Tag: WLAN

One Gigabit WLAN Speeds Coming Sooner Than You Think; Is Your IT Shop Ready?

by , posted in Network
M. Spanbauer
M. Spanbauer

Summary Bullets:         

  • The combination of the “bring your own device” (BYOD) phenomena and higher-speed WLAN access will further exacerbate IT challenges.
  • Processing power on the next generation of tablets and phones will change the paradigm for how enterprise users interact with their applications.

If you have not yet heard, the IEEE’s 802.11ac wireless LAN standard is imminent, and while the standard still may not be ratified for up to a year, this will not stop product developers from taking advantage of early release chips in the hyper-competitive consumer space.  However, this also matters to the enterprise IT department, as some of these devices are incredibly powerful, such as the ASUS Transformer Prime, the first quad-core tablet (though it does not have an .11ac radio).  There is also speculation that the iPad 3 will possess a comparably powerful chip.  This processing power opens up new potential opportunities for malicious damage to be done via rogue security software (or ‘rogueware’).  Still, with the advent of this much faster WLAN specification (speeds up to 1.3 Gbps will be possible), we may also see radical changes to the ways in which users access applications and interact with these resources.  Consider that these new tablets, phones, etc. will have processing power surpassing the desktops of just a couple years ago, as well as a mobile 1G throughput capacity.  This throughput and CPU performance should smash any limitations from a performance perspective for VDI and alter the ways in which we interact with critical applications. Continue reading “One Gigabit WLAN Speeds Coming Sooner Than You Think; Is Your IT Shop Ready?” →

If You Thought 2011 Was Exciting for Networks, Wait Until You Get a Load of 2012

by , posted in Network
M. Spanbauer
M. Spanbauer

Summary Bullets:

  • Mobility will continue to drive enterprise network spend aggressively in the campus.
  • Data center fabrics will further coalesce, and interoperability between carrier and private networks will improve (performance and simplicity).

Last year saw a number of new initiatives and exciting developments drive the network industry forward.  WLAN growth was enormous, due to both the proliferation of wireless-enabled devices being brought into the enterprise and the sheer economics of not having to re-cable a plant or campus for increased productivity.  This year will only see this investment increase, and the WLAN sector will benefit for it.  Look for Aruba, Cisco, HP, Motorola, and more to articulate and differentiate based on their existing market share and technology breadth.  As device proliferation accelerates and more enterprise applications become tablet-friendly, enterprises will begin to establish processes and some will even go so far as to provide company-sponsored tablets which they can control and administer directly.  Whoever purchases the tablet is secondary to the additional increase in WLAN traffic that will come with these devices.  If your architecture is more than two or three years old, it is time to evaluate and plan for traffic contingencies to ensure that productivity applications will have sufficient bandwidth to perform well.  Those applications will include VDI, mobile video conferencing, and new and creative use cases for bi-directional multimedia (multi-site classrooms, multi-site faculty participation, etc.). Continue reading “If You Thought 2011 Was Exciting for Networks, Wait Until You Get a Load of 2012” →

40GbE Price Erosion to Dictate Data Center Architectures

by , posted in Network
M. Spanbauer
M. Spanbauer

Summary Bullets:

  • Since the advent of networking, customers have always weighed the cost of throughput vs. the effort of traffic optimization, creating a pendulum effect.
  • The market has reached a point where both sophisticated traffic management and performance are required.

In the modern enterprise, the average IT manager has many goals, but a few in particular have been coming up frequently: alignment of the function with business needs (IT acting as a business partner); agile application and solutions deployment; and an infrastructure that will scale and grow with the customer over time.

Continue reading “40GbE Price Erosion to Dictate Data Center Architectures” →

Is Your WLAN Costing You Money?

by , posted in Network
M. Spanbauer
M. Spanbauer

Summary Bullets:

  • Bring your own device phenomenon challenging WLAN bandwidth
  • Networks architected for 802.11a/b/g may be limiting worker productivity and therefore efficiency

A satisfied, network-connected worker is a valuable resource in practically any industry.  This has been the reality since wireless LAN (WLAN) technology, or indeed any network technology, was first brought to market.  Over time, the network service quality improved based on technology advancements, client end-point support grew and ultimately worker productivity increased.  However, this didn’t just happen overnight. The IT department worked hard to deploy 802.11a, then 11.b/g and now 802.11n networks to provide this powerful productivity tool.  Those in IT also know how painful it was behind the scenes with early management tools, intermittent radio noise reducing performance, security concerns and interoperability between client radios and access point radios.

Continue reading “Is Your WLAN Costing You Money?” →