Johannesburg — Gigabit switches are now priced well within reach of most mid-sized enterprises. As a result, a company need not make a significant investment to enjoy the benefits of significantly improved network performance.

Gary Boniface, CSO manager at 3Com SA, looks at why upgrading to Gigabit Ethernet is a sensible move - strategically as well as financially.

Businesses today rely on their computer networks to drive every aspect of their daily operations, from production to payroll. As a company grows, the increasing number of users and progressively more complex applications can slow the network to a crawl or even render it useless. At this point, additional bandwidth can adequately safeguard productivity and ensure customer satisfaction.

Whether you're racing to shore up an overloaded 10/100Mbps network backbone before it collapses or simply planning ahead for future needs, adding Gigabit Ethernet to your network is an easy option.

Burgeoning demand for high-speed connectivity has brought the cost of Gigabit Ethernet switches down to 10/100 levels, making them a superior, more practical alternative for any enterprise seeking to maximise its IT budget.

More bandwidth per rand

Vendors today are increasing production of existing Gigabit Ethernet products and introducing new 1000Mbps switches, and the market is growing double digits every quarter. Industry analysts report the average gigabit switch costs half what it did in 2000 -- and prices are continuing to plummet, falling 10% in the first part of 2003 alone.

Choosing Gigabit Ethernet hardware delivers even more dramatic benefits to companies' still running first-generation 10Mbps Ethernet networks. Rather than upgrading to a 10/100 network, they can leapfrog to Gigabit switches, spending just 10% more for a 100-fold increase in network speed and capacity.

What's more, it's now possible to purchase Gigabit Ethernet switches that run as effectively over copper wire as they do over fibre. Gigabit-over-copper, which according to industry analysts now accounts for 43% of the Gigabit Ethernet market, eliminates the need to upgrade the wiring structure to support faster switching.

Today's capacity, tomorrow's needs

Gigabit may be affordable, but is it necessary? Many companies rule out a Gigabit Ethernet upgrade because they don't expect to need the bandwidth of a high-speed network, either now or in the future.

Such an approach, however, is akin to buying a car with a top speed of 120 kilometres per hour (kph) instead of one that can exceed 180 because 180kph isn't needed. Just as the slower car will rattle or stall as it reaches its highest speed, the slower network will develop bottlenecks and ultimately crash as applications use up its available bandwidth.

In contrast, by implementing Gigabit Ethernet, the company will enjoy some "breathing space", ensuring the network continues to operate smoothly and effectively even when many users are online and several bandwidth-intensive applications are in use at the same time. It also allows IT staff to deploy the most up-to-date hardware and applications, all of which function best on higher-speed networks.

The additional switching capacity of a Gigabit Ethernet network further guarantees the company the ability to easily expand its information systems as it grows. For example, a Gigabit network provides ample bandwidth for data imaging, intensive application retrieval and information backup for disaster recovery.

Backwards compatibility

Upgrading to Gigabit Ethernet connectivity not only prepares a network to accommodate growth, but also extends the useful life of the current network investment.

Because Gigabit Ethernet switches also support 10Mbps and 100Mbps Ethernet connections, the company can continue to use existing 10/100 products while deciding which, if any, to replace with faster network devices and applications.

For enterprises not ready to overhaul their entire data infrastructure at once - and few are - deploying gigabit connections in critical areas enables them to squeeze additional months or years from legacy equipment, even as they deploy new systems where they're most needed.