Signal failure

zoom

PRASAD: If you need high speeds to connect datacentres then wireless definitely doesn’t fit into the picture.

Syed Anisuddin, IT manager at the Fujairah National Group (FNG) has a more conservative outlook, limiting the use of wireless connections within his companies to only the most essential users - which are mostly visitors.

"We can say that it's only 10% wireless because we don't need it. Wherever we have an external client from outside and if they are browsing the internet, then what should happen is that we make a separate gateway and provide them with a wireless connection. In places where we know that we are going to completely configure the visitors' laptops, then we have a secured network and do the setup. Anything in wireless has to be done in a more secure way. With wired connections, we are aware of who is getting connected," he states.

It's cropped up a few times already and there's no doubt that security is one of the key reasons why CIOs are still uneasy about investing in extensive wireless infrastructure. Guha says that one of the reasons why enterprises still prefer regular wired LANs is the visibility of potential attackers.

"If I have a wireless LAN presence in a corporate network and it's not properly secured, then I have the LAN signal available to me anywhere in the corporate campus where I move around. If I have a wired network and my unused ports on the switches are not closed, then the same risk is there from a security standpoint. But being wired, at least you know that it's an external person who's come in and who's trying to use a cable to connect to some socket. At least it's more visible, rather than somebody sitting in a reception couch and trying to use the network," he warns.

The proliferation of wireless standards such as 802.11a, 802.11b and now 802.11g has certainly not helped things either, but Guha believes encryption standards are the real problem.

"It's probably necessary for the applications to catch up with the WPA protocol. There are a lot of applications out there on Wi-Fi which were on the earlier WEP encryption. Many vendors have now upgraded their applications on that. But I think the issue is the applications being secure enough to work on the Wi-Fi networks," he believes.

Speed is the other stumbling block according to FVC's Prasad: "Today, the fastest speed on outbuilding wireless connectivity you can get is still one gig. However, those speeds can only be established over very short distances. You can get one gig on wireless connectivity today but only within a two to five kilometre range. If you really want connectivity with high speeds to connect datacentres or high-performance applications, wireless definitely doesn't fit in there."

However, there is one aspect of wireless deployment that often gets overlooked - namely, that sometimes it's the only option. As Guha recalls, many buildings are constructed without first consulting with IT - which leads to the development lacking facilities for wired connections, mandating the use of wireless transmitters.

"There's a lack of communication, in understanding converged networks, between the building and facilities departments or the contractor's side. What happens is that many times, it's a post-facto: people first have an architecture for the building, they build it and then they come to IT to provide IT services. Often, IT finds that in certain areas, there are no containment systems to pull wires and so on and that's how this problem comes up," he relates.

Guha recalls that the RTA was formed out of elements from Dubai Municipality and Dubai Police, and when he joined, several procedures were brought over: "We had set up this process in Dubai Municipality also that an architectural drawing of the office layout and containment systems are actually signed by the IT department before it goes to construction. That's a process we have and it's an agreed process."

"This was put into place pretty much from the beginning when RTA IT services were started in April 2006. We even developed something called OLA - operational level agreements - because we follow the ITIL standard. These are the OLAs we are working out with the departments to sign off. They have to come and get our approval on the architecture diagrams, the containment systems, the floor layouts, whether there'll be a raised floor, whether there'll be no raised floor. Everything is signed off and then it goes into construction," he continues.

FNG's Anisuddin agrees: "Once a building structure is ready, we get involved from the flooring point of view and completely follow it up before the total structure is ready. There should be a culture where people understand how important IT is. We've had old buildings where we found that there is no option but to have wireless. Sometimes the infrastructure is not ready; we may then use wireless for six to seven months, then when things are ready, then we can always change it to the wired one."

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