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| August 02, 2004 | Computerworld |
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| The Structured Wireless Revolution |
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| Portfolio Company: Strix Systems |
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Structured wiring revolutionized LANs and IT strategies. Wireless LANs -- specifically mesh networks -- are creating another revolution. Call it "structured wireless."
Some IT planning consultants view WLAN as simply a feature of the wired network, or as a logical extension of the wires. Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead of simply extending the IT strategy to include wireless, the smart planner takes advantage of structured wireless as an opportunity to exploit fundamental differences in the technologies with a resulting payoff to the business.
First, there is the potential for wire replacement with its savings in capital and operating expenses. Second, structured wireless removes restrictions on employee mobility, placing people at the site of data and fundamentally improving business processes.
The thoughtful IT planner must also devise risk mitigation strategies. For example, mobility comes at a price -- the physical port no longer defines the user. This creates the need for fundamentally different access and security policies. Well-designed structured wireless systems include the required tools to mitigate risks and eliminate worries.
Lower costs
The nature of mesh networks provides clear benefits: wireless links eliminate the cost of Ethernet cabling to every access point, self-organizing and healing features lower the cost of administration and operation, and a mesh's inherent ability to scale with new users makes adds, moves and changes far less costly.
The potential for wire replacement is dramatic. A medium-size building with 150 users and approximately 50,000 square feet requires nearly five miles of cabling to wire every user. Traditional WLAN equipment, be it stand-alone access points or switched gear, requires about a half-mile of cabling. A mesh network needs only three feet -- a dramatic change in the cost to deploy a network.
And when it comes to daily operations -- moves, adds and changes -- a wireless mesh can cost up to 98% less than its wired counterpart.
Clearly, in-building wires won't disappear, since they provide speed advantages for large file transfers or demanding applications, such as computer-aided design tools. But an IT strategy must allow for wireless integration and for capturing cost savings wherever possible.
For example, a structured wireless network can cross the road -- without a trench or permit -- to connect multiple in-building systems. And it enables wireless nodes to be placed anywhere users require broadband access but wires cannot reach -- such as in the middle of a factory floor, car dealership lot or outdoor transportation yard.
Improved processes
Traditional wireless networks are a collection of access points that depend on the wired network plus gateways, appliances or so-called wireless switches. Even so, many companies report significant benefits ranging from anecdotal productivity improvements to carefully measured improvements in accuracy and asset turnover. Structured wireless networks deliver these same benefits but without the wait for installers, conduit, cabling or switches. And they extend the benefits farther than wire -- or traditional wireless -- can reach in the business.
The no-wires aspect of a wireless mesh eliminates the restrictions of specific desks or offices. Instead, structured wireless gives network access to users in conference rooms, shop floors, inventory yards and related campus buildings. With a remote edge node and a wireless backhaul, business continuity can be maintained even when buildings are evacuated.
In short, the notion of "network" can be redefined around the business need, work operations, the data, and the employees without regard for wired port locations. This expands the reach of benefits, for example, enabling data entry at the point of origin, elimination of errors from handwriting, and immediate cross-correlation of data to avoid adverse affects or to match orders and inventory.
Traditional wireless solutions often cannot reach all of the point-of-origin data sites, leaving physical gaps in coverage and logical gaps in the process. Structured wireless, by design, extends beyond the reach of wired ports.
Eliminate worries
Structured wireless networks are designed to provide benefits for the line-of-business manager while providing the IT manager with the ability to secure, control and manage the network.
By design, a structured wireless network is an engineered system. A properly designed managed mesh secures itself, assuring automatic authentication and encryption over the wireless mesh links. The control software continually scans the environment and selects the best combination of radio channels and available links to maintain optimum performance end to end.
And, by design, a structured wireless network includes its own management and security tools while drawing upon resources available in the wired network to avoid duplication.
For example, wireless gateways often provide their own DHCP server and authentication server. Thus they require duplicate administration and do not seamlessly manage the user over both the wired and wireless segments of the corporate network. A structured wireless network does not duplicate IT functions and is designed to readily integrate with them.
For example, a structured wireless network could employ standard Microsoft XP clients in laptop computers, along with the authentication and authorization facilities available in Microsoft Server 2003. Mobile users can be administered with the same log-in and password and receive the same privileges on both the wired and the wireless networks, providing a seamless integration from the user's point of view. All the while, the IT manager maintains strict control of access to both the network and the corporate files.
Welcome to the revolution
It began when early users introduced rogue access points to unhook themselves from their desks. It evolved into today's new IT strategic plan that redefines the network to embrace mobile users, frees the users from a dependence on wired ports, and works backward from business needs to control mechanisms. Welcome aboard.
Bob Jordan is co-founder and vice president of Strix Systems, a wireless LAN networking company that uses mesh architecture. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a bachelor of science degree in nuclear physics. He can be reached at bob.jordan@strixsystems.com.
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