Going Mobile

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  Wednesday 6 April 2011

  By: Dan O’Donnell
  
  It is funny how the meaning of words can change over time. When “The Who” wrote the song “Going Mobile” they had no idea what mobility would mean in 2011. Listen to “Going Mobile” by The Who here.
  
  In the early 1970’s going mobile meant riding around in your car listening to your tape machine. At that time, going mobile actually was a symbol for getting away; becoming unreachable by others; achieving solitude.
  
  Today, mobility means taking it all with you. Instant voice, text, email, video meetings and personal video entertainment now follow us when we are mobile.
  
  Thank you Internet. Thank you Apple. Thank you Cisco.
  
  A few months back, the Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Forecast was released. It is well known that Cisco has deep relationships with the carriers who provide the mobile and wire line network services. Although it is difficult to predict anything that is four or five years into the future, since this report began in 2006, Cisco’s crystal ball, historically, has been very good.
  
  According to the Bay Area News Group, the report predicts that by 2015 there will be 7.1 billion tablets, phones and other mobile devices connecting to the Internet globally. Note that the global population by that date will be about 7.2 billion. Mobile internet traffic increased 2.5 times just from 2009 to 2010. The report goes on to predict that in 2015, there will be 75 exabytes of data sent by those devices, a 26 fold increase from 2010. An exabyte is one billion gigabytes. More interesting is the fact that two thirds of that mobile traffic will be video according to Suraj Shetty, Cisco marketing vice president.
  
  This is challenging information for network architects and security engineers because of the drastic changes that will be required in the next five years to accommodate the predicted level of traffic. Huge investments will be required to upgrade network links and trunks from 1Gto 10G to 100G in a very short time. Billions of dollars will be invested on 4G, LTE and other Next Generation Network topologies.
  
  The faster the links, the harder it is to protect the data and manage network performance. It will be critical that network taps and tools keep up with new technologies and faster link speeds. The capability to tap into 100% of link data, filter out unnecessary information and send the relevant data to security and analytical appliances will be the key to network management in the 40G to 100G world.
  
  Look for products, platforms and companies that can adapt to the network of the future.
  
  Integrate future requirements into your architecture now.
  
  Build a flexible plan to access, capture and analyze high speed links today and higher speed links tomorrow. In the networked and mobile decade of the 2010’s, mobility means access, not solitude.
  
  It is funny, indeed, that today, solitude is virtual not mobile. So now, relax a moment, put on the ear buds and take a trip in the way-back machine to 1971, a much simpler time.
  
  Click here to listen to “Going Mobile” by “The Who” on YouTube.
  
  Read more stories like this on Network Critical's Blog at www.networkcritical.wordpress.com