AT&T White Paper Sample

A number of access and backbone services are available to accommodate enterprises’ many and varied connectivity requirements. There are decisions to be made about physical and service access connection types, as well as backbone service choices. Some networks will be selected to connect users to corporate data resources, while other services will serve different applications, such as machine-to-machine communications. Part 1 of this paper identified situations that might motivate an enterprise to upgrade or change WAN services as well as help the enterprise recognize when an upgrade may not be needed.

As discussed in “Understanding Your WAN Choices,” Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) “layers” specify technical functions, not branded WAN services. Though OSI technical layers and network services are not synonymous, the terms tend to be used interchangeably. This often complicates the task of sorting out what are enabling technologies and what are actual services that are built on them. This paper will explain those differences and then put them into context as they apply to creating an effective overall WAN service strategy.