What do following scenarios have in common?
- A 911-like emergency system in a major European city that has to store all calls
- A digital forensics company that requires transfer of large volumes of graphically intense data
- A university research center that works on ocean mapping
- A hospital where physicians need immediate access to critical patient information, such as high resolution digital images from the Archival Communication Systems (PACS).
All these need to move data at a much higher rate. Businesses across the world are experiencing explosion in data growth and the need to access the stored data faster than ever before. The existing hardware and infrastructure in place is unable to keep up with the changing business requirement and is listed as top networking pain point by IT managers/ directors across industries1. This is consistent with the feedback we got when we polled more than 1000 IT managers/ directors across United States together with TechTarget. LAN and access switching upgrades are expected to have the second highest budget allocation by networking departments for the coming year. As the need for speed grows, 10 GbE is cited as the technology with the third highest adoption after network monitoring and IP video conferencing2.
Organizations across the globe are faced with the need for a faster campus network as they look to enable maximum worker productivity. No one wants their employees to start the data transfer and go for lunch breaks any more. Employees are asking for responsive applications, accessible anytime & anywhere, using their choice of device to meet their productivity goals. It is not just about having the fastest equipment possible but building the right network that supports the business growth.
What are the big network design issues that need to be addressed as we prepare to upgrade the LAN and access switching to build the right network?
- Adequate bandwidth that not only supports business today but anticipates future growth and leaves enough headroom. Bandwidth planning with 10 Gb Ethernet will support high-speed data transfer requirements and applications such as UC & C, BYOD and video transfers for social media.
- Simple deployment that the IT staff can support, as well as, a valid business reason behind every feature being deployed. This will result in a scalable and easily manageable network built for tomorrow’s needs.
- Built-in redundancy in networking to ensure access to critical applications 24×7 and no downtime.
- Finally, power allocation for supporting wireless deployments as well as IP based phones using technologies like Poe/ PoE+.
Networks built with these considerations can definitely the businesses grow at a faster rate with no downtime.
Dell networking products are designed to meet these challenges. Built with open industry standards these products and solutions can easily be deployed in any infrastructure without the need for rip and replace. Learn more about the Dell campus networking product line and call Dell to schedule a free half day IT Consulting Networking Workshop to see how Dell networking can help you gain a leg up over competition.
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1: 451 group Networking industry profile 1H’12
2: 451 group “Networking Reference Report” Sept 2012