The growing prevalence of IP means that phones, security cameras and a range of new appliances, such as storage servers, are placing added demand on business networks. Even companies with fewer than 30 people may need to refresh, upgrade or expand their network to meet the needs of the future.

Building a network for the future

The demands on most company networks have been growing steadily over the past several years. Increased use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), premises Wi-Fi, video and multimedia, and server-based applications have upped bandwidth requirements. Moreover, compliance and regulatory requirements, and the growing use of graphic and video data, mean storage requirements keep increasing.

That’s why it’s important to consider buying new, more powerful, cost-effective technologies and products to make sure your network will be ready for the future.

Gigabit keeps data and voice
moving smoothly

With the growing use of VoIP and IP video, even small companies are starting to need more Local Area Network (LAN) bandwidth than Fast Ethernet delivers.

Ethernet is the networking technology that underlies most LANs today. Fast Ethernet was introduced in 1995 and was the fastest version of Ethernet for three years before being superseded by Gigabit Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet builds on top of the Ethernet protocol, but increases speed tenfold over Fast Ethernet to 1000 Mbps, or 1 gigabit per second (Gbps).

Fast Ethernet is sufficient for a few companies, but some small businesses are starting to look at Gigabit Ethernet connections for their backbones. Typically, these companies are putting in a network storage device, performing disk-to-disk backups and carrying more video — and that’s when the speed of Gigabit Ethernet comes in handy.

Gigabit Ethernet switches are now fairly inexpensive. However, moving to Gigabit Ethernet switches may require upgrading wiring to CAT 5e or CAT 6 cable.

Stackable managed switches — switches that can be physically stacked and offer 1Gbps Ethernet ports — are an excellent way to prepare for network growth and management. A managed switch allows you to control the individual ports of your switch. That control is for security as it prevents someone just walking in and connecting to your LAN through an unused port.

For companies adding or expanding premises wireless LAN (WLAN) service, consider stackable wireless switches that manage "thin" wireless access points (AP). These switches centralize the intelligence of the network in the switch instead of the AP. With this approach, relatively simple APs can share the features that enhance wireless communications in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

The latest servers deliver more
for your money

Server hardware just keeps getting more affordable. Fast multicore central processing unit (CPU) systems are already in the marketplace with amazing performance due to competition between AMD, Intel and Sun. The drop in price on high-capacity, high-RPM disk drives, gigabyte and bigger double data rate (DDR) memory modules and fibre-channel cards means that this is the year many businesses might want to consider retrofitting their servers.

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