The Metro Ethernet Forum describes Service Management as one of the key features that characterises a Carrier Class Ethernet network. Up to now, the last mile has been something of a management blind spot. In order to redress that balance, Exponential-e now deploys a fully managed Ethernet Demarcation Device (EDD) on all our circuits as standard.

The EDD is a device that sits on the customer premise and allows us to deliver end-to-end Quality of Service on all of our circuits. It enables both the customer and Exponential-e to have full visibility of the circuit and monitor it 24/7. As a result, any faults that occur can be quickly located and fixed promptly before any disruption to daily activities occurs.

Exponential-e’s implementation of an Ethernet Demarcation Device also performs many leading edge functions that extend Next Generation features down to the customer premise. For instance, it can allow for different services to be presented on separate Ethernet ports whilst maintaining 100% separation of each Layer 2 service. This offers the perfect insulation of secure LAN to LAN traffic so that all traffic is separated from the public Internet.  The EDD can also perform per-vLAN bandwidth management, multiple QoS classifications and even execute Q-in-Q vLAN stacking.

Our standard deployment of Ethernet Demarcation Devices is helping Exponential-e to deliver true Carrier Class solutions supporting mission critical services.