{"id":63560,"date":"2013-12-17T19:55:45","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T00:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbachnet.wwwmi3-ss40.a2hosted.com\/index.php\/"},"modified":"2021-07-31T13:25:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-31T17:25:48","slug":"wiring-closet-3-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wiring-closet-3-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Wiring Closet 3.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wiring<\/a>The lowly wiring closet<\/strong> at the edge of the network is evolving. You know the one\u2019s that IT shares with the custodians or the women’s lav. The neglected place that connects all end-points<\/strong> into the enterprise network infrastructure. Throughout my career we have moved from 3Com SuperStack hubs to 10\/100 SuperStack switches to 100\/1000\/10000 Cisco 2960\u2019a fixed Ethernet<\/a> devices. In this first edge era, the primary buying criteria was the price per port. Low price was the critical factor. These devices might have had a few network services but they only provided best-effort connectivity services with little to no operational control according to Nick Lippis<\/a> in the Lippis Report 103: Wiring Closet Switches Gain Strategic IT Value Label<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Baystack<\/a>Commoditized<\/strong> network gear created enterprise networks consisting of equipment from different vendors. Purchases throughout the wiring closets, distribution, and core were based mainly on cost<\/strong>. The article says that equipment from multiple vendors is the hallmark of Wiring Closet 1.0. Wiring Closet 1.0 made effective management difficult. Multiple management systems required that organizations keep a large staff with diverse skills to keep up network functionality.<\/p>\n

Wiring Closet 2.0<\/h3>\n

Most organizations are now in the Wiring Closet 2.0 era. As competition drove margins on edge switches into the single digits, the author states that vendors began to add services to a new breed of device. The new features on 2.0 switches created new ways for the vendors to compete on different (rb-<\/strong> and more profitable<\/em>) fronts beyond price per port. Mr. Lippis argues enterprise trends are forcing IT executives to check projects, programs, and priorities as they seek to drive down Total Cost of Ownership<\/a> (TCO<\/strong>) while extracting added value from their enterprise network. Business executives expect their IT departments to meet continually growing demands without significant year-over-year network expenditures. (rb<\/strong>– the ever popular more with less argument<\/em>) The article says the new realities include new mixed traffic patterns and increased desktop bandwidth requirements for new applications, communications, and data center strategies.<\/p>\n

\"GoddardSwitch vendors recognized these trends. They responded by developing a new type of wiring closet switch. Second-generation switches added significant functionality. The vendors’ goal is to transform the commoditized network edge (rb-<\/strong> low profit<\/em>) into a strategic IT asset (rb-<\/strong> high profit<\/em>). The blog says these new switches enable a host of new applications for Wiring Closet 2.0.<\/p>\n