Wireline service providers are now provisioning access networks with speeds up to 10Gb/s over Metro Ethernet, MPLS, XG PON and other high speed technologies based on Ethernet. The biggest driver for high speed access is IPTV and multimedia applications. In addition to IPTV, service providers must support a variety of consumer and enterprise applications over the same backbone network. With the increase in access speeds and the applications running over them, the backbone must also increase in speed, now 10Gb/s, 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet networks are not only commonplace but a requirement.

The challenge with monitoring and troubleshooting 10Gb/s+ Ethernet is that the network speeds have surpassed the analysis capability of many of today's monitoring and troubleshooting tools by a factor of 10 or more. The end result are “blind spots” in the network are created. Another challenge with these networks is that IPTV consists of MPEG2 and MPEG4 video which, can appear anywhere in the Ethernet frame. MPLS encapsulation adds another layer to the complexity of identifying applications. Service providers with high speed Ethernet backbones require the network to be pre-instrumented with specialized access points, that can provide visibility into their “blind spots” and unravel applications no matter the protocol or encapsulation.

Only RedDot Networks provides 100% application and network visibility using Pinpoint Packet Inspection™ which identifies, isolates and replicates any type of traffic on the Ethernet backbone regardless of the location within the Ethernet frame. Our solutions have the processing power to locate the desired application or traffic flow, remove MPLS or other headers, load balance sessions to multiple monitoring tools, add timestamps to preserve timing and monitor latency and jitter. Using Pinpoint Packet Inspection™, service providers can monitor and troubleshoot application or network traffic regardless of where it may occur in the packet. RedDot Networks makes monitoring IPTV over 10G Ethernet networks as simple as doing a web search.

RedDot Networks’ products have been designed to operate in service provider environments with optional -48V DC power supplies, very low power consumption (e. g. less than 80W) and minimal cooling required. The products can be configured through a web-based GUI or using a command line interface which can be used in conjunction with scripting/automation.