| Network Alternatives Strengths and Weaknesses |
|---|
| Alternative |
"Strength" |
"Weakness" |
| Alternative A |
easy to implement today
less expensive compared to other alternatives |
perpetuates use of today's technologies |
| Alternative B |
starts down the road to distributed routing
may reduce per port costs of central routers and increase overall bandwidth of the routing core |
significantly newer technologies in the routing core which use proprietary protocols for distributed routing
depending on timing, ATM may still be too immature |
| Alternative C |
probably where we want to be... |
can't buy it today
presumes a lot about market directions |
| Alternative A' |
will definitely increase bandwidth to buildings today |
very expensive
perpetuates use of today's technologies |
| Alternative AB' |
will definitely increase bandwidth to buildings today |
very expensive
perpetuates use of today's technologies
introduces additional operations issues as routing devices are distributed to each building |
| Alternative B' |
allows for slower migration to ATM |
multiple generations of backbone technology difficult (and expensive) to operate and maintain |