Network modernization in Chuvashia: why our network is similar to formulas from organic chemistry
Good day! My colleagues have already talked about the construction of backbone networks and about specific equipment at base stations. I would like to fill the gap and tell a little about the city network and how we modernized it . I will talk about my region - the Chuvash Republic, where I first worked as technical director for a long time, and then became the head of the VimpelCom branch. Approximately the same principles of network design and complexity are characteristic of many other regions, with the possible exception of the extreme North.
To begin with, we have here a rather interesting geography of distribution of base stations:
The trunk ring passes through Cheboksary in the north of the republic, and from it the ring first went through the settlements of the region, and then we began to make a MESH structure out of it. Now one break at an arbitrary point is invisible to subscribers. By the end of 2014, in most cases even two simultaneous cliffs will be invisible.
Over the past three years or so we needed to dramatically increase network bandwidth. Traffic is growing at a wild pace. For comparison, this year it has grown by about 2.5 times compared to the past. On average in Russia, the growth rate is about 30% lower. In this case, voice traffic does not change, we are talking about the growth of Internet traffic.
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The first thing to do was to replace SDH equipment with Ehternet and DWDM. The transition to modern multiplexers allowed the use of the same fiber lines as before (physical processes do not change at all) with a much higher traffic density. Thanks to the signal conversion and combined packaging, it was possible to increase the capacity to 10 Gb / s, with further expansion up to 40 Gb / s.
At the same time, the entire existing network on the RRL is translated to IP, thereby increasing the capacity and reliability of the network as a whole.
Here we call this scheme "Collider". This is a simplified view of the trunk ring passing through Cheboksary. Traffic from the large European ring (720 Gb / s in some areas) comes to this ring.
We take data from Kazan and from Nizhny Novgorod by links of 20 Gb / s, respectively. In the event of a canal break from Nizhny Novgorod to Cheboksary (for example, thanks to the brave excavators), we will simply receive the same data from Kazan (this is the backup direction for this situation).
This published scheme is already outdated. Our fellow trunk workers have already formed chords from Voronezh, through Tambov, Penza, Ulyanovsk to Samara, and so on, turning the ring into a network of many times reserved. We are also planning a chord from Ulyanovsk to Cheboksary, and we will have a triple reservation. In general, as the experience of emergency situations in Russia shows, risk planning in this regard always pays off.
Now look at the two rings around Chuvashia. Here they are larger (we call this scheme "snowman"):
Above passes the main ring through Cheboksary. The northern ring (upper) unites large populated areas of the north of the republic. Actually, it was here that we installed DWDM equipment, and now this ring gives 10 Gb / s with a further possibility of expansion up to 40 Gb / s.
The lower southern ring passes through a less populated part of the region. Optics reaches the city of Alatyr in the south-west and Shemurshi in the south-east. Bandwidth requirements are almost an order of magnitude lower. The terrain is difficult, so the ring is not fully optical, the lower part (from Alatyr to Shamurshi) is made on radio relay lines with a bandwidth of 183 Mb / s.
Both rings are chipped with low bandwidth — these are radio relay lines (providing Ethernet connections) with a bandwidth of up to 100 MB to 1 GB per second. The capacity depends not on the equipment (it is typical), but on the distance between the nodes. On flights up to 10 kilometers we have 1 Gb / s. But we have spans and 15-20 kilometers between the nodes, where it is necessary to reduce the bandwidth for signal reliability.
Given the growth in traffic volumes, these radio relay chords will have a reserve value in the coming year. But you should not underestimate them - they are easily able to catch the voice traffic of the network, which can be critical in the case of major emergencies.
So, if on the "Collider" marked trunk nodes, then on the "Snowman" - the nodes of our rings.
Almost everything that is now designated as 1 Gb / s is already 10 Gb / s (or it will become so in early 2014). Modernization is ongoing.
Now let's lower one more level and look at the network of one locality. This is Cheboksary and Novocheboksarsk. The scheme is also not the newest (the lines have already been upgraded, the construction has been completed), but it gives an idea. In this subnet - about 50% of subscribers in the region.
See what is most characteristic of a city network too? That's right - the rings. We combine everything into closed structures (now, for example, in the upper right, in the suburbs, work on integration into cyclic structures will also go). It is not even a highly redundant architecture. It is simply a network with very high stability, embedded as a base property. And despite the fact that over the past year we did not have large cliffs even at one point, we continue to build it that way - this is one of the technical paradigms of VimpelCom as a whole.
Separately, I must say a few words about the optics. When we arrived in the region, we almost immediately bought a small local operator, who hung the optics on the trolleybus poles. This is not the most reliable method: we put the optics strictly in the telephone sewer underground. As a result, somewhere she still remained on suspensions, but gradually we leave the poles and shift some parts to the telephone drain. Now the optics on the poles remain about 10% (in length) in Cheboksary.
That's all. If it is interesting, I will separately show unusual installations - we have a base station on the former Soviet rig-jamming station, on the observation deck of the foresters, the BS at an altitude of 354 meters, and so on. Plus, there is one warm story, thanks to engineering ingenuity, we managed to save almost 18 million rubles.
To begin with, we have here a rather interesting geography of distribution of base stations:
- Dense location of base stations in the north of Chuvashia around the capital - the city of Cheboksary
- Dense placement in the republic (except for forests, of course): Chuvashia ranks 4th in terms of population density in Russia.
The trunk ring passes through Cheboksary in the north of the republic, and from it the ring first went through the settlements of the region, and then we began to make a MESH structure out of it. Now one break at an arbitrary point is invisible to subscribers. By the end of 2014, in most cases even two simultaneous cliffs will be invisible.
Why did you need to upgrade the network?
Over the past three years or so we needed to dramatically increase network bandwidth. Traffic is growing at a wild pace. For comparison, this year it has grown by about 2.5 times compared to the past. On average in Russia, the growth rate is about 30% lower. In this case, voice traffic does not change, we are talking about the growth of Internet traffic.
')
The first thing to do was to replace SDH equipment with Ehternet and DWDM. The transition to modern multiplexers allowed the use of the same fiber lines as before (physical processes do not change at all) with a much higher traffic density. Thanks to the signal conversion and combined packaging, it was possible to increase the capacity to 10 Gb / s, with further expansion up to 40 Gb / s.
At the same time, the entire existing network on the RRL is translated to IP, thereby increasing the capacity and reliability of the network as a whole.
Network architecture and topology
Here we call this scheme "Collider". This is a simplified view of the trunk ring passing through Cheboksary. Traffic from the large European ring (720 Gb / s in some areas) comes to this ring.
We take data from Kazan and from Nizhny Novgorod by links of 20 Gb / s, respectively. In the event of a canal break from Nizhny Novgorod to Cheboksary (for example, thanks to the brave excavators), we will simply receive the same data from Kazan (this is the backup direction for this situation).
This published scheme is already outdated. Our fellow trunk workers have already formed chords from Voronezh, through Tambov, Penza, Ulyanovsk to Samara, and so on, turning the ring into a network of many times reserved. We are also planning a chord from Ulyanovsk to Cheboksary, and we will have a triple reservation. In general, as the experience of emergency situations in Russia shows, risk planning in this regard always pays off.
Now look at the two rings around Chuvashia. Here they are larger (we call this scheme "snowman"):
Above passes the main ring through Cheboksary. The northern ring (upper) unites large populated areas of the north of the republic. Actually, it was here that we installed DWDM equipment, and now this ring gives 10 Gb / s with a further possibility of expansion up to 40 Gb / s.
The lower southern ring passes through a less populated part of the region. Optics reaches the city of Alatyr in the south-west and Shemurshi in the south-east. Bandwidth requirements are almost an order of magnitude lower. The terrain is difficult, so the ring is not fully optical, the lower part (from Alatyr to Shamurshi) is made on radio relay lines with a bandwidth of 183 Mb / s.
Both rings are chipped with low bandwidth — these are radio relay lines (providing Ethernet connections) with a bandwidth of up to 100 MB to 1 GB per second. The capacity depends not on the equipment (it is typical), but on the distance between the nodes. On flights up to 10 kilometers we have 1 Gb / s. But we have spans and 15-20 kilometers between the nodes, where it is necessary to reduce the bandwidth for signal reliability.
Given the growth in traffic volumes, these radio relay chords will have a reserve value in the coming year. But you should not underestimate them - they are easily able to catch the voice traffic of the network, which can be critical in the case of major emergencies.
So, if on the "Collider" marked trunk nodes, then on the "Snowman" - the nodes of our rings.
Almost everything that is now designated as 1 Gb / s is already 10 Gb / s (or it will become so in early 2014). Modernization is ongoing.
City
Now let's lower one more level and look at the network of one locality. This is Cheboksary and Novocheboksarsk. The scheme is also not the newest (the lines have already been upgraded, the construction has been completed), but it gives an idea. In this subnet - about 50% of subscribers in the region.
See what is most characteristic of a city network too? That's right - the rings. We combine everything into closed structures (now, for example, in the upper right, in the suburbs, work on integration into cyclic structures will also go). It is not even a highly redundant architecture. It is simply a network with very high stability, embedded as a base property. And despite the fact that over the past year we did not have large cliffs even at one point, we continue to build it that way - this is one of the technical paradigms of VimpelCom as a whole.
Separately, I must say a few words about the optics. When we arrived in the region, we almost immediately bought a small local operator, who hung the optics on the trolleybus poles. This is not the most reliable method: we put the optics strictly in the telephone sewer underground. As a result, somewhere she still remained on suspensions, but gradually we leave the poles and shift some parts to the telephone drain. Now the optics on the poles remain about 10% (in length) in Cheboksary.
Links
- Level Up: Highways
- Level below: at base station
- Another level below: microcells in the building
- Colleagues experience on network modernization in Kazan before the Universiade peak
- Unusual network topology in extremely challenging terrain in the North
- Recovery after flooding in the Far East
That's all. If it is interesting, I will separately show unusual installations - we have a base station on the former Soviet rig-jamming station, on the observation deck of the foresters, the BS at an altitude of 354 meters, and so on. Plus, there is one warm story, thanks to engineering ingenuity, we managed to save almost 18 million rubles.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/206590/
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