| Adaptive Private Networking (APN) is a new | | | | The disconnect with regards to pricing becomes very |
| technology that combines affordable and easily | | | | noticeable when compared with the improved |
| obtainable IP bandwidth sources such as broadband | | | | affordability of broadband connectivity such as DSL or |
| with high performance, more expensive WAN (wide | | | | Cable internet over the same period of time. These |
| area network) technologies like MPLS. The end result | | | | services are as cheap as $3 to $15/month per Mbps, |
| is next-generation enterprise WANs that can deliver | | | | and in some cases even less. However, the reason |
| 30 to 100 times the bandwidth per dollar while reducing | | | | why enterprise businesses have continued to use |
| WAN costs by anywhere from 40 to 90%. | | | | more expensive solutions such as Frame Relay and |
| Additionally, APN technology offers greater reliability | | | | MPLS is because the reliability of broadband and |
| than any modern single provider Frame Relay or | | | | internet networks is no business quality and unlikely to |
| MPLS WANs. | | | | ever get to a 99.99% reliability level. |
| The Enterprise WAN market has not seen a lot of | | | | This is where Adaptive Private Networking bridges the |
| change for many years. In the early 1990's, Frame | | | | gap. APN appliances leverage network bandwidth |
| Relay brought better bandwidth at a lower cost to IT | | | | from multiple sources with a WAN, such as high-speed |
| Managers looking for alternatives to X.25 and | | | | MPLS connections at central locations and broadband |
| point-to-point leased lines when building their WANs. | | | | connections at branch locations. In the same way that |
| Frame Relay, along with the comparably expensive | | | | a VOIP service such as Skype uses overlay |
| single-sourced MPLS services are still the predominant | | | | networking techniques, APN does the same thing. In |
| technologies for corporate Intranet traffic today. Both | | | | layman's terms, this concept allows your wide area |
| technologies have the benefit of offering highly reliable | | | | network to use large amounts of inexpensive |
| ("3½ nines," i.e., 99.95%, or better) service from a | | | | broadband bandwidth combined with small amounts of |
| single carrier. However, the cost of these services | | | | more expensive MPLS or Frame Relay in order to |
| comes at a price that is still equal to 1998 pricing on a | | | | deliver business-quality connections over the entire |
| cost-per-Mbps basis. | | | | network at a fraction of the cost. |