NTT's OCN: Don't Ask, Just Use?When NTT first announced its Open Computer Network (OCN) a little over a year ago, details were scarce. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were worried, and users were frustrated. After an initial rocky start, however, OCN has evolved into a service that deserves serious consideration for non-critical business use. Details, unfortunately, remain scarce.
by Tim Romero The main selling point of OCN is that it is absurdly cheap bandwidth. OCN Economy service provides a dedicated 128K-bps connection to the Internet for just \38,000 per month. Users with greater needs can choose either OCN Standard (a 1.5M-bps pipe for \350,000 per month) or OCN Enterprise (a whopping 6.0M-bps connection for \985,000 per month). This pricing structure means that consumers can now buy dedicated bandwidth from NTT at about one-sixth the price that ISPs pay for it -- a situation that, as you can imagine, Japan's ISPs are none too pleased with.
Making the comparison Comparing pricing and nominal bandwidth is a straightforward exercise. Assessing the quality and reliability of a connection, however, is considerably more complex -- something that usually requires a solid understanding of the network to which you will be connecting. Perhaps unsurprisingly, NTT doesn't quite see it that way. The bandwidth comes from NTT, and NTT is, by definition, reliable. What more could one need to know? I speak from experience: A half-hour spent with NTT technical support can feel a lot like waking up in the middle of a David Lynch movie. Questions regarding topology, protocols, internal bandwidth, routing hardware and software, number of subscribers, or even type of e-mail servers used all have the same standard answer: "I'm sorry, but that's confidential information." The representative with whom I spoke at length for this column became quite annoyed at my persistent inquiries into NTT's "private matters." What NTT doesn't seem to realize is that most of this information can be obtained through or deduced from other sources. And what I discovered by this roundabout method is hardly confidence-inspiring. For example, in the OCN Economy configuration, up to twenty-four 128K lines feed into a single router, which is connected upstream via a single 128K pipe. This means that NTT can oversell bandwidth by as much as 24:1, excessive even in the Internet access game. And I, as a subscriber, have no knowledge or control over how "my" router's other 23 lines are being used. So if one of those OCN subscribers decides to put up a porno site, my connection could crawl to a halt. When I inquired about such a scenario, NTT would merely state that while such sites are not prohibited, they are discouraged. No one would elaborate on what form such "discouragement" might take.
Why does it work as good as it does? As we move further upstream, things become a bit murky. Based on observable packet loss, it seems likely that the OCN network relies heavily on frame relay. Based on these available technical details, OCN should be slow enough to make you want to get out and push. Oddly, this is not the case. Not a single OCN user I spoke with had any bandwidth complaints. They usually don't get the full 128K, they conceded, but it seems they can always count on at least 80K to 90K. Now, I find few things quite as unnerving as watching a system run smoothly when I know it should be limping along. It's tough to argue with empirical evidence, though, and OCN seems to be performing admirably (at least, for the moment). But I have my doubts as to whether NTT will be able to maintain this level of performance as the number of users increases, even though the company claims to be in the process of upgrading the OCN infrastructure. (The nature of these upgrades is, of course, confidential.) So, is OCN reliable enough for heavy corporate use? The company's secrecy, coupled with the few technical details I could confirm, would make me wary of a long-term commitment. And I know of at least one NTT division that chooses to pay a non-NTT ISP much more for a dedicated 64K feed rather than use the 128K OCN service. What do they know that we don't?
A don't ask, don't tell policy There is no question that OCN as implemented today is workable. And if you're a heavy Internet user, at only \38,000 per month it's probably worth signing up and doing your own testing. There is one clear downside to OCN, however: Don't expect much in the way of customer support. When I asked how OCN customers could get the answers needed to solve specific problems, the answer was, "Subscribers can call our support office. A technician will tell them everything they need to know." When I reminded the technician that for the past 30 minutes he had been steadfastly refusing to answer my questions, he very politely set me straight. "Well, yes; but you're asking about things you don't need to know." This is the first "In My Opinion," a new bimonthly column by Tim Romero. Tim also writes the weekly "Tangled Web" column for the Japan Times. You can reach him at t3@vanguardjp.com. . |
