Tech Trends That Can Help You Stay Cost-Efficient
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Networks have become an indispensable resource that keeps corporate departments and employees working together smoothly. But they are hardly static business tools. Networks are constantly growing and changing to meet business needs with emerging technologies.
This growth has become so important that network planning is now a vital business function. CIOs, IT managers, and network administrators must keep a sharp eye on coming trends and products. The goal is to avoid obsolescence and wasted capital and ensure the most efficient, versatile, and cost-effective network possible for the enterprise. There is certainly no shortage of PC and network technologies to watch as we look through 2009 and beyond.
Going Mobile
Desktop computers are certainly becoming more powerful. Ever-faster processors (soon to include Intel's Pentium and Xeon) are embracing 64-bit. High-performance storage features such as SATA are appearing, and some manufacturers are even implementing SATA RAID in their desktop systems.
All-in-one PCs (such as Gateway's Profile 5 series) are integrating an LCD with the desktop chassis, allowing for an easily deployable and replaceable solution, although upgrade potential is limited. However, desktop systems are facing a great deal of pressure from the emergence of mobile computing platforms.
The use of mobile computing has exploded in the enterprise as more employees telecommute or operate in the field. Notebooks, tablets, and PDAs are quickly complementing, and even replacing, bulky desktop systems.
Gartner analysts Annette Jump and Leslie Fiering predict that desktop PCs will account for less than 50% of enterprise client devices by 2008. "Desktop PCs will not disappear from the corporate landscape, but the level of server-based computing will double," they note. "In addition, the role of notebooks, PDAs, and smartphones will evolve. Mobile devices will have a growing role as replacements for the desktop PCs, but even more frequently, as complementary devices."
The use of mobile devices also places the spotlight squarely on emerging wireless technologies and standards. Gartner analyst Mark Margevicius says, "One of the big enablements that Intel announced recently was the inclusion of a wireless access point as part of its next-generation chipset that will ship on all corporate PCs. This means that any desktop could be reconfigured, with the addition of a radio, to serve as an access point. This would also mean that networks to the desk would not necessarily be required to be wired—that for some users a wireless configuration is a better choice." Gartner's Jump and Fiering predict that 802.11a/g will be the primary technology on 50% of wireless notebooks by early 2005.
Vulnerability Assessment & Intrusion Prevention
Although tactics such as firewalls and antivirus utilities will remain staples of any security strategy, today's fast-moving threats are prompting network gurus to consider risk management and intrusion prevention tools. Darwin Herdman, CTO and general manager of managed security solutions at RedSiren, notes that automated risk management offers network discovery, system profiling, and on-demand vulnerability scanning and assessment.
Automation replaces time-consuming and costly manual vulnerability assessment solutions that exist now and provides timely insight and awareness into a network's security status vs. emerging threats and vulnerabilities. Gartner analyst Mark Nicolett agrees, predicting 90% fewer successful attacks for enterprises that implement a vulnerability management process (vs. those that rely only on intrusion detection).
RedSiren's Herdman says that existing intrusion detection systems just don't fill the bill: "Intrusion detection systems have been limited in their ability to support active responses and countermeasures. Intrusion prevention technologies have shown promise in their ability to effectively deploy active countermeasures to mitigate the threat before it is able to compromise business critical systems."
He also notes that host-based intrusion prevention systems (such as Cisco's Security Agent) are proving effective on servers and desktops. "By analyzing the behavior of the endpoint vs. analyzing the signature of the attack, host-based solutions have been effective in identifying and preventing ‘Day Zero' threats," he says. "By eliminating the compromise of endpoint systems, one can eliminate a large majority of network traffic generated by infected hosts."
Gartner's Nicolett also concurs. "Intrusion detection technology adoption has peaked and will be eclipsed by intrusion prevention technologies that are based on deep packet inspection. Intrusion prevention technologies are mature enough for initial production deployments in 2004," he says.
Bandwidth Pigs Can Fly
Herdman underscores the changing bandwidth needs of tomorrow's networks, which will incorporate advanced bandwidth-intensive technologies. "With recent advances in video telephony, real-time point-to-point video sessions will have a significant impact [on] corporate bandwidth utilization," he says.
Herdman also notes the continued development of VoIP: "Although [VoIP is] not a new technology, there is increased user acceptance and a general migration by industry toward integrated voice, video, and data communication, and collaboration suites." Of course, such bandwidth-intensive technologies will spur the implementation of high-speed network infrastructures to carry the data. Likely candidates include Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
IT and data-center managers must also consider the emerging storage needs of their networks. Although NAS and SAN devices converge ease and performance, additional data and multimedia assets from VoIP collaboration (and other large files) will hog their share of bandwidth. Storage performance must keep pace, but Herdman says the data must be stored according to important government regulations such as GLBA, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley: "In order to perform mandatory audits, industry must expand [its] data storage, analysis, and recovery solutions. Requirements to process and store email messages/content, business-critical server, and firewall logs for periods up to 10 years will result in an increase in the cost for a wide range of technology services."
Tripping The Mesh
Utilization and reliability will be important issues for future networks. It's a simple matter to add a server or install more workstations, but those assets are often underused over time. The recent industry move toward mesh computing (also dubbed utility computing or grid computing) will accelerate in the coming years as suitable applications emerge.
IBM spokesperson Matthew McMahon explains, "Utility [or mesh] computing is simply a delivery model for IT, allowing customers to access the applications or resources they need, when they need it—moving IT to a variable cost, rather than a fixed cost. It is a small part of the larger transformation we see going on in the industry." Mesh computing lets an application share the unused resources of idle PCs on the network, dramatically increasing processing efficiency. This also helps the network remain resilient and available in the face of outages and failures
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