Currently we have several OC3s that provide access to the internet. One of these OC3s is just too darn expensive so I have decided to move it to a 200Mb ethernet. This is the first Ethernet product that I am installing, mostly I have dealt with Serial circuits such as OC3s and OC12s. This has definitely been a new experience and an interesting one for me. Learning about how they bring the circuit in and getting to see the fiber build out for my area has been a worthwhile experience. Provided my tenure with this company is long having that knowledge will be invaluable for the future projects that I embark on.
Since I am saving money there is more than enough left over so that I can install a backup burst able ds3 with a 1Mb cir. I am pairing this with the provider over bgp to provide redundancy for my dmvpn stores. I also had the ds3 back hauled to San Francisco so that if I have a regional disaster our stores and other distribution center are not completely out of luck.
Both installs went remarkably well and we have achieved both redundancy and cost savings for only a little bit of my engineering time.
Breathe Underwater 