The MEF has defined Carrier Ethernet as the
“ubiquitous, standardized, Carrier-class service
defined by five attributes that distinguish
Carrier Ethernet from the familiar LAN based
Ethernet.”
These five attributes, in no particular order, are:
Standardized services
Scalability
Reliability
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Service management
Local Area Network
Usually less than 1–2 km; deployed in building(s) and small campuses
Enterprise (IT group); implemented by internal IT group.
the tens/hundreds nodes/end points 10M/100M/1000M
Enterprise data applications
Over coax (CAT 5) and fiber; Best effort
Service Provider Network
10–100 km and longer; deployed in a metro area or even across distant metro areas
Service Provider (Carrier typically); services offered commercially for an initial and recurring cost
thousands or tens/hundreds of thousands 1M and greater—up to 10,000M; usually in granular increments of 1M Aggregation required
Voice/ TDM and data connectivity applications such as Internet Access, intrametro connectivity
Over a host of media, incumbent transport technologies, and with an associated servicelevel agreement (SLA)