Signal failure

zoom

GUHA: With wired connections, at least you know if someone is trying to use a cable to illegally connect to some socket.

Network infrastructure accounts for some of the biggest expenditure for modern enterprises, but analysts are now predicting that wireless deployments will start to overtake it in the near future. Imthishan Giado investigates the veracity of their claims.

At this point in time, the Ethernet cable is as ubiquitous in the modern office as the telephone. Enterprises would never dream of setting up a new location without first installing network support services for office users.

But that's today - what about tomorrow? A Gartner analyst recently predicted that by 2011, 70% of all new network ports will be wireless - a figure that if correct, could well mean the days of the Ethernet port are numbered. Already, most enterprises utilise a mixture of both fixed and wireless networking depending on the location, although the ratio seems heavily tilted in favour of fixed line networking.

Guru Prasad, general manager of networking distribution company, FVC, explains the various pros and cons: "Let's talk about the pros for wired networking, the key is the speed at which wired networking can connect. Second is the security aspect in terms of being static and easily protectable in terms of physical security. Third is the flexibility in terms of the connection media. The cons however, are that fixed networks are far more time consuming and expensive to deploy than their wireless counterparts while also being heavily tied to the physical structure of the buildings used.

"Au contraire, for wireless networks, the pros are ease and quick deployment, and second is the ability to provide flexibility in terms of connectivity. The cons are speed - the speed at which wireless networking technology is increasing is not as fast as we would have liked it to be. The security aspects are really something that we need to look at. Customers are queasy with the amount of money they have to spend in order to improve security on a wireless network," continues Prasad.

Indeed, the repeated refrain from end-users is that security is still a concern, even after all the years of development by vendors. Indranil Guha, manager of IT infrastructure management at the UAE's Roads and Transport Authority, has wireless IP phones in his future plans for the organisation, but notes that he will only consider ones that come with WPA2 encryption.

"Some IP phones do not have WPA encryption yet, but most of them are getting there from a security perspective. WEP encryption is not as secure and could be broken fairly easily, so WPA is the way to go. I've seen it in large corporates, even hospitals, they have VOIP phones and it's WEP encrypted, which is a potential backdoor to the network, if it is not WPA-enabled," he explains.

"These are the cons of Wi-Fi - all the services are not WPA enabled. You probably then make a judgement between whether you go for a WEP encrypted service or - if it's not WPA-enabled - not have that service. That's a calculated management risk one has to take," cautions Guha.

For most CIOs, the most difficult task in planning in a new infrastructure is determining what resources employees will need access to and the connections required therein - a problem compounded by a recent uneven shift in enterprises towards mobile computing. The RTA's Guha describes his planning guidelines.

"If we are opening a new site we have a wired network. That's the first thing - IT services are provided as part of RTA policy and a wired network would be there. If there are a number of senior people, the count usually exceeding ten, then we provide wireless LAN coverage to that campus. When I say senior people, it's because they have laptops. The junior people are using desktops so it doesn't really make sense to have wireless coverage in that area," he says.

"For example, in the customer service counter where it will be front-end people servicing customers through a desktop, then we will 99% not enable a wireless LAN in that campus. But if there's a building which has got customer service and about five to six senior management people having laptops, then probably we will do a wireless LAN coverage.

Based on the necessity, we would just do probably a couple of meeting rooms initially. If it's a large campus - we have a building in Muhaisnah which is fairly large and has about 300-400 people over there and senior management up to CEO level, there the whole building is covered," elaborates Guha.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM