Multi-device syncing, Mac and iOS upgrades to generate piles of traffic
Apple’s recently launched iCloud network hosting and syncing service, along with several other Apple developments, is likely to generate traffic loads that create performance challenges for enterprise Wi-Fi network administrators and mobile operators.
The iCloud service, one of several announcements at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco this week, allows users to store data, music files, photos, calendars and mail in Apple-maintained servers over the network. The service automatically synchronizes iPhones, iPods, iPads and other devices by pushing updates and messages out to all a given user’s devices from the cloud.
IN PHOTOS: Apple’s WWDC keynote
“Keeping these devices in sync [has been] driving us crazy,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the WWDC. “We’re going to demote the PC and the Mac to just be a device, just like an iPhone, an iPad or an iPod Touch … and we’re going to move the center of your digital life into the cloud.”
Because all these devices have communications built into them updates and messages can be pushed to all devices automatically and synchronized without users knowing about it, he said.
Simplicity is the recipe for user adoption. As a result, mobile networks will soon become far more cluttered as mobile users communicate with their content repositories over the air instead of via a tethered machine. What will that mean?
“The iPad and iPhone automatically back up to the cloud, and most of these settings are default,” observes Terry Ammons, network administrator at Satilla Regional Medical Center in Waycross, Ga. “End users won’t know how to tweak [the settings]. Having 400 phones syncing up to the cloud will saturate my Wi-Fi network,” he frets.
Another example: The Mac OS X Lion release (just $29.99 and available next month) contains AirDrop, a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi-sharing capability that sounds a lot like Wi-Fi Direct but with an Apple-simple interface. Images of users geographically around you also running AirDrop appear on your display, and you can just drag and drop a file to your colleague’s picture or icon once both parties confirm the transfer for security’s sake.
And Apple’s iOS 5, a mobile OS upgrade to ship this fall for the iPhone, iPad and the two most recent versions of the iPod Touch, now sends OS upgrades over the air, rather than requiring you to plug into a computer. Granted, they are delta updates, so you only have to download what’s changed. But those upgrades mean still more over-the-air traffic.
