12 Foods That Lower Cholesterol Naturally

1. Oats
If you're looking to lower your cholesterol, the key may be simply changing your morning meal. Switching up your breakfast to contain two servings of oats can lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) by 5.3% in only 6 weeks. The key to this cholesterol buster is beta-glucan, a substance in oats that absorbs LDL, which your body then excretes. Banish bland oats with this dessert-worthy ginergersnap oatmeal recipe.

2. Red wine
Scientists are giving us yet another reason to drink to our health. It turns out that high-fiber Tempranillo red grapes, used to make red wine like Rioja, may actually have a significant effect on lowering cholesterol levels. A study conducted by the department of metabolism and nutrition at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain found that when individuals consumed the same grape supplement found in red wine, their LDL levels decreased by 9%. In addition, those who had high cholesterol going into the study saw a 12% drop in LDL. So go ahead and drink a glass for that lowering cholesterol benefit.

3. Salmon & fatty fish
Omega-3 fats are one of the natural health wonders of the world and have been shown to ward off heart disease, dementia, and many other diseases. Now these fatty acids can add yet another health benefit to their repertoire: lowering cholesterol. According to research from Loma Linda University, replacing saturated fats with omega-3s like those found in salmon, sardines, and herring can raise good cholesterol as much as 4%. (Here's everything you need to know about buying the healthiest fish possible.)


Are you at risk for the #1 cause of heart-related death?

4. Nuts
If you're looking for that perfect snack food that lowers cholesterol levels, research shows that you should get cracking! In a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who noshed on 1.5 ounces of whole walnuts 6 days a week for 1 month lowered their total cholesterol by 5.4% and LDL cholesterol by 9.3%. Almonds and cashews are other good options. However, while nuts are heart healthy, they're also high in calories, so practice portion control—1.5 ounces is about a shot glass and a half. Use a shot glass to measure out your portion so you can see exactly how it looks.

5. Tea


Photo by gojack/Getty Images

While tea has become well known for its cancer-fighting antioxidants, it is also a great defense against LDL cholesterol levels. According to research conducted with the USDA, black tea has been shown to reduce blood lipids by up to 10% in only 3 weeks. These findings were concluded in a larger study of how tea may also help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. (Here's how to make the perfect cup of tea every time.)

MORE: The Healthiest Teas To Drink From Morning To Night

6. Beans
Beans, beans—they really are good for your heart. Researchers at Arizona State University Polytechnic found that adding ½ cup of beans to soup lowers total cholesterol, including LDL, by up to 8%. The key to this heart-healthy food that lowers cholesterol is its abundance of fiber, which has been shown to slow the rate and amount of absorption of cholesterol in certain foods. Try black, kidney, or pinto beans; each supplies about one-third of your daily fiber needs.

7. Chocolate
Yes! Chocolate is one of the foods that lowers cholesterol. This powerful antioxidant helps build HDL cholesterol levels. In a 2007 study published in AJCN, participants who were given cocoa powder had a 24% increase in HDL levels over 12 weeks, compared with a 5% increase in the control group. Remember to choose the dark or bittersweet kind. Compared to milk chocolate, it has more than 3 times as many antioxidants, which prevent blood platelets from sticking together and may even keep arteries unclogged.

8. Margarine
Switching to a margarine with plant sterols, such as Promise activ or Benecol, could help lower cholesterol. Plant sterols are compounds that reduce cholesterol absorption; a study published in AJCN found that women who had a higher plant sterol–based diet were able to lower total cholesterol by 3.5%.

9. Garlic
Aside from adding zing to almost any dish, garlic makes the list of foods that lower cholesterol; it's also been found to prevent blood clots, reduce blood pressure, and protect against infections. Now research finds that it helps stop artery-clogging plaque at its earliest stage by keeping cholesterol particles from sticking to artery walls. Try for two to four fresh cloves a day of this powerful cholesterol fighting food.

10. Olive oil


Photo by Okea/Getty Images

Good news: This common cooking ingredient can help your health. Olive oil is full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which lower LDL cholesterol—and have the welcome side effect of trimming belly fat. Use it to make your own salad dressings, marinate chicken and fish, or roast vegetables.

11. Spinach
This popular green food that lowers cholesterol contains lots of lutein, the sunshine-yellow pigment found in dark green leafy vegetables and egg yolks. Lutein already has a "golden" reputation for guarding against age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness. Now research suggests that just ½ cup of a lutein-rich food daily also guards against heart attacks by helping artery walls "shrug off" cholesterol invaders that cause clogging. Look for bags of baby spinach leaves that you can use for salads or pop in the microwave for a quick side dish.

MORE: 3 Recipes To Take Your Love Of Spinach To A Whole New Level

12. Avocado
Avocados are a great source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that may actually help raise HDL cholesterol while lowering LDL. And, more than any other fruit, this delectable food packs cholesterol-smashing beta-sitosterol, a beneficial plant-based fat that reduces the amount of cholesterol absorbed from food. Since avocados are a bit high in calories and fat (300 calories and 30 g fat per avocado), use them in moderation. (We suggest these 8 unique and insanely tasty avocado recipes.)

integrating barcode scanner into php application?

PHP can be easily utilized for reading bar codes printed on paper documents. Connecting manual barcode reader to the computer via USB significantly extends usability of PHP (or any other web programming language) into tasks involving document and product management, like finding a book records in the database or listing all bills for a particular customer.

Following sections briefly describe process of connecting and using manual bar code reader with PHP.



What is a bar code reader (scanner)

Bar code reader is a hardware pluggable into computer that sends decoded bar code strings into computer. The trick is to know how to catch that received string. With PHP (and any other web programming language) the string will be placed into focused input HTML element in browser. Thus to catch received bar code string, following must be done:

just before reading the bar code, proper input element, such as INPUT TEXT FIELD must be focused (mouse cursor is inside of the input field). once focused, start reading the code when the code is recognized (bar code reader usually shortly beeps), it is send to the focused input field. By default, most of bar code readers will append extra special character to decoded bar code string called CRLF (ENTER). For example, if decoded bar code is "12345AB", then computer will receive "12345AB". Appended character (or ) emulates pressing the key ENTER causing instant submission of the HTML form:

<form action="search.php" method="post">
    <input name="documentID" onmouseover="this.focus();" type="text">
</form>

PHP can be easily utilized for reading bar codes printed on paper documents. Connecting manual barcode reader to the computer via USB significantly extends usability of PHP (or any other web programming language) into tasks involving document and product management, like finding a book records in the database or listing all bills for a particular customer.

Following sections briefly describe process of connecting and using manual bar code reader with PHP.

The usage of bar code scanners described in this article are in the same way applicable to any web programming language, such as ASP, Python or Perl. This article uses only PHP since all tests have been done with PHP applications.
What is a bar code reader (scanner)

Bar code reader is a hardware pluggable into computer that sends decoded bar code strings into computer. The trick is to know how to catch that received string. With PHP (and any other web programming language) the string will be placed into focused input HTML element in browser. Thus to catch received bar code string, following must be done:

just before reading the bar code, proper input element, such as INPUT TEXT FIELD must be focused (mouse cursor is inside of the input field). once focused, start reading the code when the code is recognized (bar code reader usually shortly beeps), it is send to the focused input field. By default, most of bar code readers will append extra special character to decoded bar code string called CRLF (ENTER). For example, if decoded bar code is "12345AB", then computer will receive "12345AB". Appended character (or ) emulates pressing the key ENTER causing instant submission of the HTML form:

<form action="search.php" method="post">
    <input name="documentID" onmouseover="this.focus();" type="text">
</form>
Choosing the right bar code scanner

When choosing bar code reader, one should consider what types of bar codes will be read with it. Some bar codes allow only numbers, others will not have checksum, some bar codes are difficult to print with inkjet printers, some barcode readers have narrow reading pane and cannot read for example barcodes with length over 10 cm. Most of barcode readers support common barcodes, such as EAN8, EAN13, CODE 39, Interleaved 2/5, Code 128 etc.

For office purposes, the most suitable barcodes seem to be those supporting full range of alphanumeric characters, which might be:

code 39 - supports 0-9, uppercased A-Z, and few special characters (dash, comma, space, $, /, +, %, *)
code 128 - supports 0-9, a-z, A-Z and other extended characters
Other important things to note:

make sure all standard barcodes are supported, at least CODE39, CODE128, Interleaved25, EAN8, EAN13, PDF417, QRCODE.
use only standard USB plugin cables. RS232 interfaces are meant for industrial usage, rather than connecting to single PC.
the cable should be long enough, at least 1.5 m - the longer the better.
bar code reader plugged into computer should not require other power supply - it should power up simply by connecting to PC via USB.
if you also need to print bar code into generated PDF documents, you can use TCPDF open source library that supports most of common 2D bar codes.


installing scanner drivers

Installing manual bar code reader requires installing drivers for your particular operating system and should be normally supplied with purchased bar code reader.

Once installed and ready, bar code reader turns on signal LED light. Reading the barcode starts with pressing button for reading.

step 3

Conclusion

It seems, that utilization of PHP (and actually any web programming language) for scanning the bar codes has been quite overlooked so far. However, with natural support of emulated keypress (ENTER/CRLF) it is very easy to automate collecting & processing recognized bar code strings via simple HTML (GUI) fomular.

The key is to understand, that recognized bar code string is instantly sent to the focused HTML element, such as INPUT text field with appended trailing character ASCII 13 (=ENTER/CRLF, configurable option), which instantly sends input text field with populated received barcode as a HTML formular to any other script for further processing.

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Fatty Liver Disease

Some fat in your liver is normal. But if it makes up more than 5%-10% of the organ's weight, you may have fatty liver disease. If you're a drinker, stop. That's one of the key causes of the condition.

There are two main types of fatty liver disease:

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD)
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD)

You can get alcoholic liver disease from drinking lots of alcohol. It can even show up after a short period of heavy drinking.

Genes that are passed down from your parents may also play a role in ALD. They can affect the chances that you become an alcoholic. And they can also have an impact on the way your body breaks down the alcohol you drink.

Other things that may affect your chance of getting ALD are:

Hepatitis C (which can lead to inflammation in your liver)
Too much iron in your body

Being obese

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

It's not clear what causes this type of fatty liver disease. It tends to run in families.

It's also more likely to happen to those who are middle-aged and overweight or obese. People like that often have high cholesterol and diabetes as well.

Other causes are:

Medications
Viral hepatitis
Autoimmune or inherited liver disease
Fast weight loss
Malnutrition

Some studies show that too much bacteria in your small intestine and other changes in the intestine may be linked to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.


Diagnosis of Fatty Liver Disease
You might find out that you have the disease when you get a routine checkup. Your doctor might notice that your liver is a little larger than usual.

Other ways your doctor might spot the disease are:

Blood tests. A high number of certain enzymes could mean you've got fatty liver.

Ultrasound. It uses soundwaves to get a picture of your liver.


Treatment of Fatty Liver Disease

There is no specific treatment. But you can improve your condition by managing your diabetes, if you have it.

If you have alcoholic liver disease and you are a heavy drinker, quitting is the most important thing you can do. Talk to your doctor about how to get help. If you don't stop you could get complications like alcoholic hepatitis or cirrhosis.

Even if you have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, it can help to avoid drinking. If you are overweight or obese, do what you can to gradually lose weight -- no more than 1 or 2 pounds a week.

Eat a balanced and healthy diet and get regular exercise. Limit high-carb foods such as bread, grits, rice, potatoes, and corn. And cut down on drinks with lots of sugar like sports drinks and juice.

http://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/fatty-liver-disease?page=2

What is webuzo?

Webuzo is a single user control panel/Application Manager which allow users to deploy popular web applications like Word Press, Zoomla and  drupal etc  with a single click. No Sys Admin level expertise are required to install such applications, you have to focus on using the application instead of maintaining that applications, it is an cPanel like  control panel.Webuzo is ideal for use in Enterprises, Small and Medium business environments, almost 240 web applications are supported by Webuzo. It is also suitable for web developers as  along-with web applications, system applications like MongoDB, Apache, NGINX, Java etc. can also be installed.List of available app plug-ins which are supported by Webuzo are available In  this link.

BEST FEATURE
you can build 

WIKI
BLOG
MAIL SERVER 
FOURM

what is BigBlueButton advantage & disadvantage

BigBlueButton is the open source video based web conferencing system for on-line learning. We can easily integrate it with various on-line learning platforms like WordPress, and Moodle etc. Also, we can have multiple sessions with voice and video support, live chat, you can share documents like pdf or ppt. It requires webcam, head phone from your desktop for live sessions and each session can be recorded for later playback

Best Feature

Public and Private Chat
The Chat window enables all participants to conduct public or private chats
See all Participants
The Voice window shows all the users that are currently connected to the voice conference bridge, either by calling in directly or using the built-in voice over IP client.
See each other
Share video over the web using a built or external webcam. Multiple participants and a presenter can be sharing their video simultaneously
Share any PDF or Office documents
 presenter is able to upload any PDF or Office document. You can upload multiple documents and switch between them during the presentation. All participants see the current slide as the presenter moves through their presentation.
Share your Desktop

As a presenter you have the capability of sharing your desktop with others in the conference. When you share your desktop, BigBlueButton will launch a Java Applet that asks for your permissions to run. You have the option of sharing a portion of your desktop or the entire screen.

.

Minimum requirements:

• Minimum 4 GB RAM. But, less then 4 GB memory can make the session slow.
• Must be installed on a minimum of Quad-Core System.
• Minimum 500 GB Disk Storage for recording Purpose.
• Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit System (Server with GUI is preferred)
• Stop or do not install https services, as 80  ports must be free.
• Good Internet Speed.
• Latest Adobe Flash player must be installed on Browser.

Top 15 Healthy Foods for People with Kidney Disease

Researchers are discovering more and more links between chronic diseases, inflammation and “super foods” that may prevent or protect against undesirable fatty acid oxidation, a condition that occurs when the oxygen in your body reacts with fats in your blood and your cells. Oxidation is a normal process for energy production and many chemical reactions in the body, but excessive oxidation of fats and cholesterol creates molecules known as free radicals that can damage your proteins, cell membranes and genes. Heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other chronic and degenerative conditions have been linked to oxidative damage.

However, foods that contain antioxidants can help neutralize free radicals and protect the body. Many of the foods that protect against oxidation are included in the kidney diet and make excellent choices for dialysis patients or people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Eating healthy foods, working with a renal dietitian and following a renal diet made up of kidney-friendly foods is important for people with kidney disease because they experience more inflammation and have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease.

1. Red bell peppers

1/2 cup serving red bell pepper = 1 mg sodium, 88 mg potassium, 10 mg phosphorus
Red bell peppers are low in potassium and high in flavor, but that’s not the only reason they’re perfect for the kidney diet. These tasty vegetables are also an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin A, as well as vitamin B6, folic acid and fiber. Red bell peppers are good for you because they contain lycopene, an antioxidant that protects against certain cancers.

Eat red bell peppers raw with dip as a snack or appetizer, or mix them into tuna or chicken salad. You can also roast peppers and use them as a topping on sandwiches or lettuce salads, chop them for an omelet, add them to kabobs on the grill or stuff peppers with ground turkey or beef and bake them for a main dish.

2. Cabbage

1/2 cup serving green cabbage = 6 mg sodium, 60 mg potassium, 9 mg phosphorus
A cruciferous vegetable, cabbage is packed full of phytochemicals, chemical compounds in fruit or vegetables that break up free radicals before they can do damage. Many phytochemicals are also known to protect against and fight cancer, as well as foster cardiovascular health.

High in vitamin K, vitamin C and fiber, cabbage is also a good source of vitamin B6 and folic acid. Low in potassium and low in cost, it’s an affordable addition to the kidney diet.

Raw cabbage makes a great addition to the dialysis diet as coleslaw or topping for fish tacos. You can steam, microwave or boil it, add butter or cream cheese plus pepper or caraway seeds and serve it as a side dish. Cabbage Rolls Made with Turkey are a great appetizer, and if you’re feeling fancy, you can stuff a cabbage with ground meat and bake it for a flavorful meal bursting with nutrients.

3. Cauliflower

1/2 cup serving boiled cauliflower = 9 mg sodium, 88 mg potassium, 20 mg phosphorus
Another cruciferous vegetable, cauliflower is high in vitamin C and a good source of folate and fiber. It’s also packed full of indoles, glucosinolates and thiocyanates—compounds that help the liver neutralize toxic substances that could damage cell membranes and DNA.

Serve it raw as crudités with dip, add it to a salad, or steam or boil it and season with spices such as turmeric, curry powder, pepper and herb seasonings. You can also make a nondairy white sauce, pour it over the cauliflower and bake until tender. You can pair cauliflower with pasta or even mash cauliflower as a dialysis diet replacement for mashed potatoes.

4. Garlic

1 clove garlic = 1 mg sodium, 12 mg potassium, 4 mg phosphorus
Garlic helps prevent plaque from forming on your teeth, lowers cholesterol and reduces inflammation.  

Buy it fresh, bottled, minced or powdered, and add it to meat, vegetable or pasta dishes. You can also roast a head of garlic and spread on bread. Garlic provides a delicious flavor and garlic powder is a great substitute for garlic salt in the dialysis diet.

5. Onions

1/2 cup serving onion = 3 mg sodium, 116 mg potassium, 3 mg phosphorus
Onion, a member of the Allium family and a basic flavoring in many cooked dishes, contains sulfur compounds which give it its pungent smell. But in addition to making some people cry, onions are also rich in flavonoids, especially quercetin, a powerful antioxidant that works to reduce heart disease and protects against many cancers. Onions are low in potassium and a good source of chromium, a mineral that helps with carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism.

Try using a variety of onions including white, brown, red and others. Eat onions raw on burgers, sandwiches and in salads, cook them and use as a caramelized topping or fry them into onion rings. Include onions in recipes such as Italian Beef with Peppers and Onions.

6. Apples

1 medium apple with skin = 0 sodium, 158 mg potassium, 10 mg phosphorus
Apples have been known to reduce cholesterol, prevent constipation, protect against heart disease and reduce the risk of cancer. High in fiber and anti-inflammatory compounds, an apple a day may really keep the doctor away. Good news for people with kidney disease who already have their share of doctor visits.

This kidney diet winner can be paired with the previous good-for-you food, onions, to make a unique Apple Onion Omelet. With versatile apples you can eat them raw, make baked apples, stew apples, make them into apple sauce, or drink them as apple juice or apple cider.

7. Cranberries

1/2 cup serving cranberry juice cocktail = 3 mg sodium, 22 mg potassium, 3 mg phosphorus
1/4 cup serving cranberry sauce = 35 mg sodium, 17 mg potassium, 6 mg phosphorus
1/2 cup serving dried cranberries = 2 mg sodium, 24 mg potassium and 5 mg phosphorus
These tangy, tasty berries are known to protect against bladder infections by preventing bacteria from sticking to the bladder wall. In a similar way, cranberries also protect the stomach from ulcer-causing bacteria and protect the lining of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, promoting GI health. Cranberries have also been shown to protect against cancer and heart disease.

Cranberry juice and cranberry sauce are the most frequently consumed cranberry products. You can also add dried cranberries to salads or have them as a snack.

8. Blueberries

1/2 cup serving fresh blueberries = 4 mg sodium, 65 mg potassium, 7 mg phosphorus
Blueberries are high in antioxidant phytonutrients called anthocyanidins, which give them their blue color, and they are bursting with natural compounds that reduce inflammation. Blueberries are a good source of vitamin C; manganese, a compound that keeps your bones healthy; and fiber. They may also help protect the brain from some of the effects of aging. Antioxidants in blueberries and other berries have been shown to help slow bone breakdown in rats made to be low in estrogen.

Buy blueberries fresh, frozen or dried, and try them in cereal or , topped with whipped topping, in a fruit smoothie. You can also drink blueberry juice.

9. Raspberries

1/2 cup serving raspberries = 0 mg sodium, 93 mg potassium, 7 mg phosphorus
Raspberries contain a phytonutrient called ellagic acid which helps neutralize free radicals in the body to prevent cell damage. They also contain flavonoids called anthocyanins, antioxidants which give them their red color. An excellent source of manganese, vitamin C, fiber and folate, a B vitamin, raspberries may have properties that inhibit cancer cell growth and tumor formation.

Add raspberries to cereal, or puree and sweeten them to make a dessert sauce or add them to vinaigrette dressing.

10. Strawberries

1/2 cup serving (5 medium) fresh strawberries = 1 mg sodium, 120 mg potassium, 13 mg phosphorus
Strawberries are rich in two types of phenols: anthocyanins and ellagitannins. Anthocyananins are what give strawberries their red color and are powerful antioxidants that help protect body cell structures and prevent oxidative damage. Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese and a very good source of fiber. They are known to provide heart protection, as well as anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory components.

Eat strawberries with cereal, smoothies and salad,or slice and serve them fresh or top them with whipped topping. If you’d like a more elaborate dessert, you can make strawberry pudding or sorbet, or puree and sweeten them to serve as a dessert.

11. Cherries

1/2 cup serving fresh sweet cherries = 0 mg sodium, 160 mg potassium, 15 mg phosphorus
Cherries have been shown to reduce inflammation when eaten daily. They are also packed with antioxidants and phytochemicals that protect the heart.

Eat fresh cherries as a snack or make a cherry sauce to serve with lamb or pork. Cherry juice is another way to consume this tasty food.

12. Red grapes

1/2 cup serving red grapes = 1 mg sodium, 88 mg potassium, 4 mg phosphorus
Red grapes contain several flavonoids that give them their reddish color. Flavonoids help protect against heart disease by preventing oxidation and reducing the formation of blood clots. Resveratrol, a flavonoid found in grapes, may also stimulate production of nitric oxide which helps relax muscle cells in the blood vessels to increase blood flow. These flavonoids also provide protection against cancer and prevent inflammation.

Buy grapes with red or purple skin since their anthocyanin content is higher. Freeze them to eat as a snack or to quench thirst for those on a fluid restriction for the dialysis diet. Add grapes to a fruit salad or chicken salad. Try a unique kidney diet recipe for Turkey Kabobs that feature grapes. You can also drink them as grape juice.

13. Egg whites

2 egg whites = 7 grams protein, 110 mg sodium, 108 mg potassium, 10 mg phosphorus
Egg whites are pure protein and provide the highest quality of protein with all the essential amino acids. For the kidney diet, egg whites provide protein with less phosphorus than other protein sources such as egg yolk or meats.

Buy powdered, fresh or pasteurized egg whites. Make an omelet or egg white sandwich, add pasteurized egg whites to smoothies or shakes, make deviled egg snacks,or add whites of hard-boiled eggs to tuna salad or garden salad to add extra protein.

14. Fish

3 ounces wild salmon = 50 mg sodium, 368 mg potassium, 274 mg phosphorus
Fish provides high-quality protein and contains anti-inflammatory fats called omega-3s. The healthy fats in fish can help fight diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Omega-3s also help lower low-density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol, which is bad cholesterol, and raise high-density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol, which is good cholesterol.

The American Heart Association1 and American Diabetes Association2 recommend eating fish at least two times a week. Fish highest in omega-3s include albacore tuna, herring, mackerel, rainbow trout and salmon.

1American Heart Association: Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids

2American Diabetes Association: Seafood – A Smart Choice for Diabetes

15. Olive oil

1 tablespoon olive oil = less than 1 mg sodium, less than 1 mg potassium, 0 mg phosphorus
Olive oil is a great source of oleic acid, an anti-inflammatory fatty acid. The monounsaturated fat in olive oil protects against oxidation. Olive oil is rich in polyphenols and antioxidant compounds that prevent inflammation and oxidation.

Studies show that populations that use large amounts of olive oil instead of other oils have lower rates of heart disease and cancer.

Buy virgin or extra virgin olive oil because they are higher in antioxidants. Use olive oil to make salad dressing, in cooking, for dipping bread or for marinating vegetables.

Talk to your renal dietitian about incorporating these top 15 foods for a kidney diet into your healthy eating plan. Keep in mind that these foods are healthy for everyone—including family members and friends who do not have kidney disease or are not on dialysis. When you stock your kitchen with delicious, healthy, kidney-friend foods that’s one big step to helping you do well on your kidney diet. Get more kidney diet management help with DaVita Diet Helper™
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MPLS advantages & disadvantages

MPLS advantages

Why are companies using MPLS? Here are some MPLS advantages:

Outsourced routing

 With MPLS, the carrier handles WAN routing. This means users don't have to, which makes MPLS operationally simpler than managing a large routed network. This means, in turn, that companies can keep fewer WAN/router engineers on staff.

Any-to-any connectivity

 Applications, like voice and video, feature any-to-any traffic patterns. MPLS makes it easy to interconnect sites with each other to handle these types of traffic patterns.

Built-in support for Quality of Service (QoS)

. Virtually all commercial MPLS services feature multiple levels of QoS, meaning that users can specify latency, jitter and packet loss minimum thresholds for each type of traffic (voice, video, 

email, bulk file transfers, etc.)

 This means that, for example, the MPLS network treats latency-sensitive traffic, like voice and video, preferentially over less-sensitive traffic.

Service-level agreements (SLAs)

with delivery guarantees. Like most commercial-caliber services, MPLS comes with guarantees from the carrier when it comes to installation times and availability. That's in contrast to consumer-grade Internet, which is typically offered on a best-effort basis.

Where in the WAN is MPLS used?

How are companies using MPLS? Unsurprisingly, given these MPLS advantages, the most common use for MPLS is to connect branch offices to data centers and interconnect branch offices to each other. Sixty-seven percent of benchmark participants use MPLS for this purpose. Just over half -- 52% -- are using it to interconnect data centers, and 20% say they're using it to connect remote sites.

MPLS advantages compared to WAN connectivity alternatives

As noted, MPLS is great at -- and widely used for -- interconnecting data centers and branches, and branches to each other. That level of connectivity comprises Tier 2 in the WAN architecture. What about the other two tiers?

For Tier 1 -- interconnnecting data centers -- the most common alternative to MPLS is carrier Ethernet. Carrier Ethernet is an umbrella term that covers point-to-point Ethernet, metro Ethernet, and any-to-any topologies like virtual private LAN service (VPLS). The common denominator to all these services is that they operate at Layer 2 -- where the enterprise handles all routing.

The big advantage to carrier Ethernet services is that the bandwidth is low cost (relative to the data rate) and the services are easy to set up. The downside is that carrier Ethernet services don't scale to the same order of magnitude of sites as MPLS. Because MPLS is a routed network, it can support tens of thousands of sites (and more). Carrier Ethernet, in contrast, is effectively a giant bridged network, which can't scale easily beyond a few hundred sites. So, for a small set of high-bandwidth sites like data centers, carrier Ethernet may be a better fit than MPLS. And, in fact, the most common use for Ethernet is in this Tier 1 scenario: interconnecting data centers.

At the opposite end of the WAN there's Tier 3: connecting to remote and small offices. Most companies already use Internet services to connect at least some of their remote and small offices to the WAN. Sometimes these are business-caliber Internet services (with SLAs); other times they're consumer-grade "best effort" offerings. To ensure privacy, companies may deploy encryption, including secure socket layer (SSL), IPsec, or proprietary application-layer security.

The big benefits the Internet confers over MPLS in this Tier-3 scenario are cost and ubiquity. Internet services are typically considerably cheaper than MPLS (though commercial-grade services, with SLAs, can approach MPLS in cost). And it's rare to find a location that doesn't feature at least some flavor of Internet access.

The downside? Unreliability. Consumer-grade Internet services, in particular, can be spotty, both in service quality (where the service is working, but poorly) or outright availability (where there's an outage).

So for locations where best-effort services is good enough, QoS isn't required, and ubiquity trumps reliability, Internet services make a good alternative.

The bottom line? MPLS advantages include the connectivity of data centers to branch offices, or branches to each other. For point-to-point links requiring a lot of bandwidth, or remote offices where cheap connectivity is the most important factor, Carrier Ethernet and Internet services, respectively, are solid alternatives.


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