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Businesses continually are finding their networks to be growing in importance. As a result, some companies are finding that an upgrade for their older networks will be necessary in order to meet current and future demands. This article will discuss the three most important reasons for performing a network upgrade

Performance

Perhaps the most efficient way to improve a network’s performance is the improvement of LAN performance. Sound architecture will revolve around the deployment of 100-Megabit or Gigabit Ethernet switches with VLAN and Layer 3 capabilities. These network devices are emerging technologies that will be very important for network components like VoIP, which require a greater standard of performance.

Unlike the past, future networks will not be plug-and-play. Both latency and switching performance are increasingly growing in importance. As a greater number of features become layered upon the IP network, teams will find it more crucial to deploy switches and a network core that is capable of support.

Reliability

As organizations begin utilizing unified and multimedia communications over IP, including phones, video, and IM, the reliability of Internet connection from a top-performing, high-quality router will be essential. Its default settings can be later adjusted and fine-tuned to effectively control a company’s traffic to the Internet.

Security

As traffic will be carried over the same pipe and becoming increasingly unified, ensuring your organization has a dedicated firewall will become increasingly important. There are numerous network devices that are available in the market that feature an integrated firewall and router. However, a proven and sound practice that is gaining traction is acquiring a Cisco PIX or other firewall to focus on a specific purpose. In this kind of deployment, the firewall can concentrate on processing various types of traffic and the growing number of cyber threats that are coming over the network.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

As discussed in Part 1, a properly designed network infrastructure is a prerequisite for being able to adapt emerging technology and support crucial systems cost effectively. Part 2 will discuss Modular Design, Optimized Network Infrastructure, and Virtualization.

Modular Design

An approach that has recently gained traction is building new data centers capable of supporting the demand for excellent networking capability. Companies are increasingly participating during the construction phase by becoming more involved in decisions that help decrease costs. Specially designed and portable, modular data centers utilize engineered modules and components that offer the ability to scale and allow the creation of a converged infrastructure where necessary. Such modular designs are described as portable modular data centers or containerized data centers. Structured cabling is the foundation for every modular data center.

Optimized Network Infrastructure

According to data center providers, copper and fiber technology are sufficient for current networking infrastructure. However, there is a greater demand for more speed and streamlined connectivity for PCs, servers, and data storage. Optimizing data cabling is the method for achieving both. Optimized network infrastructure typically uses component standardization, including copper and fiber cabling, racks, and cabinets. Teamed with a physical-layer cable-management system, this approach results in a network that is both accessible and organized.

Virtualization

Research has found that more than half of small and medium-sized enterprises have their workloads running on virtual machines. In addition, more than 9 in 10 data center providers are now offering virtualization services to businesses. Proven to be scalable and cost-effective, virtualization technology is being commonly used for these four functions: desktop, server, network, and storage. As the popularity of IT infrastructure virtualization increases, ensuring that your organization has well-designed structured cabling will grow in importance.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

If your company has a limited budget for network infrastructure, your team may be tempted to find numerous way to economize. Unfortunately, this may lead to buying CCA cabling in order to save money. Although marketed as a sufficient substitute for solid copper cabling, CCA cables are far from being the right answer for trimming budgets.

Definition of CCA

CCA stands for copper coated aluminum. A CCA cable’s core is an inner aluminum conductor that is coated with copper. As a result, it weighs considerably less than solid copper cables.

A CCA cable can be made at a significantly reduced cost than the solid copper version. This gives a manufacturer an increased profit margin and a significant competitive edge over those companies who continue making solid copper cable.

CCA cables may look similar and are advertised to function just like standard CAT5e or CAT6 cabling, but they have serious flaws that could result in network issues, business continuity problems, and safety hazards as discussed below.

Non-Compliant

CCA twisted pair cables are non-compliant with UL and TIA standards, which require solid or stranded copper conductors. The National Electrical Code (NEC) also does not provide CCA cabling a valid safety listing. Thus, CCA cables cannot be installed legally if the facility requires CM, CMG, CMP, CMR, or CMX rated cables.

Inflexible

As CCA conductors are brittle and easily break, just transferring a faceplate or patch panel can result in failures. CCA wires have low tensile strength, and they are known to break from shearing or pulling, which can happen during packaging or delivery. Moreover, CCA cables have a very limited bend radius.

Oxidation

Aluminum begins oxidizing very rapidly when it is exposed to air. This oxidation and the resulting corrosion may lead to failed terminations inside the network infrastructure, resulting in connectivity issues.

Part 2 will continue discussing CCA cabling related issues and counterfeit copper cabling.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

Structured cabling provides consistently high performance because of its proper design and installation, which also allows for expansion and flexibility. When designed and installed by expert technicians, a structured cabling system is composed of several components that communicate with each other. As a result, it performs with efficiency and reliability. In addition, cabling can be transferred, adjusted, and expanded with ease. The system is also future proofed, so the system can evolve with technology as the company grows.

Conventional vs. Structured Cabling

Running point to point, conventional cabling directly connects hardware by utilizing jumpers or patch cables. Differing in approach, structured cabling deploys a series of trunks or patch panels that connect to hardware. These patch panels then link to another patch panel within the Main Distribution Area (MDA), the nerve center of a structured cabling system. MACs (moves, additions, and changes) at the MDA can be accomplished with ease by using short patch cords.

Why Use Structured Cabling?

Providing a more secure, rapid, and efficient method for connecting an office, structured cabling utilizes compact and standardized patch panels connecting to the MDA. This permits easier revisions and additions. The superior organization of structured cabling lets teams address issues faster, resulting in less labor cost and downtime.

Structured cabling’s goal is a well-organized cabling system that results in rapid connections and a leaner server room. As a result, cabling requires less room and is tidier, permitting improved airflow. The regulation of temperature is optimized, which helps preserve sensitive server room equipment.

Advantages of Structured Cabling

• Cable and port tracing performed faster


• Decreased downtime due to improved cable organization


• MACs eased because of improved MDA configuration


• Reduction of cabling mass, increasing airflow and cooling


• Speedier connections and easier troubleshooting


• Tidier and better organized cabling

A transition to structured cabling will improve the aesthetics and organization of your company’s cable system. It will also help your team function with more speed, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

Corporations that have subsidiaries located in many countries worldwide, as well as a smaller company with a handful of departments and employees, need a well-designed network that connects all their computers, printers, servers, and more.

An improperly installed network can result in chaos for an entire organization as it expands. In contrast, a well-designed structured cabling system allows a network to function smoothly even when it is growing rapidly.

During this period of increasingly sophisticated technology, structured cabling is the right answer for building an efficient and cost-effective network. There are numerous companies around the world that specialize in installing structured cabling, but finding the right team for your company will require due diligence.

Many companies undergoing growth focus on revamping existing structured cabling to ensure an uninterrupted flow of an increasing volume of communications and data. They hire a team of specialists who provide guidance on the cabling that will be ideal for their new infrastructure.

Designing and planning a new network revolves around implementing structured cabling solutions that will help a company meet its business needs. There are a handful of basic guidelines for the installation as summarized below:

• Ethernet cable for office buildings, data centers, call centers, small offices, and warehouses


• Fiber cable, multi-mode and single mode, for long distance calls and interactions that are free of interference


• Telco-level network wiring, patch panels, and jacks

In the case of a small office, a brand new space yet to be wired, an existing site undergoing remodeling, or a skyscraper filled with office suites, installing well-designed structured cabling that ensures an efficient and expandable network, is the key to success for the great majority of businesses. Properly installed structured cabling helps ensure the rapid and continuous flow of data, the most valuable asset of a modern company.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

Reliable & Manageable Scaling

Scalability is a crucial characteristic that must be considered by network designers.

In addition, a network should also be reliable and manageable, which promote stability.  A network may be capable of expanding to several thousand routers. However, if there is a failure of some sort that causes instability due to greater processing and CPU usage required to compensate, the design won’t be successful.

A scalable network that is a challenge to manage or troubleshoot is also unacceptable.

Network problems that arise would take an excessive amount of time to address and repair, negatively impacting an organization’s business goals of the organization.

Thus, a scalable design must provide a manageable and reliable network.

Combining scalability, reliability, and manageability as the qualities of a network is a challenge. As a network expands, it becomes more complex, making management, maintenance, and repair more difficult.

Fault Isolation & Simplicity

Providing fault isolation boundaries creates fail-stop behavior for the wanted fault model. Fail-stop prevents faulty behavior from propagating past a fault isolation boundary. Effective network design must prevent a failure in one domain from spreading to other domains within a network. This is essential for the avoidance of unneeded processing and delays throughout the whole network because of a device or link failure. In addition, this will result in a converging network that has more stability, reliability, and speed.

The above concept also promotes simplicity as a network architecture characteristic, which decreases complexity in operations. Typically, fault isolation stops the propagation of network fault information across several domains or network areas. This will lead to greater network stability and the minimization of recovery time after failures.

The negative consequences due to a failure of a link or network node may spread to all devices across a network, resulting in a large volume of unneeded processing. A properly designed network using the Fault Domains Principle with its logical separation will limit the negative impact to within one fault domain.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.