Metro Ethernet Forum launches MEF 14 Certification

Clearly, this is the impetus behind the MEF 14 Certification announced today. Nan Chen indicated that this is the first time in telecommunications history that any forum put its technical specs to verification, not just in functionality, but also in terms of service delivery and performance.

Carrier Ethernet service differs from LAN-based Ethernet as it is defined by five attributes: standardized services, scalability, reliability, service management and quality of service.

According to Michael Howard, principal analyst of Infonetics Research, "Ethernet is on track toward metro service dominance, as service providers continue to look for ways to reduce operating expenditures and enable new revenue streams." Howard went on to say that the most important issue that plagued service providers that rolled out metro Ethernet networks last year was Quality of Service. "QoS is being addressed by manufacturers and proven by the MEF 14 testing, the Ethernet adoption curve is speeding up."

Citing a customer move to converged network architectures, Tom Roche, vice president of marketing for network voice and data services at Verizon Business, "With the announcement of MEF 14 testing for service providers, enterprises will feel confident that their providers' Carrier Ethernet services can support mission critical and converged applications such as ERP, VoIP, videoconferencing and business continuity."

MEF 14 (Abstract Test Suite for Traffic Management) ensures conformance to MEF QoS attributes, providing a foundation for implementing Service Provider operational and performance service level agreements (SLAs) supporting simultaneous real-time and data-intensive business applications.

The MEF 14 Certification completes MEF 9 (Abstract Test Suite for Ethernet Services at the UNI) as it adds requirements and test procedures for Service Performance and Bandwidth Profile Service Attributes defined in MEF 10. Frame Delay Performance, Frame Delay Variation Performance, and Frame Loss Ratio Performance as well as Bandwidth Profile Service Attributes defined per Ingress UNI, per EVC, and Class of Service, are included.

MEF 14 testing is based on the Iometrix Test Plan for Traffic Management--which includes 170 test cases covering EPL, EVPL and E-LAN services. "Service Providers' Carrier Ethernet must pass no less than 414 individual test cases before being granted MEF 9 and 14 certification," said Bob Mandeville, president of Iometrix testing labs.

For related information see:

An interview with Nan Chen