You might be thinking: “An Edge STP seems to be just a more cost-effective STP with some extra routing and security functionality. Some of those capabilities might be available from my existing vendor and could be added on to my existing STP. Why not just extend and reconfigure the equipment I already have? Why should I make my changes at the edge of my network, and not in the core?”
These are valid questions to be sure. In making this decision, one should consider both direct and indirect costs and impacts. Particular attention should be paid to the following cost issues related to network performance and operational management of the network:
- Upgrading deployed equipment, reconfiguring core network behaviors, and deploying new generics is both costly and error prone. If an option to deploy the same functionality at the edge of a network exists without requiring changes in the core, it is advisable to avoid major software upgrades and re-engineering of a vital core signaling network that is working well
- If choosing to deploy the additional functionality in the core, then the performance impacts of the additional functionality and deeper signaling payload inspection must be taken into account. These impacts likely translate to decreasing transaction/call performance rates and could effectively place a tax on the entire core network operation, reducing its overall effectiveness
For more information, please contact sales@ulticom.com.