The closer you look at private networks and virtual private networks over satellite, the sooner you realize that both have considerable potential, and the two service offerings have emerged just as many multi-site enterprises are searching for reliable and affordable business continuity and enhanced networking options.

Private networks and virtual private networks (VPN) over satellite are receiving a good deal of attention lately. Increasingly Internet Protocol (IP)-based, data-centric enterprises want complete reliability and need to be assured that their bandwidth — wired and wireless — is capable of supporting the task at hand. In addition, information technology managers need to know that when the chips are down, bandwidth in abundance is flowing via satellite across the entire enterprise.

“The overall enterprise VPN market in the U.S. is sizable, and competing in this segment requires the ability to provide services such as full network and service management, security services, high reliability and sophisticated IP networking functionality,” says Sampath Ramaswami, senior director, service development and marketing at Maryland-based Hughes Network Systems, which is the leading provider of satellite-based private networks. “A fully managed private network service will include all of the life cycle service delivery elements — from network design and engineering, deployment, 24-by-7 operations, network management, field maintenance, billing, fault management and performance management. Given the intense competition for the larger accounts, price points are very important,” he says.

John Dwyer, CEO of End II End Communications Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., which has deployed VPNs for companies such as BASF, urges satellite providers to partner with terrestrial providers and to “embrace and educate them on the additional value-added services that satellite provides such as business continuity, disaster recovery and multicasting/broadcasting. … A recent U.S. Postal Service contract, which was one of the biggest satellite contracts awarded in several years, is the perfect example. Partnering with a satellite provider for last mile and value-added services enabled [the Postal Service] to deploy their advanced services,” says Dwyer. “This importance (of satellite) to the enterprise wide area network (WAN) grows as customers of the terrestrial and satellite providers securely extend the enterprise and increase their usage of enterprise applications down to the remote office.”

Government agencies, small office settings, medium-sized businesses and telecommuters are driving demand, says John Beattie, director of WildBlue Enterprise Solutions at Colorado-based WildBlue Communications. The satellite operator offers Ka-band satellite-based high-speed Internet access and network solutions including end-to-end VPN solutions provided by approved third party vendors such as UDcast, Xiplink and Encore Networks. WildBlue also recently teamed up Orbital Data Net and Encore Networks to deploy a satellite-based VPN solution for the State of Missouri. Users “are looking for secure connectivity between areas where there is no terrestrial connectivity and a corporate HQ/data center,” says Beattie. “It is important to note that these solutions include a router, proprietary satellite acceleration technology, and true IP [security] protocols in a separate network device.”

According to Iñigo López, product marketing director at France’s UDcast, demand for VSAT connections for branch offices of enterprises is growing at 10 percent per year, and in markets such as the Asia-Pacific region, demand is growing more than 30 percent. While the market is there, providers need to work with companies which sometimes will plug in terrestrial VPN network devices without coordinating with designated satellite service providers. This can quickly lock up satellite networks. “The intrinsic problems of the slowness of enterprise applications that were not designed to be used over networks with longer delays and security need to be addressed,” he says. “When branch offices need to get connected to the company’s intranet over satellite, the VPN solution must match the level of security of the enterprise.”

Keeping Costs In Check

When it comes to the target that satellite companies must meet in order to grab a share of this market, cost is not really an issue, says Paul Heinerscheid, president & CEO of Luxembourg-based Satlynx. The key is to be flexible in response to the customer’s requirements. “Every IT and network manager will tell you that their applications, and hence networks, are unique,” he says. “Satlynx responds to this demand by offering a flexible approach, building solutions from standard components, whether they are end-to-end VPN over shared hub and space segment; VPN from the hub to the customer’s [headquarters] or end-to-end private hub, space-segment and leased line.”

According to Heinerscheid, two Satlynx-enabled networks to illustrate this well. One is the largest retail gasoline network in Europe comprising more than 5,000 sites throughout 15 countries where the cost of implementation and operation has saved the customer millions through interfacing with a single point of contact. Continuation of business is done across a very high availability medium and a lower cost of transport instead of multiple 64 kilobit per second terrestrial lines. The other retail network — for a Do-It-Yourself chain in Germany with more than 300 sites — is used not as a primary network but as a secondary/tertiary network alongside an ISDN fallback. “The cost of operation is significantly lower than if the network were operated as the primary, but nonetheless the cost is still a worthwhile investment versus the failure of not doing business should a site be cut off,” says Heinerscheid, who adds that any cost benefit analysis should always take this loss of business into consideration.

Virginia-based Blue Ridge Networks Inc. is seeing significant demand for VPN over satellite and expects this to grow exponentially over the next two to three years, says Tom Eilers, the company’s senior managing director. “Since [Voice Over IP] is starting take over in terms of converged networking, we see this as the greatest service market to focus in on for the near term. Additionally. We still see growth in the business continuity marketplace, as terrestrial based service/solutions are not always optimal as they do not offer true path diversity for clients,” says Eilers. 

At the same time, clients remain concerned about the protection of data in transit and at the endpoints. “Many clients require a single point of audit and control.  We help our clients by offering them a simple to use, easy to deploy solution which provides both strong authentication and encryption, and, is optimized for bandwidth constrained environments like satellite networking,” says Eilers.

“We only focus in on securing the network/applications,” adds Eilers. “From a security standpoint, the more complex applications you have in a single device like routing and firewalling, for example, the greater opportunity for security vulnerabilities of the product.  All you need to do is compromise one application and you have got the whole device.”

Network Management Systems Vital

Increasingly, private network providers not only install but also manage private networks for their customers. From a single terminal, service providers are made aware instantly of any failures on any of the networks they manage. They also can view all the networks on a single geographical display with weather overlays to help predict rain problems and proactively respond. In addition, customers can also log in to a Web site and view the status and performance of their private network. If there is any network latency or any degraded services, customers will know instantly if the problem is on the provider side or in their own equipment.

“More providers are establishing their own network operations centers for this purpose,” says Wally Martland, president of New Hampshire-based Newpoint Technologies Inc. “From the [center] they can manage any number of customer’s private networks. This drastically increases the reliability of the network and service recovery time. IT staffs can focus on what they do best, which is the IP network itself. … When the customer is confident that should a failure occur, the service provider will know about it as it happens and will be able to remotely recover the service in a matter of minutes, then satellite has become a real player in the private network marketplace and in most cases can be more reliable than cable or fiber with the same performance,” says Martland.

Newpoint is transforming itself from strictly a satellite network management system (NMS) to a communications NMS in order to capitalize on the market, but Martland is concerned about losing business to terrestrial providers at the same time that his company is being asked more and more to get involved in managing hybrid networks. “As customers require them more and more, the line between a satellite provider and a terrestrial provider is becoming gray and the same is true of the NMS vendors,” he says. “As the terrestrial providers are asked to provide satellite, their terrestrial NMS are going to be asked to manage satellite equipment and networks, and in reverse, the same is being demanded of us. "

According to Dwyer, enterprise customers do not care what is causing a VPN and their enterprise applications not to work, they just want it to work. “The optimization and security solutions provided need to be seamless to the end customer,” he says. “In the context of business continuity for the WAN, hybrid networks tend to connote sites with a primary terrestrial connection that has satellite as a backup.” End II End recently was awarded a patent for systems and methods for broadband network optimization which focuses on testing a WAN connection to discover performance attributes and changing the attributes of the packet and/or network device based on test results to improve performance.

According to Ramaswami, any integrated terrestrial and satellite solution must combine dual diverse access with a fully managed services approach, and each site in the customer’s network must be provisioned with terrestrial broadband and satellite broadband access. “Policy-based routing provides for applications to be routed to the appropriate path, and in the event of a failure of one of the links, all data travels over the other link. With this approach, the customer realizes higher network availability than a typical single-threaded multiprotocol label switching network at a significantly lower cost point,” he says. “This solution is targeted at the distributed enterprise, looking to migrate from a legacy narrowband frame network, but finding the cost of a T1-based network cost prohibitive. By its very nature, satellite provides path diversity that other wireline backups cannot match.”

Private network and VPN services over satellite are proving to be quite attractive, and not just for backup or business continuity purposes. Enterprises that are placing a greater emphasis on increased mobility and telework, along with higher bandwidth telepresence platforms may find this satellite service dimension exciting. All in all, no matter how expansive the WAN in question, satellite stands tall and secure when it comes to private networks.