 Carrier Gigabit Ethernet Network Topology on Dedicated, Private Lines Appendix INTRODUCTION Today's broadband networks are increasingly made up of high-speed fiber-optic links with the augmented capacity required by the growing reliance on applications located on the Internet and in the cloud. Current workplaces cannot come close to functioning without the reliable, high-capacity broadband links now available. Older broadband technologies have capacity and flexibility limitations have that make them unsuitable for most of today's requirements. Carrier Gigabit Ethernet and dedicated wavelengths are largely replacing older, inflexible, limited-in-speed, broadband services wherever fiber cabling is available. Gigabit Ethernet is now commonly deployed on fiber cabling at enterprise locations. These links support speeds of up 100Gbps. But large social network companies are deploying 400 Gigabit connections at their data centers. Moreover, telephone companies' core networks that carry traffic between cities, states, and www.TechnicalPDF.com across the country are achieving terabit (thousand gigabit per second) data rates. Dedicated wavelengths on fiber-optic cabling are a high-capacity alternative to Carrier Gigabit Ethernet. Dedicated wavelengths refer to a portion of the fiber- optic cabling capacity, an individual wavelength, dedicated to a single customer. These often link customers' branch offices, warehouses, and headquarters together. While increasing capacity on fiberoptic cables is important, it doesn't solve the issues of managing traffic, prioritizing applications and automating functions in broadband networks. Wide Area Software Defined Networks (WA SDNs) are able to prioritize applications and automate routing on broadband networks. They can be programmed to automatically route traffic away from congested routes and parts of networks that are completely out of service. This flexibility and automation is due to the defining aspect of WA SDN: it is controlled by software. This contrasts with earlier network