In the recent past, advances in
data networking have created a
dilemma in the minds of IT
managers – should they pay more
now and install a Cat 6 or higher
version of cabling today or pay less
and go for older technology such
as Category 5 or 5e? Paying less
will surely involve paying more for
reinstallation tomorrow. Ideally,
structured cabling system should
be capable of supporting network
applications for 10–15 years.
However, with increased
troubleshooting, administration
and the need for higher cost
electronics to help make up for the
lower performing cabling.
There are several ways existing
that chart the growth of
computing and networking
technology. The first is Moore’s
Law, which states that the
computing power or the number
of transistors within the same
silicon processor doubles every 18
months, or in short, computing
speed doubles every 18 months.
Robert Metcalf, Founder of
3Com and one of the Founders of
Ethernet, also authored a widely
accepted theory that is the ‘value’
or ‘power’ of a network increases in
proportion to the square of the
number of nodes on the network.
For example, if we look at the
number of Internet users according
to Internet and Mobile Association
of India (IAMAI) and IMRB
International, the number of
Internet users in India reached 37
million in September this year, up
from 33 million in March 2006.
During the same period, the
number of active users (defined as
those who use the Internet at least
once a month) rose from 21.1
million to 25 million. Every new
node, every new server, every new
user expands the possibilities for
everyone else who’s already there.
Conversely, should a server fail, its
impact on the people and business
it serves is far greater than its
purchase price. And the same goes
for the cabling.
Bandwidth advancement
Network bandwidth needs are
increasing, as the number of
connections rise and networking
applications become more
demanding. Your infrastructure’s
ability to support greater capacity
and higher speeds becomes
paramount to ensure the quality of
service. Networks can no longer be
thought of in terms of file and
print services. The IP protocol now
delivers voice, telephony, storage
hardware commands, video,
building automation controls,
router and switch failover
commands and a plethora of other
services either in native form or
encapsulated within the packet
structure. The bandwidth that used
to be consumed by user requests
has now been divided to allow for
additional services, leaving the
end-user with less bandwidth than
needed. Actual throughput for
most network connections is
generally one-third to one-half of
the rating of the port connection
speed depending on the number
of users. For instance, a 100Mb/s
port may only deliver 30–50 Mb/s
of actual data transmission. If the
cabling channel is faulty or
hardware problems exist causing
frequent retransmissions, this
number will decrease significantly.
....CONTD
