Metro Ethernet
A Metro Ethernet network is a metropolitan area network (MAN) that is based on Ethernet standards. It is commonly used to connect subscribers to a larger service network or the Internet. Businesses can also use metropolitan-area Ethernet to connect their own offices to each other. A distinct advantage of an Ethernet-based access network is that it can be easily connected to the customer network, due to the prevalent use of Ethernet in corporate and, more recently, residential networks. A typical service provider's network is a collection of switches and routers connected through optical fiber. The topology could be a ring, hub-and-spoke (star), or full or partial mesh. The network will also have a hierarchy: core, distribution (aggregation), and access. The core in most cases is an existing IP/MPLS backbone but may migrate to newer forms of Ethernet transport in the form of 10Gbit/s, 40Gbit/s, or 100Gbit/s speeds or even possibly 400Gbit/s to Terabit Ethernet network in the future.
Ethernet on the MAN can be used as pure Ethernet, Ethernet over SDH, Ethernet over MPLS, or Ethernet over DWDM. MPLS-based deployments are costly but highly reliable and scalable and are typically used by large service providers.
