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Getting the most out of your IP network makes sense. youve spent a lot of money trying to make the network secure, robust and flexible; now is also the time to make it economical. Where should you start after you realize that your IP network can do a lot more than shuttle data about? You could look at IP telephony. The promise is there, and the products are largely there, but for many companies in this economy, the shift to IP telephony is something they are not yet ready to take on.
Perhaps the place to start is storage. In this weeks special eWeek Labs report on IP-based storage, our analysts examine the state of IP for building storage area networks. With the release of the iSCSI specification nearing, it is an opportune time to consider IP to get more bang for your budget buck and get a handle on your storage needs. Storage requirements seem to grow regardless of the economy or world affairs. Getting greater purchasing power from your budget is what IT is all about these days.
Labs analyst Henry Baltazars report on IP storage could be used as a model for much of the activity in IT spending. Static budget dollars hardly means static activity. Businesses are busy scrutinizing the dollars they are spending. Henrys review is not simply a recitation of technical possibilities; he also explains why IP storage can be a good business decision.
Two other examples in eWeek this week show how companies are trying to get the best use of their budget dollars. From Arkansas State University, Matt Hicks reports on the universitys project to provide all its students with a Gigabit Ethernet connection. Anyone who can remember feeling good about getting a solid 1200-baud modem connection from the dorm room will enjoy reading about the 10 Gigabit Ethernet project. And Paula Musich examines why America West Airlines picked Fujitsu Technology Solutions to manage its IT systems.
Also in the Labs section this week is something that may be a first for us. While it is unusual for a product to get an Analysts Choice award (these guys are tough to please), it is almost unheard of for a product to get two Analysts Choice awards. However, in his review of Version 2.5 of the Entercept trusted operating system, West Coast Technical Director Timothy Dyck once again gives the system the Analysts Choice. To see why Tim thinks this version is even more powerful than the previous one, see “Entercept Shuts Out Crackers.”
Ready for IP telephony? Write to me at [email protected].