Ok, so maybe you are starting to give in to the idea that, employees bringing personally owned tablets at work, is indeed not a fad and you have to deal with it. You have decided on a BYOD strategy that protects company and network resources, while (mostly?) satisfying user appetite for connectivity anywhere from any device.
Great! Now. Is your 802.11n wireless network capable of delivering the user experience that is associated with these new sleek gadgets?
If you thought your network is “good enough”, then think again. This client wave is about to disrupt everything in multiple ways.
First, more devices on the network translate to significantly higher demands for bandwidth. In many cases bandwidth requirements can grow exponentially because the ratio of user to devices is no longer 1:1 but 1:2 and often 1:3. We therefore expect to see network utilization significantly rise over time.
Second, tablet form factor now allows users to truly be mobile. Unlike laptops, users can now walk/move and be productive at the same time. This new type of behavior will increase the number of clients roaming between access points.
Finally, it has been observed that tablets are primarily used for content consumption (as opposed to creation), and video is one of the predominant types of content being consumed, which further complicates bandwidth issues, but also creates new challenges.
I raised an eyebrow. “What did I do now?” Quick witted, I am.
“I know that you’re all over this FCoE stuff,” he said (actually, he didn’t use the word “stuff“, but you get the idea. “But what’s so great about a lousy 2G of bandwidth?” He sipped his beer, pausing for dramatic effect.
I was confused. “What do you mean, 2 Gig of bandwidth?”
“Look,” he said, sitting his beer down and enjoying his gotcha moment. “If I have 8Gb Fibre Channel and I move to 10Gb FCoE on my Interswitch Links, I’ve only gained 2Gb. I mean, what’s so great about a lousy 25% more?”
I shook my head. “You don’t get 25% more,” I corrected.
His smile broadened. “Aha! I knew it! There’s some overhead crap you gotta deal with, right? It’s even less than that.”
“No,” I said slowly. Now it was my turn to add dramatic effect. “You get 50% more bandwidth with FCoE.”
Every once in a while you get moments of pure schadenfreude. This was one of those moments. His moment of gotcha had spun around on him, and his look of dumbfoundedness was truly entertaining. Truly. Read More »
If you haven’t looked at opportunities in Africa in the last couple of years, it’s time to take another look. A massive amount of new internet connectivity is creating new possibilities for the continent, changing the face of Africa forever. The economic and social development opportunities created by high speed, stable and affordable internet access were something that the people of Africa could only dream of until relatively recently – now that dream is fast becoming a reality. Read More »
