Salvatore Salamone
Network administrators looking to provide enhanced management, remote access, problem resolution, and LAN-to-LAN connectivity solutions for their networked users are increasingly turning to one place, their network hub vendor. When combining hubs with devices that give users WAN (wide-area network) access, vendors are making sure the components complement each other so that the combination is often better than what you would get if you had bought the pieces separately (see the table ``Advantages of Integrating WAN Access into Hubs''). These developments mark a fundamental shift in a network hub's role from a departmental wiring concentrator to that of the single point in a network that gives users LAN and WAN access.
Today's network managers are faced wit
h trying to satisfy the growing demand to connect LAN-based users at different sites and to provide users with dial-out access to commercial E-mail services. Additionally, managers have to provide mobile workers (i.e., those who travel with portable computers or who work at home) with dial-in access to network resources.
In the past, these levels of connectivity would be handled using stand-alone routers, terminal servers, communications servers, modems, and other line-termination devices such as ISDN terminal adapters, multiplexers, and CSU/DSUs (channel service unit/data service units). These devices were typically purchased separately--a Forrester Research (Cambridge, MA) survey of 50 large U.S. businesses found that 60 percent of the companies bought these components individually.
However, purchasing patterns are changing. Forrester Research found that 54 percent of network managers said that in the future, they will buy WAN access products from their hub vendors.
The reason for the s
hift is that a hub with WAN access integrated into it is easier to manage compared to using stand-alone solutions. ``We can consolidate our entire remote-access solution into the hub, thereby improving network management, reliability, and security,'' says Brian Perry, director of information services at Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA). Perry's sentiments are at the heart of the integration trend. According to Val Sribar, program manager for the consultancy the Meta Group (Reston, VA), ``Managing the total infrastructure--the hubs, routers, and muxes--is the key issue.''
Responding to this demand, virtually all the major hub vendors including 3Com (Santa Clara, CA), Cabletron Systems (Rochester, NH), IBM, Optical Data Systems (Richardson, TX), and Synoptics Communications (Santa Clara, CA), have introduced products to provide WAN connectivity. And a number of other vendors that have expertise on the WAN side, including Shiva (Burlington, MA), Xylogics (Burlington, MA), and Xyplex (Littleton, MA),
have been enhancing their offerings and partnering with the high-end hub vendors.
The evolution of hubs into the single LAN/WAN access point is changing the way WAN access products are managed. In the past, managing this mix of equipment was not easy because each piece of equipment had its own proprietary management system. But the integrated approach allows all devices to be managed by one system, typically the hub's management system. This reduces the complexity of managing the network.
Besides simplifying management, integration most often provides better management capabilities. That's because stand-alone WAN access devices, such as communications servers, CSU/DSUs, modems, or ISDN terminal adapters, have often lacked even the most basic management utilities.
Vendors who are integrating such products into their hubs often provide enhanced management tools for remote management. For instance, many are adding SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) support to these products. With SNM
P, management of the WAN devices is easier. For instance, products that include SNMP agents can send alerts to higher-level management systems like Hewlett-Packard's OpenView, Sun Microsystems' SunNet Manager, or IBM's Netview.
Integration of WAN access products into hubs helps in other ways. Installation is typically much easier. Rather than configuring separate products, the combination is usually configured as one device. In addition, any conflicts between products can be resolved with a call to one vendor, thus avoiding the finger-pointing that often takes place among vendors when a problem occurs that involves a number of vendors' products.
Another benefit to integrating products is improved reliability. If separate units are used, they must be connected by cables. And each cable is a potential source of failure in a network. Additionally, reliability is improved because there are fewer pieces of equipment. For instance, a plug-in card with 12 integrated modems uses the redundant power supp
ly of the hub chassis. In contrast, 12 stand-alone modems would each have their own power supplies.
Advantages of Integrating WAN Access into Hubs
Benefit Example
Simplified management Manage hub and WAN access device
through one management system
(typically, the hub's), rather than
using a different system for each
product.
Enhanced management functions SNMP support for WAN devices, which
have typically lacked this type of
management.
Improved reliability Can plug WAN access device into hub
and share hub's redundant power supply
rather than using independent
power
supplies. Integration into hub means
fewer cables are required to connect
devices.
Easier to resolve equipment problems Less finger pointing when you buy
components from one vendor.
Hubs Branch Out of the Wiring Closet
