IP Network

The term IP network here embraces any kind of data network with the TCP/IP protocol, regardless of the underlying type of network. Most enterprises are comprised of a Local Area Network (LAN) for connecting IP devices, such as PCs, servers and printers. The MX-ONE Service Nodes, Media Gateways and IP terminals are connected to the LAN using 10/100 Mbit Ethernet interfaces. That is, other types of data networks (over FDDI, Token Ring, ATM, and so on) cannot be used to connect directly to these devices.

A corporate IP network can be comprised of several LAN segments, each with its own address range, which can reside on the same physical site or be spread over several locations. Several LAN networks spread over multiple sites can be inter-connected via a Wide Area Network (WAN). This is usually accomplished using routers communicating via service provider connections between the sites. The underlying protocol (xDSL, ATM, MPLS, ISDN, etc...) is irrelevant as long as the routing protocol is IP.

In case a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server is set up correctly in the IP network, the server can provide an IP terminal with a network domain name.