Optical Monitoring

There are two active projects in the optical area:

• Optical Layer Network Monitoring
  Monitoring the optical components in a network and reporting on their status. Note that this is more focussed on equipment such as Ciena and Nortel rather than on the type of optical interfaces found in routers and switches where data is available through traditional SNMP polling and traps. In the optical equipment ,measurement interfaces may be required to use TL1, exchamge data with optical NMS systems or increasingly some equipment does provide SNMP capability.
  
  JANET(UK) are currently investigating the gathering of optical layer data from Ciena and Nortel equipment to be found in JANET and TVN (Thames Valley Network).
  
• Optical Splitters
  Data is available from many sources, but all of them have some impact on the network/equipment being monitored. The only way to get full data from a link without impacting that link, apart from the theft of some photons, is to use a splitter or other equipment that imposes no load on the link being monitored.
  
  JANET(UK) will be deploying optical splitters around two core routers in 2007. This will allow visibility of traffic with more accuracy, though less breadth in terms of concurrent numbers of links being monitored, than is currently possible. In order to achieve this JANET(UK) will install ADC rack mount optical splitter equipment along with Glimmerglass optical switches to allow the operator to select which links they wish to monitor.
  
  Note that strict limitations satisfying the RIP Act and the Data Protection Act are in place for the use of this data.
  

For further information please contact Jeremy Sharp.