CompTIA exam study guide presentations by instructor Brian Ferrill, PACE-IT (Progressive, Accelerated Certifications for Employment in Information Technology) "Funded by the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Grant #TC-23745-12-60-A-53" Learn more about the PACE-IT Online program: www.edcc.edu/pace-it

1. WAN
technologies IV.

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Instructor, PACE-IT Program – Edmonds Community College
Areas of Expertise Industry Certifications
 PC Hardware
 Network Administration
 IT Project Management
 Network Design
 User Training
 IT Troubleshooting
Qualifications Summary
Education
 M.B.A., IT Management, Western Governor’s University
 B.S., IT Security, Western Governor’s University
Entrepreneur, executive leader, and proven manger
with 10+ years of experience turning complex issues
into efficient and effective solutions.
Strengths include developing and mentoring diverse
workforces, improving processes, analyzing
business needs and creating the solutions
required— with a focus on technology.

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– Circuit switched vs. packet switched
networks.
– Frame relay vs. Asynchronous Transfer
Mode.
– Multiprotocol Label Switching.
PACE-IT.

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WAN technologies IV.

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– Circuit switched networks.
» Circuit switched networks have a dedicated circuit (connection)
between two end points used for communication.
• While set up, the circuit can only be used for communication
between those end points.
• An example of this is a phone call using a land line.
» Circuit switched networks are most common in networks with
leased line communication.
» Best use is when there needs to be a fair amount of continuous
data traffic between two points.
» There is only one path.
– Packet switched networks.
» In packet switched networks, data is broken up into smaller
chunks and moved through the network, only to be
reassembled at the other end.
• Data traffic is routed using the destination address.
• Data may take different paths through the network.
» As a general rule, packet switched networks are less expensive
to maintain.
• The user doesn’t have to maintain a dedicated circuit 24/7.
WAN technology IV.

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WAN technologies IV.

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– Frame relay.
» Frame relay is a WAN technology in which variable length
packets are switched across a network.
» Frame relay is less expensive than leased lines.
» Can be made to look like a leased line through the use of a
virtual circuit (VC).
» Frame relay tracks a VC using a data link connection identifier
(DLCI).
» Access rate: the max speed of the frame relay interface.
» Committed information rate (CIR): guaranteed bandwidth
(may go faster but never slower).
– Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
» ATM is a WAN technology in which fixed length cells (each cell
is always 53 bytes long) are switched across a network.
» Can handle real time voice and video.
» Very fast technology; poor bandwidth utilization (the small cell
size reduces the efficiency of the technology).
» Common ATM speeds are 51.84 Mbps and 155.52 Mbps.
WAN technology IV.

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WAN technologies IV.

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– Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).
» MPLS is a topology that is growing in popularity.
• It is scalable.
• It is protocol independent.
» MPLS can be used to replace both frame relay switching and
ATM switching.
• It can also be used to packet switch both frame relay and
ATM network traffic. This allows MPLS to be used in
conjunction with both frame relay and ATM technologies.
» MPLS is used to improve the Quality of Service (QoS) and flow
of network traffic.
» Label edge router (LER): adds MPLS labels to incoming
packets if they don’t have them.
» Label switching router (LSR): forwards packets based on
their MPLS labels.
WAN technologies IV.

10. Page 10
WAN technologies IV.
A circuit switched network involves a dedicated point to point connection
between two nodes. They are commonly used with leased line networks. In
a packet switched network, data is broken down into smaller packets and
routed through the network using the destination address. The data may
take differing paths to reach the final destination.
Topic
Circuit switched vs. packet
switched networks.
Summary
A packet switching technology in which network packets can be different
sizes. Frame relay may be set up to mimic a circuit switched network. ATM
technology uses a fixed cell size (53 bytes) to quickly move network traffic.
While ATM is a fast technology, it doesn’t use the available bandwidth
efficiently due to the fixed size of all of the cells.
Frame relay vs.
Asynchronous Transfer
Mode.
MPLS is a WAN packet switching technology that has gained in popularity
because of its scalability and protocol independence. It can be used to
replace both frame relay and ATM, or it can be used in conjunction with
either or both of those technologies. It uses LERs to insert MPLS labels into
packets and LSRs to route the packets to their destinations.
Multiprotocol Label
Switching.

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THANK YOU!

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or ownership. Funded by the Department of Labor, Employment and Training
Administration, Grant #TC-23745-12-60-A-53.
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