From a few posts ago there was a number of requests as to what a DS3 Hub was and how they could use it. A DS3 Hub is a Channelized DS3 or an M13 Circuit. I need to explain a DS3 then I will delve into this.
While it may be interesting to know that a DS3 is composed of DS2s, that knowledge won’t help you build or troubleshoot a network today. I’ll explain what you do need to know about DS3s.

A DS3 is not a T3.DS3 (Digital Signal 3) is the logical carrier sent over a physical T3 circuit. In practice, the terms are pretty interchangeable; most people will understand what you mean if you use either. However, from this point on, I’ll refer to the circuit simply as a DS3, as we’re really interested in the circuit, and not the physical medium.

You’ll encounter two flavors of DS3s: channelized and clear-channel. A channelized DS3 is one in which there are 672 DS0s, each capable of supporting a single POTS-line phone call. When a DS3 is channelized, Cisco will often refer to it as a “channelized T3.” A clear-channel DS3 has no channels and is used for pure data.

When DS3s were designed in the 1960s, there really wasn’t a need for data circuits like those we have today. DS3s were designed to handle phone calls, which is why they are multiplexed the way they are. DS3s require framing for the same reasons that DS1s do. The difference is that there can be multiple DS1s multiplexed within a DS3. Each of those DS1s has its own clocking, framing, and encoding that must be maintained within the DS3. The DS3 must also have its own clocking, framing, and encoding, which must not interfere with the multiplexed circuits within it. There are a couple of different framing methods that can be used. Your choice should be dictated by the DS3′s intended use.
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You must outsource your data telecommunication needs unless you are going to get all of the agreements in place then lay your own fiber. All carriers outsource services, including technical support. Carriers buy capacity from other carriers when they don’t have the resources. Outsourcing no matter what you relabeled it to is outsourcing.

The Internet giants don’t keep all of their support calls within the US. If I call the colossal big boys of the internet I could be in the Philippines, Argentina Australia, Brazil, Chile China or India. If I get India I hang up and try again. I find that outsourced Indian support is one of the least expensive, so not much is spent on training. I have actually called with a DS3 issue and was asked what operating system I was running. They spend more time on process then support.

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In a nut shell vendors must balance user satisfaction with desire to curb costs.

I found a few interesting statements.
“…At companies with revenues of at least $5 billion, as many as one quarter of IT jobs will be moved offshore by 2010.”ComputerWorldMay 2009

“You may not have signed a contract with your third-party IT services provider solely to cut costs. Maybe you were seeking specific skills or farming out non-core work to focus on strategic initiatives, or looking for a back door into an emerging economy.”CIO
June 2009
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Welcome to my first tech blog. This one will not be so technical but I plan on rummaging around the industry I live in to see if I can help out the people trying to find their way as it applies to services offered in the industry. I warn you there will be an opinion given but I find that helps as opposed to leaving topics vague instead of drawing a conclusion.

Let’s first understand the industry I am in. I get asked regularly what we do. It is a difficult answer because the answer is often misunderstood. The benefit of what we do is often lost because of the hype of the Dot Com Boom. Examples of this are as follows.

“No one was ever fired for using AT&T”
“No one was ever fired for using IBM”

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