BANGALORE, INDIA: Fluke Networks announced the introduction of version 2.0 of its MetroScope carrier Ethernet analyser. It comes with a newly designed ProVision test suite, the first test designed specifically for testing carrier Ethernet as a service.

The MetroScope analyser and the ProVision test process allow more thorough testing of carrier Ethernet links while minimising the time and cost involved.

Bob Mandeville, founder and president of Iometrix, the official Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) testing lab, said: “Whereas Ethernet is delivered in the form of a device inside the enterprise, it is delivered in the form of a service outside the enterprise. The MEF has provided the industry with a now well-known set of service definitions and together with them a well-known set of technical specifications purposed to test Ethernet as a service, and not as a device.”

Mark Mullins carrier Ethernet marketing manager at Fluke Networks, said: “While carrier Ethernet has evolved as a service, field test technologies have not. We designed ProVision to meet the challenge of turn up testing and troubleshooting these new, complex services. ProVision will help service providers ensure the quality of their differentiated offerings while keeping costs under control”.

By running four tests (throughput, loss, latency and jitter) in parallel, MetroScope tests circuits faster and more thoroughly than device-based tests such as RFC 2544.  The ProVision test package used by MetroScope also supports faster troubleshooting by trending of all four measurements for up to 24 hours, and displaying results for up to three streams simultaneously.  This provides the technician a rapid means of seeing what has changed and where to begin troubleshooting. 

Cameron Vance, engineering manager, Wave1, a wireless communications provider specialising in point to point and point to multipoint wireless data and voice communications in Australia, said: “ProVision has proved valuable for speed of testing, results, and ability to do asymmetric link testing. The MetroScope’s suite of very useful and fast network tools have assisted in determining very quickly if a fault exists in the wireless communications equipment or within the customer’s network, reducing servicing costs and fault resolution time”.

MetroScope can be paired with the low-cost LinkReflector for efficient, affordable end-to-end testing. The LinkReflector is an IP loopback solution offering multiple use models, attached to the customer’s network, within the core network, or at a data centre. MetroScope’s portability and the LinkReflector’s flexibility allow users to quickly bring the most efficient test system to each individual situation.

Priced at just a fraction of the price of a complete test set, the LinkReflector completes the MetroScope test set at a fraction of the price of competitive “two unit” test systems.