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By Sandra Gittlen I think the speed of computing is the most important thing. Well, if not for fast computing then there is no sense on performing searches on vast data bases so in turn the biggest network, the Internet will not exist. We would not have things like procys. A network is ultimately meant to distribute information (data) is the most effective manner over a vast geographic landscape. Funny networking is also used to increase the computing speed, as in distributed computing. Most important technology of the next 15 years: Well the focus is going to remain on data. But with increase in computing speed and disk space, data will increase in a proportion to beat the speed improvement. Sticking with data, we will need to find way to search quickly and in a smart way - SMART searches to find data. QUICK NETWORKS to deliver them. With an influx of optical fibers, networks will shift from just providers of data to providers of services (a practical use of data). Services are the future.... it is already happening, software will be available on rent, telephony on net, computing power on rent, etc. ... and to do this we will need quick and smart networks. Roshan Sharma Most important technology of the past 15 years:As an avid reader of NW since 1986, a teacher of network design (at SMU in Dallas) since 1993 and an avid student of network topologies since 1960, I find that Fast Packet Switching (FPS) when combined with Lambda Switching (LS) as the most important technology developed during the past 15 years. The "FPS+LS" technology finally allows the synthesis of enterprise networks with mixture of topologies (e.g. star and mesh)with fully adaptive internodal bandwidths. The combined "FPS+LS" innovation that includes IP, ATM, frame relay and Wavelength Division Multiplexing technologies will enable the designer to finally achieve the desired design objectives without dependence on any technical traditions or dogmas.Most important technology of the next 15 years: As a part of the Rockwell-Collins team that developed the first commercial modem (enabler of two-node networks) in 1955, the first nationwide store and forward message switched network (that eliminated manually-switched teletype systems) in 1960 and the first enterprise T-1 network in 1978, I am now witnessing the birth of a network with truly adaptive bandwidths. The next big innovation during the following 15 years will deal with a fully automated network management technology for a multivendor enterprise network on an end-to-end basis providing self-healing capabilities. That technology will finally usher in an era of truly economical enterprise networking. No more frustrations in controlling rising corporate networking costs! Randy Anderson Most important technology of the past 15 years: I believe the most important technology development in the past 15 years has been one of recent times. Over the past 15 years our file sizes have grown tremendously. Take a minute and think what it cost to store 1 terabyte of data 15 years ago...OK 1 megabyte. What I am getting at is we can store terabytes of data today for what it cost years ago for megabytes. Drive technology has had to evolve at light speed rates to keep up with our growing data demands.It has been said he who holds the data holds the key. Now NAS environmental entered the picture. It has become an issue of how we can manage and store massive amounts of data. Data is critical to all businesses. network-attached storage centralizes the data. This alone makes the administrators job less difficult than trying to juggle many different servers. It also offers up cross platform file sharing with the protection of redundant power supplies fans and hot-swappable drives in a RAID configuration. If the server is down, the clients can still access the data, thus eliminating costly downtime. Along with drive improvements I think network attached storage has been the best improvement to a network environment.Most important technology of the next 15 years: I think networking will change first of all by the way we store our data. As laser prices decrease in cost we will be able to implement new technologies utilizing CD and hard disks to store massive amounts of data. Why, data is not going away; it is only going to grow in size. I also believe we will see major movements in file compression such as what we have experienced with MP3s. I also believe we will see major improvements in wireless communications. Someday we will have refrigerators that talk to our watches and remind us when we pass a grocery store that it's low on milk. Why, to simply make life easier and more efficient. I also believe we will see the use of light to open and close switches within a system. I believe we are on the forefront of controlling light's speed where we can slow it down by cooling, thus allowing us to implement electronic switches that open and close by light. This alone would speed up a system's processing power to unheard of rates. Who knows over the next 15 years we may all own our own androids. This is an industry that changes every three to six months. It's exciting and I love being a part of it. Miroslav Benak Most important technology of the past 15 years: My humble opinion (not sorted by relevance): - Novell NetWare and its IPX/SPX protocol - switching - Ethernet - Fast Ethernet - Gigabit Ethernet - directory services (particularly NDS) - structured cabling standard (ISO/IEC 11801) - development of CAT 5+ twisted pair wires. Explanation: NetWare was first widespread LAN NOS and practically had the same influence in networking like PCs for computing. Switching is very important for performance of network but also enables many advanced functions in networks (VLAN, QoS, etc.) Ethernet is THE network technology of choice for most of us. Directory services is and will be one of the most important technologies in the open interconnected networked world. Development of cabling enabled the whole industry to grow and to fulfill needs of customers. Most important technology of the next 15 years: Directory services should be foundation of every advanced network. Wireless nets are next big step also. Rod Crochiere Most important technology of the past 15 years: To sum this up quickly I would just like to thank Al Gore for the most important development in the past 15 years and say "What a guy! Inventing the Internet" ... this is in jest. Most important technology of the next 15 years: More fiber ... protocols taking advantage of the higher bandwidth and ... more fiber. Ajit Kapoor Most important technology of the past 15 years: The most important network development in the past 15 years in my view has been the acceptance and support by vendors of IP in the LANs in native form. This has created an end-to-end IP (the whole stack) from LAN to CAN to MAN to WAN and back. This situation arose not by an epiphany of sort but by successes of Internet (WWW). Today we talk about Internet as a greatest equalizer eliminating multiple barriers and geographical boundaries. Corporate world has embraced this technology and B2C, B2B, B2E processes have been created in just few short months. Internet speed is the measure of an organization and its ability to adopt to change. E-commerce, m-commerce, are the new business paradigms that have created economic tsunami the proportions of which had never been seen before. This led the Fed chairman to make his famous remark "irrational exhuberance." It is the simplicity and flexibility and time-tested endurance (where is OSI?) of IP network architecture that will propel the future information age into pervasive computing, hitherto existing only as vision based on intrusion of proprietary protocols. This universal acceptance of IP (Internet) will become the catalyst to realize the vision of providing information "any place, any time, any where..." The future enhancement of IP (which are necessary) to include better security (AAA), QoS, real-time communication, VOIP, etc. will be greatly accelerated to benefit users (consumers and business alike) and force suppliers of equipment and software to deliver timely solutions based on these and other evolving standards. This may truly be a second time in the communication industry (first was the adoption of universal telephony standards) that we will have a global "Web tone." Most important technology of the next 15 years: Continue to evolve based on open standards built upon the building blocks of IP. We will have an IP address for every object (and subnet for all their inheritance to truly enable a single unique name for every one living on Planet Earth). t lovatoMost important technology of the past 15 years: Obviously the Internet is the most awesome invention. However, we are talking about technology or the means in which have enabled us to communicate. I would have to say that, networking with devices utilizing the TCP/IP standard allowing us to communicate more efficiently with all applications. So, the TCP/IP standard gets my vote as the most important network technology development in the last 15 years. Most important technology of the next 15 years: With the creation of new protocol standards enabling wireless devices to communicate I would have to vote for the sat-com industry. The protocols will change over the next few years but satellites will dominate the marketplace and all of our lives. Satellite communications will enable all systems including humans, to be monitored 24-7. Think about the implications of Big Brother. Pretty handy for tracking an escaped convict. Or for tracking any device that is a threat to national security from the point of origin or manufacturing to destination, etc.... So my answer is, networking will move to satellite communications and away from the physical hard-wired. From the corporate LAN to the transnational corporate WAN with VoIP, i.e., teleconferencing. Wanna see the future? Look up. edgar solorzanoMost important technology of the past 15 years: The advancement of fiber technology. Each strand of white light can be separated and multiplexed into its own gigabit-a-second signaling. Without fiber there is no broadband. Copper cannot command the speed, the affordability, redundancy, capacity and the ability to send immense quantities simultaneously and without heat generation, errors, and signal loss across miles. In addition, with fewer regenerating equipment and maintenance.Most important technology of the next 15 years: Have heard the word Matrix? Yes, it will evolve into huge data-storage locations, and they too will shrink in size, but not capacity. Nano-sized technology will come of age in the next ten years. Technology will advance into a new milestone every two to four months in capability and affordability. The use of ceramics, other materials, and size will control the destiny. Less heat, less power, durability, longer use, faster processing. Supercooled ceramics has the capability to advance processing speed, as a replacement for silicon incorporating micron wafer-size capacity that will be reached within a year or two, CMOS technology. Prashant DhasMost important technology of the past 15 years: The most important development in the network technology is the advancement of the new technology like LAN, WAN, mobile computing, etc. Also the decrease in the rate there are many advance project taken by every country for implementing fiber optics network around the country to every state. Most important technology of the next 15 years: Just glance at your side and come along the way to write something about network technology. Since I came from computer background and I was working for a hardware/networking company for the past three years, I see that networking has been the priority given nowadays because of the new Technology that has been coming up. The very good example is Mobile Computing. Everyone nowadays, with this fast life is getting excited with this new tech. I see even more changes from now. High-speed fiber optics takes in every country and every state. And with the advance technology everything will be at the fingertip. Other technologies like WAP, mobile computing will also be at the highest end. There are more things to pen in, but I cannot able to say the growing of networking technology. For that words are too short. Arthur B.Most important technology of the past 15 years: Directories, of course. Even Microsoft admits that now.Most important technology of the next 15 years: Hopefully solutions like XML promise to make it possible to cut conceptual functionality loose from underlying technical specifics so both can venture independent of each other to greater (and specialized) achievements. As it is now too much time and money is wasted it trying to find the 'golden balance'. Or 'total solution' if you will. Tom McCaffreyMost important technology of the past 15 years: Networking is one of those terms that means various things to different people. I'm certain that the Internet will be heralded as one of the most important networking tools ever. And that is as it should be. But what makes this tool (the Internet) so important is the ability of virtually everyone and anyone to access it. Modems, NICs, DSL, ISDN, etc. are the media that have made the Internet what has become, and provides the path for it to become the world network. Just as Henry Ford and the automobile assembly line revolutionized the world by bringing reasonably priced autos to the consumer, access technology is revolutionizing the world by providing the Internet, and information at your fingertips, to the people. You can get DSL for what you used to pay for a telephone. And with that comes relatively fast downloads, so even the computer neophyte feels they are connected and in control. What makes an invention special is the acceptance and adoption by the masses. Faster connectivity, in whatever form, is why the Internet is booming. Most important technology of the next 15 years: In the very near future, consumer software will be a thing of the past. It will be replaced by HOSPs (Home Office Service Providers). Every household will have access to the Internet. But rather than a mammoth-sized home computer, capable of storing hundreds of different applications, and thousands of users files, consumers will opt for an Internet appliance. These appliances will provide consumers access to the services they need, (word processing, personal organization, bill payment) but will not require the user to purchase and own the ever-changing software underlying these tools. Users will have a simple generic GUI and will subscribe to a HOSP that offers them the selection of tools they require, online storage, and connectivity tailored to the consumer's interest. The consumer's appliance will have the ability to print, write to a hard storage device, (mini-disk, CD, flash card) but will not actually house applications. All of those services will be provided online by your friendly HOSP. Robyn Craig Most important technology of the past 15 years: I would say that the global deployment of fiber-optic cable. Fiber has joined continents, first, for our voice network, now with DWDM and still more fiber to satisfy the bandwidth that will continue to climb for our data/video networks. Fiber has basically made it to the end of our driveways... just waiting for the next photonics/MEMS technology to enter our front door to provide the next level of network integration.Most important technology of the next 15 years: As I view this through my crystal ball to the far side of the next 15 years...I think that a combination of quantum computers/network devices and a wireless grid that connect basically all household/vehicular devices.Micro quantum computers that are surgically implanted would monitor all health levels and render corrective measures to a home-/body-based video display and your Dr. Daily entertainment/chores/cooking would be selected/automated. Handheld wireless network devices(quantum PCs) would interface with like devices to allow a host of interactions to obtain day to day requirements/conveniences through the quantum computer-generated modulated wireless local grid at light speed, regional grids would be connected to fiber-optic infrastructure distribution centers for continental transportation. Networking would be a major factor in unifying the planet, by supplying awareness and lessening the burden of routine tasks. Mohammad MoshrefMost important technology of the past 15 years: I will say the Web-enabled technology. With implementation of new switching that use Layer 2 and 3 IP routing.Most important technology of the next 15 years: Broadband, WAN- and MAN-based on optical backbone, with Gigabit Ethernet, and SAN, NAS-based storage. Barbara Nolley Most important technology of the past 15 years: The World Wide Web's undoubtedly the most important networking technology development in the past 15 years, and perhaps in the history of networking. Why? Simply put, because it has brought the wealth of knowledge of all the world's libraries to within easy reach of millions of individuals, who might otherwise have never had access to this information. Most important technology of the next 15 years: They say that "everything old is new, again" and I think this will become especially true for networking. It's fairly well agreed that the future of networking will include both optical and wireless networking. Beyond that, very little is agreed upon. One of the "new" optical technologies, typically called Lambda Switching, involves setting up an end-to-end light path. Once in place, the path and its associated wavelength on each node is dedicated to the process that created the connection. This sounds awfully similar to the "old," inefficient form of networking known as circuit switching. Wireless networking is becoming commonplace and a new standard, 802.11b is finally bringing wireless LANs into respectability within the large corporate environment. How interesting that the architecture and topology of the "new" standard mimics the "old" analog telephone network with its access points (towers) and wireless modems (cellular telephones). Then, there's the local assignment of VPI/VCI on an ATM permanent virtual circuit. It works a lot like the switched virtual circuit created through the Tymnet Public Data Network in the late 1970s. Everything old is new again! Alan GarlandMost important technology of the past 15 years: Ethernet is without a doubt the very foundation upon which all networking "rests." Not merely from its versatile technology standpoint, but from its very simplicity, utmost reliability, and widespread affordability, it has given rise to the vast majority of networks in the current and forseeable future. In the early '90s Ethernet overcame several obstacles including the adversity of the world's strongest technology marketing company, and its short term capacity limitations to become the standard we know today. Long live Ethernet!Most important technology of the next 15 years: Over the last 30 years, networks have have evolved from centralized, to distributed, to decentralized, and back to centralized. Similar to clothing fashions, networking has come full circle. Today we are moving towards centralized, with "thin" clients, connected to server pods. However, there are several forces which will lead the architecture to once again become distributed. As network infrastructure gains capacity, tools become more robust, and the need to operate in a disconnected manner apply their market forces, we will once again see a movement towards the often disparaged "client-server" architecture with more functionality situated at the local device, supported by central data stores. Mark BarnettMost important technology of the past 15 years: The world of networks is not what it used to be. Traditionally considered a collection of boxes contributing to the overall MIS infrastructure, IT infrastructures have finally changed, primarily because of the important role they play in every organization. Today, IT infrastructures should be seen as a collection of business services, which directly affect company revenue and competitiveness. Typical examples include e-mail, ecommerce, Internet connectivity, web presence, database access, office applications, elearning, financial/manufacturing applications, EDI, CAD/CAM applications and EMI. However, the very fact that it is now easy to translate down time and brownouts into business impact and lost revenue means that box technology has lost its No. 1 position in importance.Most important technology of the next 15 years: The ability to manage IT infrastructures according to their business impact is now of primary importance. Consequently, in the future, the most critical criteria for network management will be the ability to manage the IT infrastructure according to business impact. Rather than managing the technology components that make up the infrastructure, it will be essential to provide real time proactive monitoring and management of all business services and their respective SLAs, as well as the ability to translate data gathered on IT performance into business service performance. From the technology perspective, clearly the most important developments to expect are those that provide MIS managers with optimal business service visibility. Kok Beng ThiamMost important technology of the past 15 years: Whether it is the most important network technology development is arguable, but Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) has definitely provided the industry with a workable standard for the past 15 years. Conceptually, SNMP is wonderfully simple. Network management platforms send requests to agents, and the agents send back replies. The requests and replies refer to variables accessible to the agent software. By using SNMP-transported data (such as packets per second and network error rates), network administrators can more easily manage network performance, find and solve network problems, and plan for network growth. During the past 15 years, the enterprise network has evolved at a more rapid pace than the development of a standard for managing the devices upon which the network was built. While vendors could implement proprietary standards, or rather more accurately, they would develop simple command-line interfaces and require that managers to log into devices to perform management functions, it would be impossible to manage a network built on equipment from multiple vendors without a unifying standard. SNMP provided a transport mechanism for network device-related data. The definition of that data was determined in MIBs. The first of these - dubbed as MIB I and MIB II - specified some basic statistics that the IETF felt should be obtainable on all network hardware. Unfortunately, vendor politics quickly put an end to this and made the “standard” fall short on functionalities. Fifteen years down the road, the industry has not delivered on the promise of a single universal, functional management structure. Even though, everyone (users or vendors) agree that such a structure would be invaluable. If nothing else, SNMP has certainly got us this far and it has taught us valuable lessons in how we should move forward in establishing new standards.Most important technology of the next 15 years: Today, corporate networks have taken a life on their own, growing at a phenomenal pace. Factoring in the diverse network offerings complicates matters further. The thought of having to continuously check on different network equipment for their network status from time to time, learn complex networking technologies and protocols by heart, and be able to troubleshoot all problems is not plausible. The way networking management solutions will be delivered will change over the next 15 years. Increasingly, companies will look for third-party service providers whose core tasks are to host or collocate network equipment in data centers while allowing their customers to access to their services remotely, and as and when they need them. Companies will pay according to the data traffic/ bandwidth they have consumed. Companies do not have to pay upfront a huge sum of capital in new network equipment and recruit a big IT team to manage their networks. Network management services will take the form of this pay-as-per use concept. No longer do companies have to get their hands dirty by having to source, implement and manage their network equipment. This is already taking place, although not at a phenomenal pace, but the overwhelming benefits companies can reap from such a model makes this a compelling proposition and drives the adoption of such services in the networking landscape. Othmar KyasMost important technology of the past 15 years: The innovation that changed the networking industry and the entire industrialized world was Tim Berners-Lee’s intuitive representation of networked data – the World Wide Web (WWW) – in 1994. Almost overnight, Berners-Lee’s development enabled the linkage of millions of megabytes of data, providing a worldwide infrastructure for sharing and generating information. In the following years the Web, originally developed for use across wide-area networks by the international research community, dramatically changed corporate information technologies. Infrastructures, applications and usage of corporate networks transitioned to intranets. For the first time, a public-domain technology unrelated to any proprietary computer architecture, operating system or communication protocol, but solely based on data and linkages, dominated networking. In a single evolutionary step, proprietary technologies, which prohibited efficient, computer-based information flow, disappeared. Complex applications - document management, groupware, database access and workflow systems - quickly became affordable and implementable. The Information Age left infancy. Most important technology of the next 15 years: The step that will advance networking to the next level is the deployment of wireless networking technologies. Just as with a phone call, one typically does not want to reach a certain location, but a certain person. Data typically originates from an individual (e-mail) or targets one (Web content). Just as with mobile telephony a number of years ago, the human-to-data interface will become possible regardless of location as soon as the necessary underlying technology is mature enough. Today’s industry trends suggest this is about to happen. Third-generation (3G) mobile phone services will be available this year in Asia, next year in Europe and soon after that in the US, enabling high-bandwidth, location-independent data network access. By 2005, more than 50 percent of Internet users will use wireless technologies. Within buildings and corporate networks, the availability of inexpensive wireless LAN technologies is already changing the IT landscape. Combined wireless LAN/3G interface cards are just around the corner and will complement the step to a truly wireless, networked world. For the first time, technology will provide a networking infrastructure free of technical limitations, truly enabling communication independent of space and time. Thomas LottererMost important technology of the past 15 years: The most important network technology developments in the past 15 years were the development of "fancy chaos for idiots" widely known under the term "World Wide Web" and the technical development of directory services. Most important technology of the next 15 years: In the next 15 years people will begin seeing the value of directory services and how those services offering more than the name "directory" will help people finding their way through their networked life. Michael RamosMost important technology of the past 15 years: In my opinion, the most important network technology development in the past 15 years has been the advent and progression of wireless data networks. While the voice side of technology has enjoyed mobile capabilities for years, only now has the data side come up to par with reasonable economics. The ability to push data faster and faster has lost its sexiness; what good is high-speed access if the access is still low on the usability and mobility scale? The possibilities of Bluetooth, although hyped beyond belief by the corporations that stand to gain the most from its success, are indeed eye-opening. The ability to embed communication capabilities within everyday appliances such as coffee makers and outdoor grills could bring new levels of living efficiency never thought possible. Most important technology of the next 15 years: Networking will become more and more mobile while also becoming more and more economically acceptable. Once wireless networking reaches the masses, its criticality to everyday activities should double or perhaps triple. The public's dependence on such technology will lead to the true advent of the network "dial tone." Edward OgonekMost important technology of the past 15 years: The most important development in networking over the past 15 years is the creation of the World Wide Web. The Web wrested the Internet out of the hands of academics and opened it up to business and individual users. Access to the Web accelerated the demand for more information-and the connectivity, interconnectivity, and speed to deliver that information. Bandwidth in the backbone and metropolitan-area network has grown to allow more companies to put more and more data online. The World Wide Web drove the unbundling of the copper loop by making possible higher-speed access technologies (such as cable and DSL). This new access technology led to the creation of Internet data centers that have set the stage for the next generation of outsourced services such as high-speed storage and retrieval. Most important technology of the next 15 years: The future of networking is an unbundled optical loop. It is a future that moves beyond the limits of the copper loop to deliver data at optical speeds. Although there has been a significant build-out of the optical network infrastructure, the availability of usable high-speed, optical services hasn't grown beyond a trickle. The demand in the marketplace for optical-speed services (led by storage and retrieval and including bandwidth management, bandwidth brokering, and video delivery) can only be met through a complete unbundling of the optical loop. Like the unbundling of the copper loop, an unbundled optical loop will foster competition, lower costs, and spark the creation of new, affordable optical-speed services. To make the unbundled optical loop and a new breed of optical-speed enterprise applications possible, new technologies will be introduced. Technologies will be put into the network that optimize the use of optical network bandwidth, transform that bandwidth into services, and enable end-to-end service management for all service providers. We will also see an optical management structure emerge that enables real-time correlation and exchange of network information between service providers. An unbundled optical loop is the future of networking. Affordable high-speed access will become a reality and a new mass market for optical services will emerge. Maryann TeriMost important technology of the past 15 years: The most important development continues to be the ability to multiplex information over a single link. Since packet switching was developed in the late '60s to this day, this technology continues to be a mainstay in technology even into optical transmissions. This technology has spurned growth in vendor systems, telecommunications companies, international networks, and the Internet and the technologies supported by the Internet. The results are value prices, instantaneous interactive communications around the world, promoting personal, business, political,and educational information transfer. Most important technology of the next 15 years: We will see increasing fiber and cable infrastructures being built. Vendors are developing systems and equipment to support higher multiplexing capabilities over single bandwidth channels in smaller footprints. We will see Internet technology change to better support interactive simultaneous communications. We will see increase communications among remote work, and personal groups and individuals. Families will be able to visit together with live video support. Education will be available to students around the world attending a professor's class live or when they have the time. Business will become more personal while reducing commuting time, expenses, and risk. Related links Contact Events Editor Sandra Gittlen
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