission from the September 11, 2000 issue of Telephony ®
Copyright 2000, Intertec Publishing, A PRIMEDIA Company, Overland Park, KS All rights reserved.