Fast, Secure and Reliable Technologies

As information in the form of data increases in size, the need for faster

access to this information is also growing. Faster, secure and reliable

technology is the need of the hour. The world of networking saw fascinating

technological innovations in the last few years. Some of them have even changed

the style of everyday working. Here are some of the networking technology

trends:

Gigabyte Ethernet

This common Ethernet card which started with support for up to 10 Mbps

transmission speed, now supports up to 1000 Mbps. With increased volumes of

data, many enterprises are employing gigabyte ethernet for data warehousing

purpose.

We are looking at terabytes of data distributed over hundreds of platforms

and accessed by thousands of users. These must be updated regularly to provide

users near-real-time data for critical business reports and analyses.

Gigabyte ethernet LANs support data transfer at the rate of one billion

(1,000,000,000) bits per second. Gigabit ethernet may not catch up at a desktop

level, but is already hot at the backbone level where the main transmission of

data happens.

On-board LAN

At

the desktop level, a development that seems to be catching up fast is the shift

of standalone NIC to the motherboard's belly. Motherboard manufacturers have

begun to incorporate NIC on motherboards and it is likely to be a standard

feature in all future motherboards.

In India this technology was not well received initially. Even today, some

resellers are shying away from selling motherboards with on-board NIC. But, just

like sound-cards, on-board NICs are slowly picking up.

However, by next year, resellers will have no other option but to distribute

such motherboards because, by then all manufacturers would incorporate LAN

features on most motherboards.

For manufacturers, bringing the LAN interface on the motherboard is not a

very expensive proposition. Besides the customer will get the advantage of not

having to buy a separate NIC. Having a on-board LAN would also mean a faster

interface and savings on cost.

Wireless LAN

A group of researchers in 1971 at the University of Hawaii created the first

packet-based radio communications network. They called it ALOHNET. This was

essentially the first wireless LAN with seven computers that spanned four

Hawaiian islands.

One

of the biggest advantages of wireless networking is its convenience and reduced

cost of setting up and maintaining the network. As a result, last few year have

seen a rise in wireless networking usage the world over. Even in India, wireless

networking is slowly picking up.

Such set-ups are best suited for corporates, educational institutes and small

offices. Its ability to get rid of those wires that runs in to walls and under

the tables, makes this product attractive.

It is a excellent product for laptops users within small radius. With

wireless network, if the business is moved, the network is ready for use as soon

as the computers are relocated.

In a wireless LAN there is one central base station or Access Point (AP) for

communication. The information packets are transmitted by the originating node

and are received by the central station and routed to the proper wireless

destination node.

However, such wireless networks are, by nature, less secure than a wired LAN.

Since wireless NICs use the air as their data transport medium, they are

vulnerable to unauthorized use and eavesdropping. Information can be easily

monitored or stolen from such network.

Not that it cannot be done on a wired LAN, but it much easier on a wireless

environment. At this stage, it is also not good for transferring huge data like

audio/video. However, as wireless technology matures, we can see more secure and

efficient products coming up soon.

For setting up a basic wireless network all you need is two wireless PCMCIA

LAN cards, one PCMCIA/PCI adapter card, and driver software. However, these are

not the only products that constitute wireless networking. There are many others

in the list like: access point, PC card, router, port switch, print server,

firewall, compactflash card, USB adapter, PCI adapter, laptop kit, USB network

kit, home gateway laptop and desktop kit. This essentially translates into a

huge business opportunity for the resellers to venture into.

VoIP

Voice

Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology for transmitting ordinary

telephone calls over the Internet using packet-linked routes. It is also called

IP telephony.

VoIP technology is still not in a clear shape for enterprise wide deployment,

but is being widely used by many corporates on their Intranet for their

communication purpose. For companies with offices across different geographical

locations, VoIP has become a boon in time of slowdown. VoIP has helped them in

cutting down STD/ISD costs to a great extent.

Unfortunately, the Indian Government has not allowed the use of IP telephony.

But, despite the ban there are many Internet users who make use of this

technology. Industry experts feels that the ban will be lifted by March 2002.

Lifting of the ban will mean a boost to VoIP products.

Already many companies have developed products that work on VoIP. Of this an

interesting product is the IP telephone from Cisco. These IP telephone provides

toll-quality audio and doesn't require a companion PC. Because it is an IP-based

telephone, it can be installed anywhere on a corporate local or wide area IP

network.

Today, telephone is the most visible component of the voice communications

network. What more does one need when the same communication can be done at a

much lower cost and with decent quality? Companies of all sizes have since

unleashed a flood of products, from PC software for end-users to VoIP-PSTN

gateways for carriers.

This sudden expansion of the market has resulted in substantially improved

quality, raised the level of audio fidelity and strengthened support for

industry-standard protocols.

VPN

Another concept that is fast catching among big corporates is virtual private

networks. VPNs connect branch offices and remote user over a shared or public

network such as the Internet, with the same security and availability as a

private network. Because VPNs use an existing shared WAN, infrastructure costs

are lower and deployment is faster than traditional private networks.

VPNs use advanced encryption and tunneling to permit organizations to

establish secure, end-to-end, private network connections over third-party

networks, such as the Internet or Extranets.

Benefits of a VPN include cost savings by leveraging third-party networks,

highest level of security using advanced encryption and authentication protocols

that protect data from unauthorized access, scalability through utilization of

remote access infrastructure within ISPs, and compatibility with broadband

technology.

For the enterprise customer, VPNs are an alternative WAN infrastructure that

replace or augment existing private networks that utilize leased-line or frame

relay/ATM networks. Increasingly, enterprise customers are turning to their

service providers for VPNs and other complete service solutions tailored to

their particular business.

Optical Networking

Growing at the rate of about 20-30 percent every year, optical market is one

of the fastest telecom business today. Optical networking means the use of

optical fiber as the medium for sending information using light pulses.

It

is used to transmit voice, data, video or text. Light is sent as pulses, which

go 'on' and 'off' through an optical fiber with the laser sending the pulses at

one end and a diode receiving it at the other end.

The bandwidth available on optical fiber is many times higher compared to a

coaxial or copper wire. Given such potential, it is just a matter of time before

people began migrating to optical networking.

Also, it has been proved in many countries that optical fiber is the most

economical way to provide large bandwidth services.

NELSON JOHNY in Mumbai