Yipes: Breaking Through the Bandwidth Bottleneck
Yipes Communications, based in San Francisco, uses the Ethernet and IP networking to link businesses and campuses to the Internet via high-speed optical fiber. What's more, Yipes sells bandwidth on demand. So, rather than paying up front for large chunks of bandwidth, users pay as they go—buying only what they use.
To make its connections, Yipes leases dark fiber, fiber optic cable that already exists underground but is not in use by other providers. In order to deliver performance without the local bottleneck, Yipes connects directly to the end user, covering the "last mile" that carriers typically do not cover. Because Yipes operates via Ethernet, no translating hardware and software, and thus no hardware purchases, are required between its gigabit routers and the customer. All the end user buys is bandwidth.
With Yipes' optical IP networks, customers can scale their bandwidth use up or down in one-megabit increments up to one gigabyte. At the moment, in most markets, customers can upgrade or downgrade bandwidth levels with only a phone call and three hours' notice. The company expects that customers will soon be able to use a Web site to order changes that will kick in within minutes. With Yipes, campuses can power down during spring break and order a temporary increase when it's time to do a system backup. Yipes claims that this pay-as-you-go method is significantly cheaper, puts the control in the hands of the customer, and saves institutions the cost of expensive hardware.
In place now in 20 markets nationwide, Yipes is rapidly expanding. Currently, it provides access for a variety of local institutions to three Internet2 gigaPOP sites: Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (managed by the University of Maryland, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Virginia Tech), the Mid-Atlantic gigaPOP in Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania), and the Goddard gigaPOP (Worcester Polytechnic Institute).
Yipes products all feature unique IP over fiber networking. Yipes MAN (Metro Area Network) provides LAN-to-LAN connectivity to increase local area network connection speeds on demand. Yipes NET gives schools high-speed Internet service within the Yipes metro network. Yipes WAN is suitable for connecting LANs situated in distant locations, and Yipes WALL is managed firewall service. Yipes also offers Yipes WEB, a collection of managed hosting options, and network design and implementation services. www.yipes.com
