In a digital-first world the cost of network downtime for your business or organization is greater than ever. Gartner famously calculated in 2014 that the cost of network downtime to your business was an average of $5,600 per minute or $336K for one hour lost.
Two years later the Ponemon Institute calculated downtime costs rising to $8,851 per minute. How bad can it get? Consider that one-third of enterprises say it costs them an average of $1 million to $5 million per hour of downtime.
Fortunately, businesses can protect themselves from downtime with Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) solutions based on ethernet data ring networks.
Data Ring Networks Based on Built-In Redundancy
Data ring networks not only help protect businesses from costly downtime with built-in redundancy, but they are an effective and efficient network solution for schools, hospitals, government organizations and businesses.
Ethernet-based data ring networks provide a secure and seamless connection across multiple locations while handling bandwidth, performance and end-point needs. Utilizing a data ring network not only takes care of current needs but is a great way to anticipate future needs as they are highly scalable.
When your network provider, such as PS Lightwave, provides an all-fiber optic footprint then you can consolidate network access facilities for multiple locations connecting them with:
- Each other
- Wide Area Network (WAN)
- Internet
- Data centers
- Common carriers
A high-speed ring network can link enterprise offices to the WAN and carrier facilities without separate access connections in each building. This consolidation of traditional transport access infrastructure helps reduce overall network access costs.
How a Data Ring Network Works
Data ring networks are based on a wired ring topology where all nodes are connected. A topology is how a network communicates with different devices. Other types of computer topology include:
- Bus topology
- Star topology
- Mesh topology
- Tree topology
Since ring topology does not have a central wiring point that all data must pass through, such as a star topology, it does not have a “single point of failure” where a single switch or hub could take down an entire network.
Data ring networks use fiber to move data in MAN. The benefits of this set-up include:
- Businesses can handle multiple voice and data applications on a single, reliable network.
- Local Area Networks (LANs) can be extended across multiple buildings and locations.
A typical ring network design includes nodes, ports and fiber. Nodes provide connectivity to the ring at each separate location.
In metro ethernet layer 2 data ring configurations, many rings are interconnected, typically 20 to 40, to build the network architecture and ensure redundancy.
PS Lightwave: 50 to 60 Data Rings in Houston Area Network
PS Lightwave understands how costly service disruptions can be to your business or organization, so we deploy 1,800 switches and 50 to 60 data rings in our all fiber-optic Houston metro area network.
The multiple data rings ensure switched fabric through a diverse path for customers, so even if there is a break in the data pathway between nodes or a damaged fiber, information is still transmitted without interruptions.
In the event a problem occurs, customers may not even notice as the data ring network is typically fully operational with less than 100 milliseconds of loss.
This core network layer 2 environment features greater connectivity, lower latency (less than 2-millisecond), and minimal hops over the 5,500 miles of fiber route in the Houston area.
Contact PS Lightwave today to find out how we can keep you connected around the clock in Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers, Waller, Montgomery, and Fort Bend counties.
