The Benefits of ML-IP

ML-IP delivers several key advantages to organizations. They include the ability to:

Consistently boost bandwidth at any site, whether connected through a managed private network, a point to point network or an IP VPN without any special provisioning by the carrier/provider

An Example of ML-IP Benefits

Comparison with Alternatives

Customer Benefits

Carrier Benefits

Service Provider Benefits
Consistently boost bandwidth across different access media (dial-up, PSTN, ISDN, ADSL, T1, etc)
Create a more responsive WAN
Transition from dial-up to broadband-based connections and beyond without investing in new equipment and without effort - ML-IP works across a gamut of connection types
Increase network uptime; ML-IP provides high availability connections. These include automatic fallback to secondary links if a primary link fails and automatic fail-over to dial backup links if there is a network-wide outage. Unlike other high availability solutions, additional links are not redundant, as they are used to carry data when operational
Create practical network connections from very remote sites by bundling multiple narrow-band satellite modem connections
Bridge the bandwidth gap between T1 and T3 in highly granular increments
Reduce dial-up telecommunication costs; ML-IP automatically establishes new connections when demand reaches pre-set thresholds, and terminates them when demand falls below pre-set thresholds
Ensure secure site-to-site VPN transmissions with optional IPSec gateway functionality
Deploy easily; instead of replacing one (slow) service with a different (fast, expensive) service, ML-IP builds on multiples of the same, familiar, affordable service. Increasing bandwidth can be as simple as adding another modem or router. The carrier/provider only needs to supply more of the same service to the customer
Scale bandwidth globally (using an Internet-based VPN)

An Example of The Benefits of ML-IP

The bandwidth gains afforded by ML-IP are best demonstrated by an example. A medical practice needs to send a 20MB digital x-ray image from an imaging office in one town to a general practice in a neighboring town. A router without ML-IP could transmit that image over single ADSL connection through the Internet in approximately 11min 15sec, assuming an upstream speed of 256Kbps and 5% overhead incurred through Internet latency.

If that router supported ML-IP, both offices could install a second ADSL connection and use ML-IP to split the x-ray image across the two ADSL connections. Assuming the same 5% latency overhead, and adding a further 2.5% overhead incurred by ML-IP, the transmission would take 5min 45sec. A third ADSL connection would enable the transmission to occur in approx 3min 50sec, and so on. The productivity gains are obvious and linear and involve only an incremental increase in telecommunications costs.

A Comparison with Other Broadband Alternatives

The chart below demonstrates where ML-IP is positioned, compared with other broadband alternatives. ML-IP offers universal broadband access, which scales incrementally from 128Kbps to multiple T3 connections.

Who Benefits from ML-IP?

Customer Benefits

Businesses who benefit from ML-IP have several attributes. Firstly, many of them cannot obtain broadband access at all locations today, or such access is financially beyond their reach.

Secondly, the cost of incrementally increasing bandwidth is prohibitively expensive and requires major changes to the existing network.

Thirdly, the increasing use of and dependence upon broadband networks makes the reliability of these networks paramount.

Fourthly, some organizations prefer either public or private managed network services.

Small to Medium Businesses with multiple sites that need to share business critical data and want fast Internet access can utilize ML-IP enhanced connections to cost effectively deliver broadband performance.

Many large organisations want to upgrade or replace expensive public or private WAN solutions with cost effective alternatives. ML-IP enabled appliances integrate easily with existing enterprise networking infrastructure to affordably deliver more flexible bandwidth and improved uptime.

Other customer benefits of ML-IP include:

ML-IP creates mobile offices easily
- Instantly create temporary scalable bandwidth using multiple dial-up connections

ML-IP highly leverages investment in IT equipment
- because ML-IP works across a wide range of connection types, you can migrate from dial-up/ISDN to broadband from a single device

ML-IP fits any size organization, any size office, adapting to the needs of each site
- ML-IP operates across a broad spectrum of link topologies, from central sites with a single multi-megabit network connection to small, temporary sites with a small number of dial-up PSTN connections

Maximum network uptime; no lost productivity. ML-IP delivers high availability network connections in several ways:
- Fallback to a secondary high-speed connection if primary connection fails
- Fallback to a secondary provider network if primary network fails or becomes slow
- Failover to multiple dial-up connections in the event of a complete failure of a high-speed service
- Backup connections during teething stage of broadband implementation

Deploy access to the corporate network at every site, regardless of location or infrastructure
- ML-IP supports disparate connection types at different sites
- ML-IP is totally transparent to the intervening network infrastructure (PSTN/VPN/MPN)
- ML-IP is totally independent of carrier/ service provider equipment or products
- ML-IP creates useful bandwidth from narrow-band satellite connections for very remote applications

Carrier Benefits

Sell more access circuits (all kinds)
- Because ML-IP creates useful bandwidth by bonding multiple links, customers purchase more circuits
- ML-IP supports a wide range of connection types; carriers can sell “horses for all kinds of courses”
- Extend data networking services to a broader market - attract small to medium businesses with enterprise grade bandwidth at affordable prices

Bridge between all network technologies
- ML-IP forms a link between leased lines, VPNs and MPNs

Fill gaps in bandwidth/product offerings
- ML-IP bridges the bandwidth/price gaps that exist in existing products (eg T1-T3 vs multi-broadband)

Increase service availability to within reach of every customer
- Attract customers who cannot access broadband but need high-speed low cost connections today

CPE-enabled high availability
- ML-IP dissipates customer backlash from broadband unreliability
- ML-IP offloads some of the cost and concern of fault tolerance
- ML-IP offers comprehensive backup services that can be integrated in a single service

Works with all network types - zero administration
- ML-IP introduces no carrier-based infrastructure overheads

More revenue per customer
- ML-IP increases the number of products/ services that customers are likely to purchase from carriers
- Lock customers in with CPE-derived service contracts Service Provider Benefits

Service Provider Benefits

Generate more revenue per customer
- ML-IP accelerates dependence upon and productivity from the Internet, building solid income streams from corporate clients
- ML-IP increases the amount of bandwidth customers consume

Broader audience to sell Internet-based data connections
- Sell Internet services to any size multi- site organization

Build ongoing revenue from each customer
- Lock-in customers with scalable bandwidth across all access types OEM benefits