Cabling intelligently
Despite high cost, intelligent cabling is gaining popularity among mid-size businesses as it promises increased uptime and easy manageability
By Jamsheed Gandhi
 Considered a bane for an IT manager or a network administrator, data cabling has always been a troubled area. With networks growing exponentially and physical locations expanding in size, users can now access the corporate network not only though the data port on the desktop, but also through wireless access. This causes increased complexities for the network administrator to physically manage a network.
For 2007, the structured cabling market in the country was estimated at Rs 600 crore, of which intelligent cabling products contributed about 20 percent or Rs 120 crore.
Intelligent Cable Management Systems (ICMS) or intelligent cabling is meant as a solution for the troubled network administrator to track moves, adds and changes to the network. By integrating software to manage the health of the data ports, both at the desktop and at the rack, the administrator obtains real-time information on the health of the network. Issues such as loose cables or a disconnected data port can be identified quickly, without having to troubleshoot extensively.
Vendors have targeted their solutions at networks with over 200 users that need a high level of redundancy, and tight security for detecting intrusion, both physically at the location where the intruder is entering the network, and virtually on which applications are being accessed. Such solutions offer the network administrator the control to detect the intruder in real-time and stop him from causing damage.
Volume pressure
Dileep Kumar, Director, Product Management Enterprise & Carrier Networks, ADC Krone explains, "The three factors that are driving companies to look at intelligent cabling are, the increase of size of the network; down time that is unacceptable; and security of the data being accessed from the network. As networks grow physically it is impossible for a network administrator located in one corner of the office to try and troubleshoot the problem located at the other end. The way current corporate campuses are being designed, large networks now not only spread across floors but also across acres of land."
One of the few cable manufacturing companies in the country, D-Link India, through its Digi-Link Brand of passive components is seeing interest from its customers for intelligent cabling solutions. Milind Tamhane, Vice President, Manufacturing, D-Link reveals, "Since the past two years we are seeing a rise in customers asking for intelligent cabling solutions. Mission critical operations, such as banks, financial institutions, and data centers are where such solutions are being deployed. It is a growing area where companies are slowly realizing the benefits and have stopped looking at it as an expensive solution."
Where does the "intelligence" reside?
The "intelligence" of the cable is applicable at Layer 1 or the Physical Layer as designated in the OSI seven-layer model. Most active networking components such as switches and routers are able to manage Layer 2 (the Data Link Layer) to Layer 7 (the Application Layer). By enabling data ports to be managed, the OSI model can now be completely managed layer by layer.
Like all active managed components, data ports too have Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agents embedded into them, which relay real-time information to the Physical Layer Management System (PLM). The PLM software is responsible for monitoring patch cord movements, sending notifications to the administrator on connectivity changes and tracking the exact location of all active equipment present on the network. This also helps the administrator in guiding moves and additions of devices on the network.
Industry Demand
While banks, financial institutions, and data centers have been the early adapters for this solution, it's been an uphill task to try and get companies to proactively buy into the solution. Dexter Wee, General Manager iBoss (Asia Pacific), Datacraft Asia admits, "The interest from customers is not encouraging. Currently, large customers are interested in deploying such a solution because of governance and compliance issues. They see the benefits once the solution is in place and they map the CAD drawings of the building or the location into the PLM which allows them to see the exact physical location of each data port in the network on the screen."
The value proposition of an intelligent cabling solution extends beyond troubleshooting for loose cables or wrongly placed patch cords, as each vendor offers proprietary software to manage their solution and empower the administrator.
Business for channels
The opportunity for the channels lies in being able to value add to the solution. Most vendors have expressed a long gestation period when the customer has to be educated on the benefits of the solution before the actual sale occurs. Such a long sales cycle is not something that they are happy about. Alternate to new installations, vendors who see potential customers running out of physical space, are rewiring their location and want to include more manageability.
What is also expected to drive growth is the creation of a set of standards by ISO & EIA/TIA which will have to be adhered to by data centers for certification. This standard is expected to include PLM as a mandatory requirement.
Growing future
While currently the market for intelligent cabling products is negligible, it is a domain that most passive component manufacturers and vendors are gearing up for. As data centers grow in the country, such solutions will be required. Vendors who will offer customized solutions and value add in addition to just laying down the cable and getting the network in place will be those who can garner a fair share of this market. |