GPON vs. Traditional Ethernet Architecture
GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) is used to reduce the number of active switching nodes in the network design. Network Design Best practice in Campus networks and many Datacenter networks (Not Massively Scale Datacenters), is to use Three-Tier; Access, Distribution and Core network design. Although the design decision depends on the scalability requirements in the Campus and DC, two layer; Access and Collapsed Distribution/Core design can be used. Below figure depicts common three tier Access, Distribution and Core design.
This post was first published on “Service Provider Networks Design and Architecture by Orhan Ergun” book.
Figure – GPON vs. Traditional Ethernet Architecture, Source: cisco.com
In Three-tier Traditional campus networks, there are active Ethernet devices used in each tier. Active means, nodes require electricity. Active Ethernet switches forward traffic based on forwarding rules. If it’s a Layer 2 network, traffic is forwarded based on Layer 2 information, if it is a Layer 3 design, traffic is forwarded based on routing protocol information.
GPON in the campus network replaces traditional three-tier design with two-tier optical network, by removing the Active access and distribution layer Ethernet switches with the ONT, Splitter and OLT devices. Although ONT Continue reading
