The need for content and services over the Internet continues to drive demand for unprecedented bandwidth speed and capacity. Meeting this demand by providing cost-effective, high quality and high performance network solutions has become a strategic imperative for businesses of all sizes.

As a global IP network services provider, NTT America has unique insight into what it takes to maintain a flexible and scalable network. This article will highlight best practice ideas for service providers and enterprises looking to bolster their networks while saving time and containing costs, and will countdown the ten most significant attributes to evaluate in balancing cost, performance, service and supporting the exploding growth of Internet-based applications, including social media, SaaS and cloud computing.

10. All Content is Global
As content providers and content delivery networks (CDNs) face challenges managing rising customer demand for new content and services over the Internet, the performance, quality and global reach of the network is crucial. NTT America directly connects telecommunications companies, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), content providers, CDNs and enterprises to major markets around the world via the NTT Communications Global IP Network.  Point of Presence locations (PoPs) in key U.S. cities as well as increased bandwidth benefit customers connecting through the PoP locations on the NTT Communications Global IP Network backbone in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, providing them with a competitive advantage.  The global reach of the network allows vertical markets such as financial, gaming, and social networking in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia to efficiently deliver content internationally through Internet network nodes and data centers, offering the best end-user experience for customers as content continues to drive bandwidth needs.

9. One is the Loneliest Number: The Importance of Network Partnership
Network partnerships are another important consideration when building out your network and can expand your network access to key connections around the globe.  Network partners should be financially stable, innovative and have a depth of service portfolio that your customers can grow into.

As the largest overseas subsidiary of NTT Communications (NTT Com) and operator of the NTT Communications Global IP Network, NTT America is responsible for network relationships and peering partnerships that solidify our global reach.  NTT America has private peering with all other Tier-1 providers, does not acquire transit from any third party, and exchanges traffic with other Tier-1 ISPs free of charge (Settlement Free Peering).  In addition, the company has over 1Tb of peering capacity globally.  NTT Communications acquisition of Pacific Crossing Limited (PCL), operator of the PC-1 transpacific cable network allows customers fast, reliable and cost-effective access to financial and international markets.  This acquisition was a direct response to the growing need for bandwidth across the Pacific Ocean.

8. Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Having an ISP with the ability to evaluate support and network abuse needs is a key component to network security.  A highly reliable, secure, and scalable network infrastructure is vital, especially to customers that are considering migration of their data to the cloud.  NTT America offers a variety of managed network services that safeguard data, manage routers, and protect from Denial of Service (DoS) attacks letting customers concentrate on their business priorities and not on their network.

7. Real Network Issues Require Real Engineers
Speaking with a network engineer, who has extensive hands-on knowledge of the network, can save your company valuable time when you business is on the line.  Maintaining a global high performance network infrastructure is a complex process and while the quality and level of experience of the engineers who manage the network is important, direct access to the person that will solve the problem is vital.  Because support calls go directly to highly qualified network engineers who are available 24/7 in the US-based NTT America Network Operations Center (NOC) located in Dallas, Texas, and not to a call center or overseas, NTT America has 100 percent accountability for uptime requirements.

6. Practice What You Preach: IPv6 Ready
As demand for Internet-based services grow and more services from multimedia, gaming, and social networking run over IP, address space remains a critical issue for businesses and Internet users around the globe.  Once IPv4 address space is depleted, Internet growth cannot be sustained without adopting IPv6.

Next generation technology is not just a feature, it is a reality and having experience with these technologies is imperative for service providers as well as enterprises who depend on their expertise.  NTT America not only offers IPv6 service on the Global IP Network, but has deployed IPv6 for customers for many years.  The NTT Communications Global IP Network was the first Tier-1 network fully upgraded to run IPv6 and is one of the world's largest commercial IPv6 networks.  By supporting IPv6 transit service in native, tunneled or dual stack modes, NTT America provides a flexible and speedy transition path for businesses that need to stay competitive on a global basis, allowing them to take advantage of new applications in every market from entertainment to disaster response, while helping to ensure business continuity as IPv4 addresses dwindle.

5. The Need for Speed
Connectivity to global markets is driving business growth especially in the content space.  Providing customers with the fastest available connectivity to these markets can make the difference between growing your international customers' base or losing out to someone with speedier access.  The NTT Communications Global IP Network reached the milestone of 300 Gigabits per second (Gbps) of available capacity on the transpacific portion of the network early in 2010.  300Gbps is the highest available published capacity of any global Tier-1 network on the transpacific path and allows NTT America to serve growing international customer bases, and provide a cost-effective solution to meet demand for unprecedented bandwidth, speed and capacity.  The speed of the network means that NTT America can quickly deliver rich and streaming content globally.  The network also has the ability to absorb spikes in traffic resulting from events or increased demand.  The global reach of the network allows downstream carriers and service providers the ability to deliver traffic internationally, which is as important for meeting the demand for high speed Internet access as is the ability, maintained by the network's more than 1Tb of peering capacity, to add new subscribers quickly.

4. No Time for Downtime
For today's enterprise with the Internet at its core, downtime is not an option.  Maintaining the quality of the service offered and having a strategy in place to manage and monitor the network issues before they arise is good business practice.  Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) are one effective tool service providers can use to define and regulate required performance management processes.

NTT America's SLAs are the most aggressive in the industry and guarantee that the network will be outage free 100 percent of the time.  Depending on your business needs, other metrics can be equally important, including latency, packet loss and jitter - continuously monitored and published online, these metrics can help pinpoint any issues or needed upgrades.

3. Anticipate the Needs of Your Customers
Not all customers use the same service for the same reason, so understanding each customers' needs as well as examining the type of traffic on the network not only avoids unnecessary delays, but ultimately can help customers manage their IT expenditures.

As most Internet-centric businesses know, bandwidth resources and requirements are predictably unpredictable.  Your company may be launching a new SaaS application or starting an online marketing promotion and your best guess at the bandwidth needs may be just that, a guess.  A service provider who can offer flexibility managing these changes provides a distinct advantage for your company by quickly handling unanticipated demand without any service degradation.  The NTT Communications Global IP network shapes IP transit bandwidth up to 10Gbps, delivered over both the current Internet protocol (IPv4) and the next generation Internet protocol (IPv6), and offering the fastest provisioning of any number of 10GigE ports available.

2. Invest for Success
Optimal network architecture for content distribution and delivery worldwide is key to any successful network as flexibility in bandwidth, connections and pricing are fundamental to containing costs.  For service providers that want to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to providing customers with flexible, cost-effective and high performance solutions to meet their bandwidth needs, continued investment in network infrastructure must remain a priority.  NTT America has continued to make extensive infrastructure investments-such as the deployment of Juniper T1600 and Cisco ASR 9000 Routers, and IPv6-to support customer requirements for increased bandwidth and to take advantage of the latest advancements in networking technology with the ultimate goal of preparing companies for current and future business opportunities on an international basis.

1. Innovate: Think Next, Not Just Now
A commitment to staying ahead of the curve with network investments is important for service providers and enterprises who are servicing a myriad of customer needs.   As 100GigE becomes a reality, providers must anticipate what's next not just for their network but for customer growth and even new kinds of applications.  Enabling network infrastructure to support the highest available capacity with leading edge technology and almost unlimited IP addresses will help prepare customers for future business opportunities and next generation products and services. The investments NTT America makes to maintain a high quality network are cost effective and ensure that the services its customers offer online are available and performing optimally 24x7x365.