1 1 00:00:00,510 --> 00:00:02,300 Wired WAN Connections. 2 2 00:00:02,300 --> 00:00:04,160 In this lesson, we're going to talk about 3 3 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,460 Wired Wide-Area Network Connections. 4 4 00:00:06,460 --> 00:00:08,120 So let's start out by talking about 5 5 00:00:08,120 --> 00:00:10,210 the three main types of WAN connections 6 6 00:00:10,210 --> 00:00:13,100 that you may find in enterprise or business networks. 7 7 00:00:13,100 --> 00:00:14,780 These are dedicated leased lines, 8 8 00:00:14,780 --> 00:00:15,950 circuit-switched connections 9 9 00:00:15,950 --> 00:00:17,710 and packet-switched connections. 10 10 00:00:17,710 --> 00:00:20,270 The first type we have is a dedicated leased line. 11 11 00:00:20,270 --> 00:00:21,740 This is a logical connection 12 12 00:00:21,740 --> 00:00:23,970 that's going to connect two of your remote sites together 13 13 00:00:23,970 --> 00:00:25,800 through your internet service provider's facility 14 14 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,340 or a telephone company's central office. 15 15 00:00:28,340 --> 00:00:30,090 This is a more expensive connection 16 16 00:00:30,090 --> 00:00:32,270 than other WAN technologies because the customer 17 17 00:00:32,270 --> 00:00:34,870 doesn't share the bandwidth with all the other customers. 18 18 00:00:34,870 --> 00:00:37,000 Instead, they have full and dedicated use 19 19 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:38,670 of the entire connection. 20 20 00:00:38,670 --> 00:00:40,320 If you have a direct copper cable, 21 21 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,740 something like a T1 connection going to your office, 22 22 00:00:42,740 --> 00:00:45,330 this is an example of a dedicated leased line. 23 23 00:00:45,330 --> 00:00:47,020 We're going to talk more about all the different types 24 24 00:00:47,020 --> 00:00:50,030 of dedicated leased lines in our WAN technology videos. 25 25 00:00:50,030 --> 00:00:50,863 But for right now, 26 26 00:00:50,863 --> 00:00:53,010 I just want you to be introduced to this concept. 27 27 00:00:53,010 --> 00:00:54,920 When you hear about a dedicated leased line, 28 28 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:56,140 I want you to think about it as 29 29 00:00:56,140 --> 00:00:57,880 a single pipe going directly from 30 30 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,070 your service provider's office to your office, 31 31 00:01:00,070 --> 00:01:02,410 and nobody can use it, but you. 32 32 00:01:02,410 --> 00:01:03,760 Now, the second type we have 33 33 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:05,790 is known as a circuit-switched connection. 34 34 00:01:05,790 --> 00:01:07,010 And this is a connection that works 35 35 00:01:07,010 --> 00:01:09,960 by only being brought up when it's actually needed. 36 36 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:11,570 This type of data connection is similar 37 37 00:01:11,570 --> 00:01:12,940 to making a phone call. 38 38 00:01:12,940 --> 00:01:14,690 When you want to make a phone call, for example, 39 39 00:01:14,690 --> 00:01:15,933 you dial the number and it connects you 40 40 00:01:15,933 --> 00:01:18,040 with the other person that you want to talk to. 41 41 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:19,950 And then you can talk as much as you want 42 42 00:01:19,950 --> 00:01:21,540 between each other, and when you're done, 43 43 00:01:21,540 --> 00:01:24,260 you hang up the phone and the connection is torn down. 44 44 00:01:24,260 --> 00:01:25,930 So if you talked for an hour, 45 45 00:01:25,930 --> 00:01:28,960 you only use network connectivity for one hour of the day 46 46 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:30,750 and the other 23 hours of the day, 47 47 00:01:30,750 --> 00:01:32,660 that connection could be used by other people 48 48 00:01:32,660 --> 00:01:35,160 and resold by your internet service provider. 49 49 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:36,840 Now, in the old days of computer networks, 50 50 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,270 we actually had dial up internet 51 51 00:01:38,270 --> 00:01:40,400 and internet connections that work like this. 52 52 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:42,040 So when we wanted to use those, 53 53 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,330 we would actually dial up and then use that connection 54 54 00:01:44,330 --> 00:01:45,840 and hang up when we were done. 55 55 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,150 These connections, though, were extremely slow. 56 56 00:01:48,150 --> 00:01:50,220 When you wanted that connection, it turned on, 57 57 00:01:50,220 --> 00:01:51,460 it made the phone call, 58 58 00:01:51,460 --> 00:01:52,370 You would then be able to go out 59 59 00:01:52,370 --> 00:01:53,550 to the internet and do your business, 60 60 00:01:53,550 --> 00:01:55,060 and when you're done, you'd hang up, 61 61 00:01:55,060 --> 00:01:57,490 and that entire connection will be taken offline. 62 62 00:01:57,490 --> 00:02:00,390 This on-demand bandwidth did provide cost savings 63 63 00:02:00,390 --> 00:02:02,640 because you're not using 24/7 access. 64 64 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,960 Instead, you're only getting it when you need it, 65 65 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:06,780 and so it makes for a cheaper connection. 66 66 00:02:06,780 --> 00:02:08,520 All the other time that you're not using it, 67 67 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,618 your telephone company or your ISP 68 68 00:02:10,618 --> 00:02:12,570 can actually sell that service to somebody else, 69 69 00:02:12,570 --> 00:02:13,403 and therefore you're doing 70 70 00:02:13,403 --> 00:02:15,860 cost sharing across multiple customers. 71 71 00:02:15,860 --> 00:02:18,520 Now because the dial up version of this was so slow, 72 72 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,700 there was something introduced called ISDN, 73 73 00:02:20,700 --> 00:02:23,090 which is a digital circuit-switched technology. 74 74 00:02:23,090 --> 00:02:25,170 Now ISDN stands for the Integrated Service 75 75 00:02:25,170 --> 00:02:26,440 Digital Network Connection. 76 76 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,070 And a lot of businesses use these 77 77 00:02:28,070 --> 00:02:30,070 instead of using a dedicated leased line, 78 78 00:02:30,070 --> 00:02:32,110 because they were much, much cheaper. 79 79 00:02:32,110 --> 00:02:33,780 Again, we're going to talk about ISDN 80 80 00:02:33,780 --> 00:02:36,210 in our WAN technologies lesson, but for now, 81 81 00:02:36,210 --> 00:02:38,200 just to equate this type of WAN connection 82 82 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,180 by making a phone call, but we're using 83 83 00:02:40,180 --> 00:02:42,370 data instead of using our voice. 84 84 00:02:42,370 --> 00:02:43,740 These circuit-switched technologies 85 85 00:02:43,740 --> 00:02:46,180 will give you full access to the bandwidth when you need it, 86 86 00:02:46,180 --> 00:02:47,620 but when you're not using it, 87 87 00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:50,040 it takes it back and uses that same capacity 88 88 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,170 to provide service to other customers. 89 89 00:02:52,170 --> 00:02:54,290 For this reason, circuit-switched technologies 90 90 00:02:54,290 --> 00:02:56,880 are more efficient from a service provider perspective 91 91 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:58,920 and therefore a cheaper option to obtain 92 92 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:01,390 for an end-user like your business or mine, 93 93 00:03:01,390 --> 00:03:03,890 than using a dedicated leased line. 94 94 00:03:03,890 --> 00:03:05,330 The third type of connection we have 95 95 00:03:05,330 --> 00:03:07,270 is known as a packet-switched connection. 96 96 00:03:07,270 --> 00:03:08,870 Now a packet-switched connection works 97 97 00:03:08,870 --> 00:03:11,150 like an always on dedicated leased line. 98 98 00:03:11,150 --> 00:03:12,360 But the difference here is that 99 99 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,860 multiple customers are sharing that bandwidth. 100 100 00:03:14,860 --> 00:03:17,190 This allows it to be a cheaper line for us to buy, 101 101 00:03:17,190 --> 00:03:18,930 and for our customers to use. 102 102 00:03:18,930 --> 00:03:22,140 Each customer is given an SLA or service level agreement 103 103 00:03:22,140 --> 00:03:23,600 with the internet service provider. 104 104 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:25,440 And this is going to dictate the level of service 105 105 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,360 they can expect to get based on the money they paid. 106 106 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:30,820 For example, in this SLA contract, 107 107 00:03:30,820 --> 00:03:33,560 you might be guaranteed a certain level of quality or speed 108 108 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,750 that you require for your business's use case. 109 109 00:03:35,750 --> 00:03:37,770 You might purchase an SLA that guarantees you 110 110 00:03:37,770 --> 00:03:39,480 at least five megabits per second, 111 111 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,390 at least 95% of the time, as an example. 112 112 00:03:42,390 --> 00:03:43,990 Now, these packet-switched connections 113 113 00:03:43,990 --> 00:03:45,720 are built as virtual circuits, 114 114 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,240 not dedicated connections like a T1. 115 115 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:49,760 Since they're virtual circuits, 116 116 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:51,440 they're going to be represented as dash lines 117 117 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:53,360 when you see them on a network diagram. 118 118 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:55,840 The most well-known example of a packet-switched connection 119 119 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,260 is what's known as a frame relay connection. 120 120 00:03:58,260 --> 00:03:59,760 Again, we're going to talk more about 121 121 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,730 frame relay, specifically, in our WAN technology videos. 122 122 00:04:02,730 --> 00:04:04,190 But for right now, I just wanted to 123 123 00:04:04,190 --> 00:04:06,860 introduce the concept of a packet-switched connection, 124 124 00:04:06,860 --> 00:04:08,300 being a virtual network, 125 125 00:04:08,300 --> 00:04:10,140 instead of using a dedicated circuit. 126 126 00:04:10,140 --> 00:04:11,660 And this way we are going to have 127 127 00:04:11,660 --> 00:04:13,410 it supported by a contractual agreement, 128 128 00:04:13,410 --> 00:04:14,620 with a service level agreement, 129 129 00:04:14,620 --> 00:04:17,190 instead of having all the dedicated bandwidth all the time, 130 130 00:04:17,190 --> 00:04:19,170 so therefore we can save some money. 131 131 00:04:19,170 --> 00:04:20,370 All right, now that we've covered 132 132 00:04:20,370 --> 00:04:21,980 our three types of WAN connections 133 133 00:04:21,980 --> 00:04:24,430 of dedicated leased lines, circuit-switched connections, 134 134 00:04:24,430 --> 00:04:25,920 and packet-switched connections, 135 135 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,250 we need to discuss what the WAN connection 136 136 00:04:28,250 --> 00:04:29,790 physically looks like. 137 137 00:04:29,790 --> 00:04:31,430 This physical connection is going to be 138 138 00:04:31,430 --> 00:04:33,820 using some sort of physical network media 139 139 00:04:33,820 --> 00:04:35,820 in order to make that WAN connection. 140 140 00:04:35,820 --> 00:04:37,350 And then we have to connect it to our gateway, 141 141 00:04:37,350 --> 00:04:39,010 which is normally our router. 142 142 00:04:39,010 --> 00:04:41,020 After all, this is how the ones and zeros 143 143 00:04:41,020 --> 00:04:43,020 are going to get into and out of our network 144 144 00:04:43,020 --> 00:04:45,410 and go across that WAN connection. 145 145 00:04:45,410 --> 00:04:46,890 Now, there are lots of different types 146 146 00:04:46,890 --> 00:04:49,600 of physical media used, including copper wires, 147 147 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,400 fiber optic cables, power lines and wireless, 148 148 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:54,100 which can contain numerous different types 149 149 00:04:54,100 --> 00:04:56,270 of wireless methods for WAN connections. 150 150 00:04:56,270 --> 00:04:57,430 Because there's a lot of different 151 151 00:04:57,430 --> 00:04:58,830 wireless methods out there, 152 152 00:04:58,830 --> 00:05:00,830 I'm going to cover those in a separate video, 153 153 00:05:00,830 --> 00:05:02,820 but for now, let's take a quick look 154 154 00:05:02,820 --> 00:05:05,680 at the different types of wired WAN connections. 155 155 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,360 First, we have copper wires, 156 156 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:09,850 and these may take the form of an unshielded twisted pair, 157 157 00:05:09,850 --> 00:05:12,670 UTP, shielded twisted pair, STP, 158 158 00:05:12,670 --> 00:05:15,160 or coaxial cable known as Coax. 159 159 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,130 Now, when we use UTP or STP, 160 160 00:05:17,130 --> 00:05:18,690 it's just like the cables we use 161 161 00:05:18,690 --> 00:05:20,710 internally on our local area networks. 162 162 00:05:20,710 --> 00:05:22,110 We're going to use something like cat five, 163 163 00:05:22,110 --> 00:05:23,980 cat six, or cat seven cable. 164 164 00:05:23,980 --> 00:05:25,520 When we use coaxial cable, 165 165 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:27,080 it's going to allow us to cover more distance 166 166 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,790 than a standard UTP or STP cable. 167 167 00:05:29,790 --> 00:05:30,960 Other than that, there's not really 168 168 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:32,660 a big difference between using any of these 169 169 00:05:32,660 --> 00:05:36,330 three types of copper cables, UTP, STP or Coax. 170 170 00:05:36,330 --> 00:05:38,220 Now all three of these different copper cables 171 171 00:05:38,220 --> 00:05:40,960 can support both analog or digital connections. 172 172 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:42,560 Some types of WAN connections are going to 173 173 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,340 rely on UTP or STP copper cables. 174 174 00:05:45,340 --> 00:05:47,220 This might be things like dial up connections, 175 175 00:05:47,220 --> 00:05:50,400 ISDN connections, E1 or T1 connections. 176 176 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,300 And if you're using coaxial connections, 177 177 00:05:52,300 --> 00:05:54,510 this is usually going to be used with cable modems. 178 178 00:05:54,510 --> 00:05:56,670 And this is going to come from a cable service provider 179 179 00:05:56,670 --> 00:05:59,080 for your or business internet service. 180 180 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,110 Our second type of media we have is fiber optic cables. 181 181 00:06:02,110 --> 00:06:04,080 These cables support very high bandwidth 182 182 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:05,830 and long distance connections. 183 183 00:06:05,830 --> 00:06:08,260 Also fiber connections are also not subject 184 184 00:06:08,260 --> 00:06:11,120 to electromagnetic interference like copper connections are. 185 185 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:12,860 So they're usually very stable 186 186 00:06:12,860 --> 00:06:14,830 when you're using them as a network connection. 187 187 00:06:14,830 --> 00:06:16,610 Unfortunately, though, these connections 188 188 00:06:16,610 --> 00:06:19,350 are more expensive than using a copper cable. 189 189 00:06:19,350 --> 00:06:21,010 If you're going to have a direct fiber connection 190 190 00:06:21,010 --> 00:06:24,090 to your home or office, this could cost you a lot of money. 191 191 00:06:24,090 --> 00:06:26,220 Thankfully prices are continuing to drop, though, 192 192 00:06:26,220 --> 00:06:28,890 especially in the small office, home office market. 193 193 00:06:28,890 --> 00:06:30,630 Here in the United States, for example, 194 194 00:06:30,630 --> 00:06:32,540 you can get a Verizon Fios connection, 195 195 00:06:32,540 --> 00:06:33,810 which is a fiber optic connection, 196 196 00:06:33,810 --> 00:06:34,980 all the way to your house, 197 197 00:06:34,980 --> 00:06:37,530 that can support speeds of up to one gigabit per second, 198 198 00:06:37,530 --> 00:06:39,760 for under about a hundred dollars per month. 199 199 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,330 As the price keeps going down for fiber optic connections, 200 200 00:06:42,330 --> 00:06:44,740 you're going to see more and more people using them. 201 201 00:06:44,740 --> 00:06:47,290 Our third type of media that we have is power lines. 202 202 00:06:47,290 --> 00:06:48,860 Yeah, I know this sounds a little weird, 203 203 00:06:48,860 --> 00:06:50,390 but those power lines that give you power 204 204 00:06:50,390 --> 00:06:51,610 and electricity to your house, 205 205 00:06:51,610 --> 00:06:53,100 they actually can provide internet service 206 206 00:06:53,100 --> 00:06:54,030 to your home as well, 207 207 00:06:54,030 --> 00:06:58,170 using something known as BPL or broadband over power lines. 208 208 00:06:58,170 --> 00:06:59,560 BPL connections can support 209 209 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,270 a speed up to 2.7 megabits per second, 210 210 00:07:02,270 --> 00:07:04,700 which by today's standards seems pretty slow, 211 211 00:07:04,700 --> 00:07:06,310 but it actually is about the same speed 212 212 00:07:06,310 --> 00:07:09,870 as a slower DSL or digital subscriber line connection. 213 213 00:07:09,870 --> 00:07:11,700 Basically broadband over power lines 214 214 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:13,730 was introduced because everywhere in America, 215 215 00:07:13,730 --> 00:07:15,110 including rural portions, 216 216 00:07:15,110 --> 00:07:16,340 already have power lines running 217 217 00:07:16,340 --> 00:07:18,190 to their homes, for the most part. 218 218 00:07:18,190 --> 00:07:19,650 Many of these rural areas though, 219 219 00:07:19,650 --> 00:07:22,940 didn't have phone lines or cable TV lines or fiber optics. 220 220 00:07:22,940 --> 00:07:25,160 So there was no easy way to get internet to them, 221 221 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:26,800 but with broadband over power lines, 222 222 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:28,400 there's already a usable infrastructure 223 223 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:29,660 of power lines in place. 224 224 00:07:29,660 --> 00:07:31,130 So we could run the internet over that 225 225 00:07:31,130 --> 00:07:33,740 as a great stop gap measure until better solutions 226 226 00:07:33,740 --> 00:07:35,410 could be run to those places. 227 227 00:07:35,410 --> 00:07:36,600 Over time, you're going to see 228 228 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:38,330 broadband over power lines retired, 229 229 00:07:38,330 --> 00:07:39,740 since more and more areas of the country 230 230 00:07:39,740 --> 00:07:42,020 are getting wired for coaxial or fiber cables 231 231 00:07:42,020 --> 00:07:43,260 directly to people's home, 232 232 00:07:43,260 --> 00:07:45,740 and satellite internet is increasing. 233 233 00:07:45,740 --> 00:07:46,910 Now here in the United States, 234 234 00:07:46,910 --> 00:07:49,370 broadband over power lines is not very popular, 235 235 00:07:49,370 --> 00:07:50,750 but in some countries, 236 236 00:07:50,750 --> 00:07:52,370 this can be a fast and easy way 237 237 00:07:52,370 --> 00:07:53,890 to get internet out to end users 238 238 00:07:53,890 --> 00:07:55,490 because power lines already exist, 239 239 00:07:55,490 --> 00:07:58,090 and so the infrastructure is already there. 240 240 00:07:58,090 --> 00:08:00,100 Now, all right, I know that was a lot of different 241 241 00:08:00,100 --> 00:08:02,240 wired WAN types that we covered in this video, 242 242 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:04,650 including copper fiber and power lines. 243 243 00:08:04,650 --> 00:08:06,380 Remember, you need to be able to consider 244 244 00:08:06,380 --> 00:08:07,810 each of these when you're trying to determine 245 245 00:08:07,810 --> 00:08:09,920 what the best wired WAN connection might be 246 246 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:11,670 for a given scenario or use case 247 247 00:08:11,670 --> 00:08:14,120 when you're in the field as a network technician, 248 248 00:08:15,060 --> 00:08:17,263 (upbeat music)