I love my RAS because �� - News Briefs

Recent studies which suggest that virtual private networks (VPNs) will soon replace remote access server (RAS) systems typically arrive at their conclusions by examining only one side of the network: the enterprise customer's data center. The studies fail to describe the true implementation of VPNs--or of RAS systems for that matter--and miss the mark when advising users. Users want the facts, not "the truth."

WHICH CAME FIRST, THE RAS OR THE ISP?

Every telecommuter, mobile user, and customer wanting to temporarily access the Internet or a corporate Intranet does so through a connection between a dial-up analog modem or ISDN terminal adapter and a RAS. RAS systems are the foundation of the Internet service provider (ISP) business. ISPs like AOL, PSINet, and UUNet build robust RAS systems to ensure that customers can dial-up to the Internet when a dedicated connection is unavailable or unaffordable.

These ISPs continue to implement RAS systems, and their use of the technology has driven the price-per-port below $150 in 1999 and will reach $100 in the next year. We expect these prices to continue dropping as the technology advances in the coming years. With momentum like this, RAS systems are here to stay.

RAS SYSTEMS ENABLE VPN SERVICES

Service providers have also been using initial vendor implementations of VPN technology in their RAS systems because VPNs address corporate security concerns. Vendors of RAS systems implemented PPTP (point-to-point tunneling protocol) well before router vendors advanced the technology to its new standard, L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol). Now, RAS vendors are catching up by implementing L2TP and IPSec (IP Security Protocol) as well. This adoption allows a VPN tunnel to originate at the desktop or at the point of entry into the network (the RAS dial-up port).

Given our basic affinity for switched services, the technology step from RAS to VPN is a likely one. Both systems use RADIUS authentication to ensure basic connectivity. VPN goes a step further by encrypting the traffic through a "tunnel." This "virtual circuit"(VC)-like property is akin to running Frame Relay (FR) over last-mile leased lines. Neither Frame Relay nor leased lines have shrunk in market share. In fact, as wildly successful as Frame Relay has been, leased lines still command the bulk of carrier data revenues, garnering more than SMDS (switched multimegabit data service), Frame Relay, and ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) combined. Frame Relay and leased lines revenues have grown as the purchase of the product (Frame Relay) fueled the increased use of the underlying infrastructure (leased lines).

VPN: A TECHNOLOGY OR A PRODUCT?

In the early days of fast packet services, there were many seminars and tutorials presented that pitted SMDS against FDDI (fiber distributed data interface), then SMDS against Frame Relay, and eventually, Frame Relay against ATM. Didn't we learn our lesson from the confusion in the early half of the 1990s? The fact is that SMDS, Frame Relay, ATM, and, for that matter, IP, all share a common partner--the broadband network infrastructure. It is on this infrastructure that all virtual-circuit products reside. An IP VPN is simply another VC-based product. RAS systems allow dial-up users to establish VPNs across the broadband network infrastructure. The fact is that RAS is the technology enabler that is essential for the successful delivery of the end product. The end product is VPN services.

VPN's similarity to Frame Relay makes one wonder: Since FR technology did not receive its due until service providers offered it as a product, will VPNs require the same investment? We believe so. VPN is not a technology; its combined attributes provide it the potential to become the next significant product in the communications industry. What customer would pass up product that delivers:

* Global availability;

* Single-number portability;

* Secure access from any service provider;

* Point-to-multipoint connections;

* Prioritized virtual connections; and

* A quality-of-service mechanism?

VPNs are an even more compelling product when we recognize that they are delivered across the largest, low-cost, redundant network infrastructure--the global Internet. Certainly any carrier or ISP who is able to offer all these value-added services in a VPN product would be admired. But the carrier who delivers the product over both leased-line (T1 or FR) and dial-up (RAS) access will win the enterprise's respect and its business. RAS systems are here to stay because they provide the infrastructure for a ubiquitous VPN product.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

Service providers will use more and more RAS, especially as prices drop and novice users continue to describe Internet access as their killer app driving new PC purchases. Just as Centrex did not replace PABXs, VPNs will not replace RAS systems. The two technologies are complementary. RAS systems allow dial-up users to connect, while VPN products from carriers provide the value-added features, including security and quality of service. It is those features that enterprise customers need to operate their businesses. With the continuous advances being made in DSP (digital signaling processor) technology, coupled with the continued reduction in price-per-port of RAS systems, we expect that remote access servers will continue to be deployed in large numbers by ISPs and enterprise customers alike.

I love my RAS because ... it allows me to connect to VPNs.

Ireland is vice president of marketing, Patton Electronics, Gaithersburg, Md.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Nelson Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group