NETWORKS

Juniper Networks, Inc. today announced that the Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (Tohoku EPCO) has selected the Juniper Networks M-series routing platform to build a highly secure, fault-tolerant corporate network for mission-critical applications. The M-series was chosen for its performance, security, and availability features. NEC, a Juniper Networks strategic partner, provided network design and implementation expertise for the project. Tohoku EPCO provides nuclear and LNG-derived electric power to more than 12 million people in the Tohoku district of Japan. Its IP/MPLS network, which is based on Juniper Networks platforms, supports the monitoring and management of the efficient supply of power. The network also provides connectivity between branch offices and data centers and provides high-performance packet processing for demanding applications such Layer 3 Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) for departmental intranet services and Quality of Service (QoS) for internal video communications. "Our business is to provide electric power to millions of people," said Takashi Konno, manager, Information Systems and Communications Department, Tohoku EPCO. "Our network is mission-critical because we must ensure 100 percent uptime for our data network. Any disruption to the communications links between our equipment and systems would be disastrous to our business. With the M-series, NEC is providing us with the non-stop IP/MPLS infrastructure we require to support our business." Tohoku EPCO's IP/MPLS network links eight sites in a Wide Area Network by running IP/MPLS based on Juniper Networks M-series routers over a transport infrastructure of 2.4 Gbps OC-48 WDM optical rings. The resultant IP/MPLS network is managed by NEC's advanced network management system iNetWorX. The iNetWorX system facilitates administration of MPLS networks, allowing users to fully leverage the traffic engineering and VPN capabilities available on Juniper Networks M-series routers. Together with the Juniper Networks M-series routers, iNetWorX provides the ability for network administrators and end-users to observe critical network status reports and rapidly troubleshoot problem areas when faults occur. iNetWorX also enables simple provisioning of VPNs and configuration of QoS via a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI). Although equipment from other leading router vendors was considered, Tohoku EPCO chose the Juniper Networks M40e routing platform for its high-performance and high-availability features, especially support for non-stop forwarding via Graceful Restart Routing Protocol extensions and Hitless RE Switchover. Graceful Restart and Hitless RE Switchover are high-availability features built into the Juniper Networks M-series Multiservice Edge platforms. Hitless RE Switchover allows a secondary routing engine to immediately take over a failed routing engine with near-zero loss of packet forwarding, while Graceful Restart allows a router to continue forwarding packets even in the event of a brief loss of communications with neighboring routers, virtually eliminating packet loss while the communications are reestablished. In addition to these features, the proven JUNOS operating system is built with a modular architecture and a clear separation between the routing control and packet forwarding mechanisms, ensuring exceptional standards of fault tolerance. "In Japan, there are an increasing number of large enterprises deploying carrier-class network infrastructures," said Masanori Osuga, vice president, Japan, Juniper Networks. "The successful implementation of Tohoku EPCO's robust, high-performance network is a perfect example of this trend. NEC is a partner with a thorough understanding of networking customer needs. Together with NEC's expertise as a network integrator and Juniper Networks' extensive experience in delivering carrier-class network equipment, we offer the ideal solution for customers in Japan to support mission-critical networks."