Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

Lol! Do you really believe that a company the size of VM would peer at Telehouse with 2 x 10Mb links!!

VM has at least three peering points that I know of, One in Amsterdam, One in Manchester and 2 at Telehouse All running WAY higher than 10Mb -Nearer 10Gb

Their Access core which is strategically located in 16 sites around the country are Cisco 7609's and a few Juniper M320's with multiple 10Gbe aggregating onto a 40Gb/e Juniper T640 Transit Core.

I don't work for em, I used to contract for em but now work for the competition. But I am envious of their network...!!

This is pretty much as good as it gets! (WRT IP Cores in Europe at least!)

Rest well VM customers, I think your bandwidth requirements are more than adequatly covered for the next few years. :)

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

Back in 2001 when we were wiring up ex-C&W for broadband, it was 2x1Gb to each *site*, let alone when you got to the backbone. Bigger sites had more 1Gb feeds - there was a set ratio per number of UBRs.

Backbone is 10Gb and IIRC 40Gb in places, on Juniper kit. Big iron, big bandwidth. ntl did build their backbone to last.

21CN? Isn't that, um, 'borrowed' from our design, I heard?

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

That map is a bit out of date.

Believe BY migrated to mostly 10Gbit when they installed their GSR based network.

---------- Post added at 10:35 ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 ----------

Combination of Juniper and Cisco equipment, and a 'generic' design.

Decent networks of any size follow a pretty similar pattern, ISIS IGP, iBGP running on top, two rings with interconnects between the rings at each superPOP.

Industry standard best practise don't ya know ;)

It's a decent enough IP network though. Does it's job pretty well :)

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

Are there topology diagrams of all this stuff out there somewhere?

Academic curiosity, y'know...

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

happy days :D

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

So if they upgrade the main network does that mean they will have to upgrade ubr's

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

It is a (un-) well kept secret that VM are currently looking at their HFC plant and UBR's to see if it can support the DOCSIS upgrades required for 50-100mb to the home. IMO It's only a matter of time before they role out new CMTS's in areas that can cope.

As soon as they can suport DOCSIS 2/3+ then we will be loking at real progress in the home with possible IP STB's on the cards (ahem: I would imagine)


From what I can see most suppliers are years behind what they are doing at VM.

BTW: The 40Gig T640/Matrix core is already in place. It's been in a while now. Nearly 2 years?? I think it's just a case of migrating certain ex-TW areas over to it.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

Is this a TLA contest, or can anyone join in?

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

I always think it's a shame that Virgin have such a good core and access to reliable equipment but somehow manage to not be able to get the front end service to match. If you look at the self-install package that sky send out out it is very professional with a video (cartoon) installation helper that leaves nothing in doubt.

If they had gone with the mpeg4 V+ service specc'd to the max (with satellite stb's that can access the main hd on the master box) then Virgin would have had a service for DTV that would be streets ahead of sky and would be retaining customers.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

Are there topology diagrams of all this stuff out there somewhere?

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

No. most of the more detailed information above is sensitive and provided in confidence however the above is just the same as any major ISP with their own DWDM fibre core network. ;)

The closest you will proberbly get is the NW map...

http://www.ntltelewestbusiness.co.uk...48e&version=-1

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

It was still 2x1gig 2 years ago, no idea if they finally upgraded it now but one of those ports was regurly saturated.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

Hopefully they will replace all the old Cable & Wireless equipment.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

I wonder why if their network is so good, that I now get fantastic speeds at all times of the day from my 8 meg (actual 6.5) connection with BT (DSL) to ALL sites that I need, than I ever did with my NTL 10 meg connection ??

I could get my full 10 meg from UK sites back then(so no local congestion) but peering with the US or Amsterdam was atrocious, why was that so when the network is so good ??

As far as I'm concerned BT wipes the floor with NTL even though the speeds are (supposedly) slower and the network worse..

I don't understand all the technical guff, all I know is that when I was with NTL I had to suffer awful speeds to most non UK sites, and now I'm with BT I get full speed all the time everywhere I go.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network
 

Agree with IanUK and welcome back havent seen you for a while.

With NTL my experience was heavy congestion, some packet loss, horrible browsing due to proxies yet a very good local connection to ubr ie. it never dropped and was 10meg.

With adsl its almost the opposite, rarely congestion if any, stable pings, fast browsing but the line is unstable in that it loses synch and occasionally has too many errors causing packet loss.

If only we had the cable local loop infrastructure with BTs core network now that would be nice.