* LAN basics
For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on our annual LANs Technology Tour event. This year’s theme is “Orchestrating Your Network Assets,” which having just returned from our recent spate of tours seems more than apropos.
I’ve been part of our tours on wireless LANs, voice over IP, data centers and security and each has shown the tremendous importance of an overall LAN strategy. While IT managers have come to our events to learn about individual components, some say they are excited for the overarching LAN event to help them tie everything together.
One area that IT managers are looking for guidance is the complete integration of new technologies into existing LANs. Creating a voice over IP network without consideration for the resources that already function in the LAN would be detrimental to an IT organization. Developing an ad hoc wireless network consisting of wireless base stations and access points strewn willy-nilly would be a waste of time and money. Especially when both of these technologies can take advantage of the gear and software that lies at the heart of the LAN.
In the WLAN tour, we touched briefly on how users are beginning to integrate wired and wireless switching for better efficiency. Doing so saves on overall network management and wiring closet space, just to name two benefits.
Voice over IP will be dramatically woven into the traditional LAN fabric so LAN managers have to know about its requirements and how to meet those needs. Integrating bandwidth optimization and management strategies for voice and data networks will create big wins for the network overall.
The LAN is at the epicenter of a lot of today’s great networking momentum and making the right moves – or “orchestrating your assets” – will put you in good stead for 2004.
On our tour, which kicks off Nov. 5, you’ll hear from leading companies, including Adtran, Cisco and Foundry about their current and upcoming initiatives. They’ll show you what you should be paying attention to and what is going by the wayside.
Also on hand will be Allot Communications, Avocent and Canon, who will be demonstrating some of their offerings.
Kevin Tolly, president of The Tolly Group, keynotes the day with a look at some of the top issues facing LAN managers. Look for discussions on deploying Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop, connecting remote users to LAN resources without compromising security, integrating wired and wireless networking, melding voice and data traffic and extracting greater performance from all points in the local area.
Sign up now to see how you can take all the great new technologies bursting onto the scene and blend them with your existing network, all while maintaining perfect harmony.
Register now at https://www.nwfusion.com/events/lan/index.html
