Network Cabling for the Future

More users, better response times over networks, and new applications-these

are the realities before any organization today. Many verticals-BPO, healthcare,

banking, manufacturing, education, government-are facing the same issues with

their networks. Bottlenecks and legacy networks that are not geared to take on

the new business scenarios are forcing organizations to move to faster networks

and cabling technologies. So while we love the freedom that comes with wireless

networks, it's still the wired network that acts as the backbone delivering the

speed and QoS an organization needs today.

10Gbps came in a few years ago, and for a while seemed to be geared for wide

area networks and metropolitan area networks, and seemed to be purely a

fiber-optic option. But that has now changed and 10 Gigabit (10G) Ethernet on

copper is becoming common. And this is the route most organizations are

currently taking to keep themselves future proofed for a while. To support these

speeds, CAT6 cabling is being used currently, but CAT7 has already made an

appearance.

Let's a take a look and see what is in store for the network's building

blocks.

The move to 10G



The 10G network may not be on every CIO's shopping list for now. “Do we

really need that performance?,” they wonder. But the way their businesses are

evolving, they have to deal with increased bandwidth needs and addition of more

users on the network. As new applications geared to manage the business

requirements make their way into organizations, there is no running away from

the fact that one gig can handle the loads and speeds for now, but for how long

is a question they have to work at.

This is why you can see several academic institutions across the country

moving to the 10G backbone. They have to deal with increased number of students

and elearning services. Many of them intend to make video conferencing lessons

from across the world a regular part of their curriculum. Similarly businesses

banking on data centers also are making the move to 10G. Some enterprises are

experimenting with 10Gbps Ethernet through pilot programs or deployment in

production environments. Here are some of the reasons for 10G's uptake:

• Organizations today need faster speeds and higher uptime.
• Larger volumes of data require faster transfer rates.
• Bandwidth-intensive applications like streaming video, VoIP, etc, that run
  
  in real-time, need lots of bandwidth to work properly.
• The greater the number of users on the network, the more bandwidth you
  
  need.
• Organizations that run desktops and servers at one gig will need
  
  high-speed switches at their data centers to manage the traffic.
• Increasing storage requirements and new technologies that make storage
  
  simpler for an enterprise mean that the network response has to be fast.

Tech behind 10G



The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, which is used to conceptually

devise how a network operated, specifies that Ethernet works at layers 1 and 2,

which are the physical and data link layers, respectively. Ethernet's specs are

defined by IEEE 802.3, while the 10G standard comes under 802.3ae. So 10G is

really an extension to Ethernet, as it follows the same MAC protocol, frame

sizes and formats. But as 10G is a full-duplex only standard, it does not need

the Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol common

to other Ethernet specifications. As 10G is fairly new, standards are still

being formed and gaining acceptance. Many standards have been proposed, and it

is yet to see which ones will finally gain acceptance in the market.

The first implementations of 10Gbps were on fiber-optic cabling. But fiber is

still relatively expensive and hard to work with, and is typically used for

connections across a campus. A multimode fiber deployment works for distances

upto 300 m, while taking the single mode fiber route can extend coverage to upto

40 kms. Fiber has many standards doing the rounds, both for LAN as well as MAN.

Products on these standards are already available and prices have also been

dropping. The biggest advantage of going 10G on fiber is that there is no

interference and that the medium is future proof. It remains unaffected by EMI

(electro-magnetic interference) and RFI (radio frequency interference) effects.

10G on copper meanwhile has three main standards. The 10GBASE-T is the spec

for delivering 10Gbps over twisted-pair cables for distances upto 100m.

10GBASE-Kx is a set of two standards defining blade servers and other backplane

applications. The 10GBASE-CX4 standard is limited in range-upto 15 meters, and

transmits over four channels in each direction.



Enterprises need to select a suitable infrastructure today so that they can
respond to business situations quickly and in a cost-effective manner. The cost

of moving from Gigabit to 10 Gbps is about two to three times more. But the gain

in performance, reduction in bottlenecks all point to advantages that far

outweigh the cost aspect. The cost is expected to decrease as well.

Managed structured cabling



Many organizations today want service providers to deploy and manage their

network solutions. This is being looked at to reduce costs and improve

reliability of the network pieces. Organizations have multi-location offices and

large campus areas. Add to that mergers and acquisitions, which bring in more

locations and users into the fold. So the need for managing network resources in

a proper manner has gained much greater significance than before.

Managed structured cabling is a real-time Layer-1 management system for

networks. It is also known as intelligent cabling solutions. As data centers and

networks grow in complexity, organizations need such a setup to manage their

connectivity. The system consists of an end-to-end structured cabling system. It

has intelligent patch panels and software agents. These give a comprehensive

view of physical layer connectivity and also connect it to logical layers. The

system also collects real-time information to automatically maintain database

connectivity. It presents data in a compressed format and allows administrators

to troubleshoot and document the network efficiently. With intelligent cabling,

it is possible to immediately trace broken links and fix them, increasing

efficiency tremendously.

Intelligent cabling can reduce the cost of network ownership. It increases

the network management efficiency and network security considerably. It solves

issues like unplanned downtime, inefficient manual moves, additions and changes,

redundant ports, inaccurate records, etc.

Structured cabling for convergence



The market for networking solutions is growing rapidly, primarily due to the

convergence of voice, data and video. Existing LAN cabling systems are becoming

inefficient in no time. Along with this, security concerns are also rising, and

networking equipment with security features is in demand. Unprecedented security

threats in an IP infrastructure are forcing corporates to opt for feature-rich

networking equipment.

The concept of a single structured cabling system that can take care of all

of a building's communications needs is now well accepted. Today, IT

technologies are beginning to align to support a converged network. Now taking

power through the same cabling setup is gaining ground with PoE (Power over

Ethernet). Various standards are also being put in place to make this happen.





Closed-circuit television (CCTV), access control and other building automation
systems (BAS) applications will eventually reside on an Ethernet-based network.

Multiservice IP VPN, IP communications, all are apps that are finding their way

into enterprises.

With so many applications converging into the same pipe, structured cabling

is now becoming a critical aspect for the IT infrastructure. Though it may just

add up to 5% of the total network spend, it can account for more than 20% of the

downtime.

Structured cabling can help achieve IP convergence for previously

non-standardized devices too. IP-based digital cameras and legacy analog cameras

can now be connected through an Ethernet-based switch to digital network storage

devices. This allows real-time event recognition and alarm generation. Such

developments are creating new dynamics for the cabling infrastructure.

Limited network usage has given way to round the clock usage. Bandwidth

optimized applications may be around, but new apps are coming up, which no

organization can turn its back on.

Organic business growth is passé, and mergers the flavor of the day. And in

between it all is the network infrastructure. Modular and scalable cabling

solutions enable these changes and high-speed networks are changing the way

businesses deliver customer service. There is plenty of action ahead. Watch this

space.

Suma EP