Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
It has been said that the only thing that remains constant is change itself, and that's
certainly true in reference to changes in computer technology. In many ways, the rate
of change is also uniform—exponential, it almost seems. We have often heard that
we have left normal historical time and are now living on Internet time. Even so, it
is possible to accurately predict the near-term future of LAN wiring technology.
One of the interesting features of technological change in the computer indus-
try is the steady progression of a technology from experimental to leading-edge, and
then to widely accepted. While experimental technologies are quite divergent, those
that are feasible eventually become the hot new technologies that define the true
state of the art. Of course, a new feature or capability does not immediately sup-
plant existing products, but eventually, products with useful new features become
readily available at a reasonable cost. At that point, standardization emerges,
whether formal or de facto, and the product becomes widely accepted.
Picking the best emerging technology for your network is an exciting and potentially
rewarding game. The game is really not in trying to guess which experimental devel-
opments will become accepted, but rather in observing which leading-edge technolo-
gies have begun to be accepted, and then employing them in the future. The creation
of recognized standards is the key to which technologies will be used in the future.
In local area networking, we are fortunate because we must operate in a mul-
tivendor environment. The need for interoperability means that we must have
strong, internationally accepted standards for networking.
Another fortunate circumstance is that no proprietary technology dominates
the field. Many, if not most, of the technologies that have become widely used are
a result of unprecedented industry cooperation through partnerships, consortia, and
standards committees. In addition, because of the need for interoperability, stan-
dards tend not to change radically once they are implemented. This is particularly
true of LAN wiring.
You can expect your LAN wiring system to remain totally usable over many
years if your needs remain relatively constant. This is not to say that if you progress
from simple printer and file sharing to high-bandwidth graphic or video applica-
tions that you might not need to upgrade some network components. However,
most LANs support organizations with relatively constant needs. For example, if
you have a standard 100BaseT network in place today, you may reasonably expect
it to remain viable for a number of years. On the other hand, if you are installing
new network wiring,
you should plan for the future
. For LAN wiring, the future is
fairly clear.
