Users awash in emerging wireless options

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
10/19/05

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Wide array of mobile data choices for users
* Links related to Networking Technology Update
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Arbor Networks

Network Perimeter defense has become an industry in of itself.
But what if the danger to your network lurks from within - a
disgruntled employee, misuse of a VPN, 3rd party access,
employee access for personal reasons? In the following report,
Internal Intrusion Prevention, read about this threat and
providing multidimensional protection.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117645
_______________________________________________________________
ARE X86 SERVERS THE ANSWER?

Analysts say users want to consolidate x86 systems but don't
want a move that may require a change to operating systems or
modify applications. As a result, they're looking for the
computing muscle and manageability once limited to more
expensive servers. Technology advances are making volume x86
servers more powerful, but are they powerful enough? More:
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117738
_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus:

Users awash in emerging wireless options

By Stephen Lawson

The days of simply giving traveling employees a cell phone for
talking and a laptop for dial-up data are long gone, replaced by
a complex landscape of overlapping choices. There are decisions
to be made regarding devices, carrier contracts, performance and
reach - with all the major technologies offering moving targets
to boot.

In addition to Wi-Fi wireless LANs and cellular data, both of
which keep getting faster, there are two major emerging options
that use orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing ( OFDM
<http://www.networkworld.com/details/5701.html> ). Most highly
hyped is mobile WiMAX
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/0114wimaxvendo.html>, but
another system called FLASH-OFDM
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2004/083004flarion.html> (Fast
Low-latency Access with Seamless Handoff) has already been
deployed and is now owned by cellular giant Qualcomm.

The Wi-Fi-vs.-cellular question poses speed against coverage.
Public Wi-Fi hot spots can offer several megabits per second
shared among users in a coffee shop or airport. The
still-emerging IEEE 802.11n
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/101005-ewc-standard.html>
specification is intended to boost that speed to about 100M
bit/sec and improve range, and it may eventually show up in hot
spots. But despite the chain operations of companies such as
T-Mobile and the aggregation of sites by service providers such
as iPass, hot spot users still frequently have to set up and pay
for new accounts.

Also third-generation ( 3G
<http://www.networkworld.com/details/462.html> ) cellular data
services offer coverage across a metropolitan area - though they
can vary from one location to the next - and the number of
metropolitan areas covered is growing. For example, Verizon
Wireless now offers
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/050905-verizon.html> the
high-speed Evolution-Data Optimized ( EV-DO
<http://www.networkworld.com/details/7579.html> ) flavor of its
Code Division Multiple Access ( CDMA
<http://www.networkworld.com/details/464.html> ) service in 84
U.S. markets, and Sprint offers it in 75 markets
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/071105-sprint-ev-do.html>,
according to the companies. Sprint plans to gradually upgrade
its network to the next version of EV-DO, called Revision A, in
late 2006 and early 2007. Verizon also will use Revision A but
hasn't said when. The new version is expected to significantly
boost upstream speed.

On the other side of the 3G fence is Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System ( UMTS
<http://www.networkworld.com/details/7070.html> ), a step on the
migration path of GSM
<http://www.networkworld.com/details/463.html> operators such as
Cingular Wireless. It is now available in six markets but will
reach 15 to 20 by year's end, according to Cingular spokesman
Ritch Blasi. Those rollouts will use a new version of the
technology, called High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA),
that will match the average speed of EV-DO as quoted by Sprint
and Verizon. (All 3G networks have "burst" speeds that may be
available in locations with low congestion.)

To read the whole story, go to:
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate8792>

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Cisco finally brings security push to LAN
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate9190>
2. Nortel replaces CEO Bill Owens
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate9191>
3. Help Desk: When the Windows VPN doesn't work
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate9192>
4. Microsoft cuts costs of virtual servers
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate9193>
5. WiMAX just around the corner
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate9194>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact:

Lawson is a reporter for the IDG News Service. Reach him at:
stephen_lawson@idg.com
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Arbor Networks

Network Perimeter defense has become an industry in of itself.
But what if the danger to your network lurks from within - a
disgruntled employee, misuse of a VPN, 3rd party access,
employee access for personal reasons? In the following report,
Internal Intrusion Prevention, read about this threat and
providing multidimensional protection.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117644
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Technology Update archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/tech/index.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE

Network World New Data Center: Spotlight on Advanced IP

Piecing Together the Next Generation IT Architecture. This 5th
installment in a 6 part series takes a look at at On-demand
services, automated management, and management technologies.
PLUS, see how two IT Execs are plotting their way to an all
IP-world. This NDC issue has it all, click here to read now:

<http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2005/ndc5/>
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