Malaysia has improved its potential Internet connectivity by a factor of 10 with the deployment of an OC-48 (Optical Carrier) backbone capable of transmission speeds of 2.5 gigabits per second, according to U.S. network vendor Cisco Systems Inc.
The new Super Jaring backbone, which runs from the northern high-tech manufacturing island of Penang, through the capital Kuala Lumpur, to the southern tip of the country bordering Singapore, is part of the Jaring project which has provided the country with Internet connectivity over the past seven years.
The 73 existing Jaring 'Net nodes, run by local ISP (Internet service provider) Mimos Bhd., will be able to take advantage of the new backbone, according to a statement from Cisco released yesterday. The backbone will subsequently link up the entire nation and will be capable of handling 175,000 simultaneous connections, Cisco added.
Super Jaring will be capable of providing next-generation services such as Internet telephony, IP VPNs (Internet Protocol virtual private networks), video-on-demand, distance learning and telemedicine, Cisco said.
The multimillion dollar project has achieved several firsts for a fiber-optic backbone, according to Cisco.
Firstly, the backbone network was built completely on Cisco 12000 series GSRs (gigabit switch routers) over dark fiber without the need for a transport layer of equipment such as SONET (synchronous optical network) or SDH (synchronous digital network), saving on network and operational costs.
Secondly, the backbone, consisting of three GSRs in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, a distance of over 700 kilometers, is the longest IP-over fiber-network of its kind, Cisco said.
With Super Jaring, Malaysia will have one of the fastest and most advanced IP networks in the world, according to Gary Jackson, director, service provider line of business, Asia-Pacific, Cisco Systems.