Dedicated Internet Access

w h i t e p a p e r

Dedicated

Contents

FPL FiberNet Overview 1 FPL FiberNet History 1 Network Overview 1 Network Architecture 2 Network Operations 3

Dedicated Internet Access 3

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 10

FPL FiberNet Overview

FPL FiberNet delivers award-winning wholesale and enterprise telecommunication services with its extensive long-haul and metro fiber-optic networks. Our products include traditional SONET and SDH transport, Ethernet/IP and wireless solutions. With approximately 4,000 miles of high-quality and high-count fiber and expanding connectivity to central offices, customer POPs, carrier hotels and international cable landing stations, FPL FiberNet is the broadband provider of choice.

Depend on FPL FiberNet to be your provider of cost-effective, innovative fiber-optic solutions throughout Florida and Atlanta. When you’re ready to increase your bandwidth and reliability, turn to FPL FiberNet, the next generation in Fiber-Optic Broadband Solutions.

FPL FiberNet History

FPL FiberNet’s fiber-optic network was originally developed in the late 1980s by Florida Power & Light Company to provide internal telecommunications services to support company operations. In 1996, FPL began selling excess fiber-optic capacity along its network to the major telecommunications companies operating in Florida. FPL FiberNet acquired an existing 1,600-mile inter-city fiber network from FPL. The company was launched in early 2000 to sell fiber-optic network capacity and dark fiber on a wholesale basis to local and long-distance telephone companies, Internet service providers and other telecommunications companies in Florida. Since its inception, FPL FiberNet has invested millions of dollars to build its fiber-optic network throughout Florida’s major metropolitan areas and install state-of-the-art optical networking and Ethernet equipment. In 2009, FPL FiberNet extended its network footprint into Atlanta.

Network Overview

In today’s increasingly competitive global business environment, customers are constantly looking to improve operational efficiency by leveraging highly-developed communications systems. To meet these needs, FPL FiberNet offers highly reliable and feature-rich business-critical services that will enhance your everyday business operations, geared to exceed your customer requirements and help you stretch your budget. Since service interruptions have a costly and disruptive effect on day-to-day operations, selecting a highly reliable and scalable provider with secure solutions is essential in your fast-paced environment. These enhanced product solutions offered by FPL FiberNet will allow you to maintain superior customer relationships and grow your business.

Network Architecture

Fig. 1: FPL FiberNet’s IP/MPLS/Ethernet Network Architecture

Metro Alcatel-Lucent 7250/7210/other Accedian/Other Alcatel-Lucent 7750/ 7450/7710/7210 Metro Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Customer equipment Subtended MPLS network Subtended Ethernet switch network Customer equipment MPLS core network West Palm Beach (CSE) Fort Lauderdale (FTL2) Fort Myers (FMH2) Tampa/ St. Pete. (TAPE) Sarasota Orlando West (ORLW) Jacksonville

Georgia

Miami (MIA36) NAP Atlanta Tallahassee

Florida

Network Operations

The FPL FiberNet network is proactively monitored by our NOC (Network Operations Center) 24 X 7, 365 days per year. All equipment is presently monitored for service affecting and PM threshold alarms. FPL FiberNet conducts preventative exercises on all network elements in order to proactively correct any deficiencies before they become a customer affecting problem in the network. Our NOC draws upon a field operations force comprised of technicians that respond 24/7 and are located in strategic geographic areas to enable quick response to any trouble that may arise. The focus of FPL FiberNet’s maintenance force is to reduce MTTR where possible and meet or exceed the customer SLA requirement. FPL FiberNet continuously strives to improve the quality of our network and the maintenance processes to enhance the trouble resolution efforts to minimize adverse affects on customers. FPL FiberNet implements the ‘Six Sigma’ quality process for all quality initiatives.

Dedicated Internet Access

Product Definition

Dedicated Internet Access provides routed Internet bandwidth over the FPL FiberNet network to multiple, geographically diverse peering locations. Based on the Alcatel-Lucent Service Routing platform, the FPL FiberNet network ensures these connections are fully resilient and highly reliable. FPL FiberNet has established interconnection and peering agreements in Miami (NAP of the Americas) and a diverse location in Atlanta (Telx), allowing us to survive disaster scenarios affecting any particular facility. This allows FPL FiberNet to offer a higher level of performance and reliability when compared to any single location service provider. The figure below demonstrates this concept:

Fig. 2: Internet peering overview

Geographically diverse Tier 1 carriers FN MPLS metro network Internet Site 1 Customer router Site 2

Standard Product Features

»

» Dedicated Internet Access with geographically diverse Internet peering points

»

» Reverse DNS (FPL FiberNet assigned IP addresses only)

»

» Access via 10/100Mbps, 1000Mbps, DS3 (PPP) and OC3 (PPP) ports*

»

» Committed Information Rates (CIR) per site as follows:

•» 10-100Mbps in 10Mbps increments (10/100Mbps port)

•» 100-500Mbps in 50Mbps increments & 500-1000Mbps in 100Mbps increments

(1000Mbps port)

•» 2 to 8 x 1000Mbps in 1000Mbps increments (LAG 1000Mbps ports)

»

» Port Media and Physical Interfaces:

•» 100BaseTX; Cat5e (100m) •» 100BaseFX; LC Connector; SMF (2km) •» 1000BaseTX; CAT5e (100m) •» 1000BaseSX; LC Connector; MMF (500m) •» 1000BaseLX; LC Connector; SMF (2km) •» DS3; BNC (100m)

•» OC-3c; LC Connector, SMF (2km) as ICB

»

» Protected and diversified MPLS Core/Edge Network (fiber, equipment, power)

»

» Performance

•» Network Availability ≥ 99.995% **

•» Otherwise, best effort

* OC-3 (PPP) as an ICB offer.

** Some customer sites may require Protection feature in order to achieve this level of network availability

Value Added Features

»

» Protection

»

» Port Upgrade, 100 to 1000Mbps (for CIR < 100Mbps)

»

» Bursting:

•» up to CIR x 300%

•» per usage (available Q4 2010)

»

» Alternate interconnection options are available including:

•» FPL FiberNet Router to Customer Security Appliance

•» FPL FiberNet Router to Multiple Customer Routers

»

» Other customer specific requirements can be discussed on an individual case basis*

* DIA Services may be provided over local infrastructure without fiber or route diversity between Provider Edge (PE) equipment to Customer Edge (CE) equipment or Network Interface Device (NID);

DIA Interconnection Options

Before a customer connects to FPL FiberNet as their Internet Service Provider (ISP), the customer needs to configure their networking device (Router, L3 Switch, and/or security appliance) to support the requested Dedicated Internet Access option. When an organization connects directly to the internet, it is recommended to use at a minimum a security appliance (e.g. firewall) to monitor and control access from/to the organization’s network infrastructure. Customers should review their organization’s security policies when connecting directly to the Internet.

Below are basic concepts of BGP and Static routing with terminologies used in this document.

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Routing

1

BGP is an interdomain routing protocol designed to provide loop-free routing between organizations. BGP supports policies that allow filtering traffic inbound and outbound. FPL FiberNet can provide the complete Internet routes, FiberNet customer routes, or a default route through BGP advertisement. Receiving the full Internet routing table requires a routing device with sufficient memory and certain performance characteristics. In BGP, each organization defines their local networks with an Autonomous System (AS) number. An AS Number can be acquired from the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN – http://www.arin.net) in North America. To establish a BGP peering (connection) between FPL FiberNet Access router and a Customer router, there are certain minimum BGP settings required, including the following:

»

» AS Number – Autonomous System Number is used to divide external networks into

individual routing domains where local routing policies (Access Control Filters, routing control filters, etc.) are applied.

»

» Neighbor IP – IP address of remote peer (provided by FPL FiberNet as part

of /30 Link address assignment)

»

» Remote-AS – Autonomous System of remote peer (provided by customer)

»

» Network – Specifies a local network to be added into the BGP routing table

(provided by customer)

Static Routing

2

Static routing is a manual process in which routes are setup between networks. Static routes are predictable and easy to use. In order to connect to FPL FiberNet using Static routing, the customer must define in their routing device a static route known as a “Default Route”. A Default Route is the last route that the routing device uses when more specific routes do not provide reachability.

1 Please consult equipment vendor technical support or documentation and security best practices prior to configuring BGP Routing on your device.

2 Please consult equipment vendor technical support or documentation and security best practices when designing a production static routing configuration.

Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)

Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol that provides network High Availability. VRRP is a standard protocol (non-vendor proprietary) which allows several routers on a multi-access link to utilize the same dynamically elected virtual IP address. One router will be elected as a master router with the other routers acting as backup routers in the event the master router fails. 

Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)

Hot Standby Redundancy Protocol provides network High Availability. HSRP is a vendor (Cisco Systems) proprietary protocol. HSRP works like VRRP where a single router is elected

as a Master router from a group of routers. This router is responsible for forwarding the packets that hosts send to the virtual router. In the event that the Master router fails, the Standby router assumes the packet-forwarding duties of the Master router.

Interconnection options for DIA are:

Standard – FPL FiberNet Access Router to Customer Router

The standard interconnection offers customers the ability to interconnect to FPL FiberNet using a standard routing protocol (BGP) or (Static) to access the internet (see Figure 3). Networks to be advertised can be provided by the customer or by FPL FiberNet for customer use.

Fig. 3 Customer site Internet Connectivity options: Ethernet, DS3, etc. Interconnecting router to router using BGP or static routing FPL FIberNet circuit Access router Service demarc (”Hand-off”) point Customer router

(/27 Standard IP Space assigned by FPL FiberNet or Customer provided IP Space)

/30 IP Space

Alternative #1 – FPL FiberNet Router to Customer Security Appliance

(e g Firewall) using a /30 network with “no routing” option selected

This option offers customers the ability to interconnect to FPL FiberNet as a point-to-point connection using a /30 network with the “no routing” service option ordered to access the internet. With this option, the customer device performs a Network Address Translation (NAT) and Proxy-ARP on their security appliance for internet access. /30 Networks are provided by FPL FiberNet to the customer for use. This option does not offer customers any dedicated IPs for the LAN.

Fig. 4 Customer site Ethernet Interconnecting router to security appliance (no routing, point-to-point) NAT, Proxy-ARP done by customer FPL FIberNet circuit Access router Service demarc (”Hand-off”) point Customer security appliance

Customer will not be provided dedicated IPs for their LAN network.

/30 IP Space

Internet

/30 IP Space

Alternative #2 – FPL FiberNet Router to Customer Security Appliance

(e g Firewall) using a /27 network with “no routing” option selected

This option offers customers the ability to interconnect to FPL FiberNet using up to a /27 network with 30 dedicated IPs. It allows FPL FiberNet’s Access router to connect to a customer Security appliance with the “no routing” service option ordered to access the internet. With this option, the customer security appliance must perform Proxy-ARP. Network Address Translation (NAT) can be performed as an option for internet access. /27 Networks are provided by FPL FiberNet for the customer’s use. Figure 5 shows the logical view of this option.

Fig. 5 Customer site Ethernet Interconnecting router to security appliance (no routing, point-to-point) NAT, Proxy-ARP done by customer FPL FIberNet circuit Access router Service demarc (”Hand-off”) point Customer security appliance /27 IP Space Internet /27 IP Space

NOTE: FPL FiberNet does not support the option of connecting to Customer’s Layer 2 Switch directly as it is shown in Figure 6. FPL FiberNet will not engage with the customer in trouble isolation if it is detected that this connectivity option has been implemented.

Fig. 6 Customer site Ethernet Interconnecting router to Layer 2 switch (no routing, point-to-point) FPL FIberNet circuit Access router Service demarc (”Hand-off”) point L2 switch Network hosts Internet

Alternative #3 – FPL FiberNet Router to Multiple Customer Routers using

a /29 network for Link Addressing

This option offers customers a /29 link addressing with 6 dedicated IPs. This option uses either BGP or Static routing. It allows FPL FiberNet’s Access router to establish BGP Peering with multiple customer routers or Static routing to the High network Available (HA) IP address known as the Virtual IP (VIP) to access the internet. Link addressing space provided by FPL FiberNet to the customer for use. A /27 dedicated IP assignment can be also requested by the customer for their LAN network. Fig. 7 Customer site Ethernet BGP peering Interconnecting router to multi-router using BGP routing, using a /29 network with six dedicated IPs FPL FIberNet circuit Access router Service demarc (”Hand-off”) point L2 switch Router 2 Router 1 /29 IP Space Internet

Fig. 8

Customer site

Ethernet Interconnecting router_{to multi-router virtual} IP using static routing, uses /29 network. /27 network dedicated IP assignment optional for customer LAN network upon request. FPL FIberNet circuit Access router Service demarc (”Hand-off”) point L2 switch Router 2 Virtual router backup HA protocol (VRRP, HSRP) Router 1 Virtual router master Virtual IP Internet

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Section 1 – Market

Q

Where does FPL FiberNet offer DIA services?

A

FPL FiberNet offers DIA services at the following Metros in Florida; Miami, Fort

Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa, Jacksonville, Daytona, Naples, Fort Myers, Tallahassee and Atlanta.

Section 2 – Network Architecture

Q

What network architecture does FPL FiberNet use to deliver DIA services?

A

Below is a description of FPL FiberNet’s network for delivering DIA services:

Core/Edge MPLS Network

Alcatel 7750/7450 Service Platform Interconnected via 10G links

Protected for power, fiber, route, and equipment

Aggregation MPLS or Ethernet Switch Network Alcatel 7710/7210 Service Platform Interconnected via 1G/10G links

Access Ethernet Switch Network, EoDWDM, EoSONET, or EoTDM. Protection of fiber & route available as value-added feature. Power provided by customer

Section 3 – Access

Q

Does FPL FiberNet support Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet as DIA Handoff

options?

A

FPL FiberNet supports Ethernet (10Mbps), Fast Ethernet/FE (100Mbps) and Gigabit

Ethernet/GE (1000Mbps)

Q

Does FPL FiberNet support multiple physical interfaces for Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and

Gigabit Ethernet as DIA Handoff options?

A

FPL FiberNet supports all the following media, interfaces, connectors at all locations

PORT MEDIA PHYSICAL INTERFACE CONNECTOR DISTANCE

10BaseTX CAT5e cable N/A 100m

100BaseTX CAT5e cable N/A 100m

100BaseFX single-mode fiber LC 2km

1000BaseTX CAT5e cable N/A 100m

1000BaseSX multi-mode fiber LC 500m

1000BaseLX single-mode fiber LC 2km

Q

Does FPL FiberNet offer fractional bandwidth for DIA services?

A

FPL FiberNet offers the following fractional speeds for 100Mbps ports; 10-100Mbps in

10Mbps increments.

FPL FiberNet offers the following fractional speeds for 1000Mbps ports; 100-500Mbps in 50Mbps increments & 500-1000Mbps in 100Mbps increments. These rates can be specific per VLAN into one common port.

Q

Does FPL FiberNet support full GigE (1,000 Mbps) and full FastE bandwidth (100Mbps)

across a GigE or FastE port respectively?

A

Yes, but throughput will depend on frame size mix.

Section 4 – Service/Products and Value Added Features

Q

Does FPL FiberNet’s DIA Service forward tagged or untagged frames?

A

FPL FiberNet’s standard DIA service forwards tagged and untagged frames at an MTU

of 1546 bytes. This makes FPL FiberNet’s network transparent to customer VLAN tags in traffic and limits packet MTU to 1546 bytes. This allows customer to pass its VLAN or stacked VLAN tagged traffic through FPL FiberNet provided VPN as long as MTU does not exceed 1546 bytes.

Q

What mode does FPL FiberNet support half-duplex, full-duplex or auto-negotiate to

fullduplex mode?

A

FPL FiberNet standard DIA service supports auto-negotiate to full-duplex or hard coded

with full-duplex mode if using Ethernet handoff.

Q

Does FPL FiberNet support multiple VLANs over the same physical port in accordance with

IEEE 802.1q standard?

A

FPL FiberNet supports multiple services over the same port by VLAN tagging each

service’s traffic. This service follows IEEE 802.1q standard.

Q

Does FPL FiberNet support 802.3ad link aggregation of multiple Ethernet ports for DIA? If

not, is your service transparent to link aggregation protocols?

A

FPL FiberNet supports link aggregation of multiple Ethernet ports in accordance with

IEEE 802.3ad standard as a value added feature for protection up to 1Gbps for DIA.

Q

Is FPL FiberNet’s DIA service burstable, tiered or usage-based?

A

FPL FiberNet offers bursting service that is priced depending on Committed Information

Rate (CIR). Bursting is tiered in that it is allowed, as a value added feature, from CIR up to 300% of CIR.

Q

Does FPL FiberNet’s DIA service provide DNS?

A

FPL FiberNet’s DIA product includes reverse DNS but only for those IP addresses

Q

Does FPL FiberNet’s DIA product include recursive DNS?

A

Yes, FPL FiberNet’s DIA service includes recursive DNS as part of the service; FPL

FiberNet to provide IP addresses for recursive DNS lookup

Q

Does FPL FiberNet’s DIA product provide for secondary DNS?

A

No, FPL FiberNet only supports a primary DNS option for IP addresses assigned by

FPL FiberNet.

Section 5 – Service Delivery

Q

What is FPL FiberNet’s standard interval for DIA service?

A

FPL FiberNet’s standard interval for DIA service is 15-30 business days for On-Net sites,

and Off-Net sites is 60 business days after permits are received. FPL FiberNet defines a site to be On-Net for DIA if Equipment and Capacity for desired service is available at location where service is being requested; otherwise the site is considered Off-Net.

Section 6 – SLA

Q

Does FPL FiberNet manage or monitor its network?

A

FPL FiberNet proactively monitors the network from our NOC which operates

7x24x365.

Q

What are FPL FiberNet’s Service Level Agreements (SLA) for its DIA service?

A

These are available in MSA in greater detail but a summary version is as follows;

Latency (RTD) ≤ 5ms Metro and ≤ 20ms inter-Metro

≤ 30ms Inter-State

Network Availability ≥ 99.995%

Otherwise, best effort

Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) ≤ 2 hours

Credits for not meeting any of the above apply but are limited for customer provided power failure, fiber cuts of un-protected services, or fiber cuts of un-diversified entrance and/or risers conduits.

Acronyms

ARIN – American Registry for Internet Numbers ARP – Address Resolution Protocol

AS – Autonomous System BGP – Border Gateway Protocol CAT5 – Category 5 Network Cable CAT5e – Category 5 Enhanced Cable CE – Customer Edge

CIR – Committed Information Rate DIA – Dedicated Internet Access DNS – Domain Name System FX – Fiber Transmission (MMF) HSRP – Hot Standby Protocol

IEEE – International Electrical and Electronics Engineering Association IP – Internet Protocol

ISP – Internet Service Provider L1 – Layer 1, Physical Layer L2 – Layer 2, Data Link Layer L3 – Layer 3, Network Layer LAG – Link Aggregation Group LAN – Local Area Network LED – Light Emitting Diode

LC – Lucent Connector (uses a 1.25 mm ferrule)

LX - Fiber Transmission (SMF, Long Reach, Long Wavelength, Laser) MAC (addresses) – Medium Access Control

Mbps – Megabits per Second MMF – Multi Mode Fiber

MPLS – Multi Protocol Label Switching MSA – Master Service Agreement MTTR – Mean Time to Repair MTU – Maximum Transmission Unit NAT – Network Address Translation NID – Network Interface Device NOC – Network Operations Center PE – Provider Edge

PIR – Peak Information Rate QoS – Quality of Service

SLA – Service Level Agreement SMF – Single Mode Fiber

SONET – Synchronous Optical Networking Technologies

SX – Fiber Transmission (MMF, Short Reach, Short Wavelength, LED) TX – Electrical Transmission (CAT5)

UNI – User to Network Interface VLL – Virtual Leased Line

VPLS – Virtual Private LAN Service VPN – Virtual Private Network VPWS – Virtual Private Wire Service

VRRP – Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol WAN – Wide Area Network