As firms struggle for network capacity, a new laser product could
be the solution
The amount of data moving around corporate networks is
increasing faster than the technology can handle.
Where it was once simply a mix of mainframe sessions, limited
file transfer and print traffic, the corporate network now
encompasses bandwidth hogs such as multimedia, back-up services and
Web access from both Internet and intranet sources.
And new applications such as e-commerce, distance learning,
computer-based training and information broadcasts have created
nightmares for administrators forced to maintain high availability
access to data files and key corporate data processes.
The solution has been to upgrade the corporate backbone to
Gigabit Ethernet for server-to-server and server-to-hub traffic and
speeds of 100mbps for service to the desktop.
This all works fine when an organisation operates from a single
building or site that can have inter-building cabling installed
without problems. However, if you need to cross public roads or
push out an infrastructure across a site where laying fibre is not
financially or physically viable, there are limited alternatives
available.
Wireless Lan
One alternative is wireless Lan (local area network) technology,
which will provide data speeds of up to 10mbps between buildings.
Another is short-haul microwave, which provides much higher speeds
but brings in to play a number of significant health and safety
issues. And a small number of European companies are now making
progress with an infrared waveband technology called Laser IR.
The first generation of Laser IR technology suffered from a
number of issues, mainly because suppliers were trying to compete
with wireless Lans on distance. This meant using high power,
extremely expensive components and auto tracking mechanisms that
rarely delivered effective long-term communications. The result was
that a lot of people dismissed the technology as being of little
real commercial value.
However, London-based company Cablefree has now developed a
range of second-generation Laser IR products that can provide
access speeds from E1 through 10mbps Ethernet up to Gigabit
Ethernet for campus and backbone extensions. The products are not
only aimed at the corporate extension market but are also being
used heavily by telcos and Internet service providers (ISPs) to
provide Net access and fibre replacement or extension.
The basic product comes as a pair of solid-state lasers that
meet European and UK health and safety regulations for eye safety.
This is extremely important because, where a tenant doesn't have
access to the roof of their building or the landlord will not allow
a fixture to be placed on the roof, the Cablefree system can be
mounted behind a window. In such a case, it is important that
people such as window cleaners are protected from the beam as well
as people in other buildings should the laser somehow be knocked
out of alignment.
By using a very narrow beam Cablefree is able to reduce the
power required, thus keeping power usage to far less than the
average mobile telephone.
This also helps to reduce any issue with environmental
interference such as torrential rain, smog or other airborne
particles - a hot issue with the current climate change being
experienced in the UK.
Global solution
It also means that corporate customers who have offices in areas
of the world such as Asia, where monsoons are prevalent, can look
to a global solution rather than a mix of technologies in different
operating regions.
The degree to which interference can be eliminated has ensured
that Cablefree is now winning a lot of the traditional wireless and
microwave suppliers' ISPbusiness.
Short haul microwave does not generally suffer from interference
because it is a regulated service where frequencies are carefully
allocated. Unfortunately, this requires a lot of extensive
planning, the building owner's permission over the siting of the
dish, frequency allocation from the Government, and, in urban
areas, facing up to the increasing difficulty of acquiring a free
block of spectrum in which to operate.
Wireless Lan operating in the 2.4GHz Industrial, Scientific and
Medical (ISM) band is the most attractive solution as it is
unregulated and can be set-up very quickly. However, it does suffer
from problems of interference when too many systems are being
operated in close proximity. Because this is an unregulated band,
interference generally occurs when operators either apply too much
power or site their antenna badly.
The use of wireless, especially for ISPs, is on the increase
because of the high costs and problems associated with traditional
fibre solutions. The number of commercial buildings that are
connected to the wider telecommunications backbone via optical
fibre is very low with some estimates putting it at, on average,
less than 10% in major cities worldwide.
One problem of laying fibre is that the operator needs to obtain
permission to dig in the fibre from all the landowners between the
exchange and the building. This can be a time consuming and costly
business, even when the building is under initial construction.
For existing buildings, this problem is much worse because
obtaining permission often means searching through old records.
This also applies to buildings that are already wired, and
companies are finding they must go through this process even when
they are simply looking to add additional capacity.
Additional expense
A further complication is that metropolitan authorities are
actively looking to reduce the amount of disruption caused by
digging up roads to install new services. There are suggestions of
congestion charging for such works and this is likely to add
additional cost to already expensive bandwidth.
In the UK, despite moves to ensure that all councils maintain
records of all services that have been put into the ground, records
are often incomplete and where a provider needs to cross the
boundary between one authority and the next, the level of available
information is often sparse at best.
It can be seen that all of these areas offer significant
opportunities for Laser IR. Firstly, it is an unregulated service
so the only issue that needs to be dealt with, from a local
authority standpoint, is obtaining the permission to mount the
lasers externally.
Interference concerns
Interference concerns are irrelevant with a narrow beam solution
and beams can cross over one another without any problem. Systems
can also be heavily co-located, allowing service providers to run a
high density offering in urban areas.
Bandwidth can be anything from a simple E1 at 2mbps or 10mbps
Lan through to 1gbps corporate backbone replacements. The net
result is that, where services are required immediately, there is
no wait for the fibre and the relevant permissions can be acquired
over a period of time.
For the customer and the service provider, there are significant
benefits. The Laser IR system is a one-off capital purchase so
there are no recurring costs other than bandwidth. And the cost of
digging-in the infrastructure is removed from the overall cost of
the solution.
With the exception of the entry-level Cablefree Lite product,
the system is fully upgradeable and can be managed centrally using
SNMP and thus integrate into corporate network management tools.
Yet, the most important issue is that the service can be set up in
hours, rather than months, ensuring immediate payback for operators
and a working system as and when required for the customer.
The advantages of Laser IR mean that it is finding its way into
a range of applications. ISPs, such as Soho NET, have started to
deploy it in preference to wireless Lan. In the Balkans, the
banking industry has deployed high-speed networks using Laser IR.
And disaster recovery systems are available from suppliers, such as
Aeon Systems, who use Laser IR for transmitting data back to
central repositories.