Timing A LAN Upgrade

Be On The Lookout For Signals
Running infrastructure that is supposed to sit quietly in the background while enabling users to access critical information and applications is difficult enough, but the network manager’s job can get particularly tricky when deciding on an upgrade strategy. With business forecasts shaky and budgets even tighter, a proposal for a major network overhaul is the last thing executives want to see, especially when everything seems to be working.

Of course, perceptions can quickly change, and a network upgrade can quickly become job one the first time Mr. Big Shot is reduced to thumb twiddling while firing up Outlook. In fact, Mike Hronek, LAN/WAN specialist at CDW, says such a scenario is a common instigator for LAN projects, adding that complaints are the primary reason companies he advises undertake major upgrades. Because it’s very difficult to calculate an ROI for network expenditures, he finds that such end-user grumbling over network performance is frequently the motivation many IT managers need to undertake an upgrade.

Mark Tauschek, senior research analyst at Info-Tech Research, agrees that while “planning for a LAN refresh requires careful consideration of financial, technical, and business implications,” a detailed ROI isn’t essential. In fact, his recent survey of more than 100 clients and other IT professionals found only 30% performed any ROI calculation for their LAN refresh projects. “While a comprehensive financial breakdown and business case is often not necessary to justify a LAN refresh, proper business analysis and technical preparation should always be a prerequisite,” he adds.

Here is a look at the major factors that can induce a significant LAN upgrade, a project that Tauschek says “involves replacing much or all of the enterprise LAN infrastructure, typically both at the core and edge of the network,” along with ideas, advice, and signals to look for when trying to determine the right time for a refresh.

Criteria & Factors Prompting An Upgrade

Although spontaneous reports from end users are perhaps the most common sign a network is on life support, these are just symptoms of underlying problems. According to Tauschek, half of the companies he surveyed said that they refreshed equipment because it was too old, failing more often, or reaching the end of its support life (see the “Major Reasons For A LAN Upgrade” chart).

While it’s nice to believe that IT shops vigilantly monitor networks for telltale signs of any problem, Hronek finds that network neglect happens frequently. He sees network expenditures going through cycles tracking the booms and busts of the underlying IT industry, such as the 1990s dot-com bubble and subsequent crash.

New applications, which may require added bandwidth or necessitate new network features, are another significant factor behind many LAN overhauls. The convergence of data, voice, and video onto a common network is driving new applications, with VoIP telephony most commonly cited among Tauschek’s survey group.

On the flip side, viewing networking needs from an IT perspective rather than an end-user perspective, is a desire to deploy new networking features and technologies. Tauschek notes, “Many companies are using the routing features available in newer Layer 2/3 managed switches, as well as VLAN segmentation and Quality of Service (QoS) features.” Furthermore, almost half of his survey universe is deploying Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop, which can stress older, slower core infrastructure. Another significant cause of network upgrades is simply a booming business, which Tauschek says causes many companies to outgrow their existing infrastructure.

The litany of objective, quantifiable factors prompting a LAN upgrade are indicative of a retrospective or reactive approach to LAN operation and maintenance; however, many companies, nearly a third in the Info-Tech survey, have adopted regular LAN refresh cycles, similar to those used for PCs and servers, as part of their IT planning processes. Given that networking hardware has a much less frenetic rate of change than PCs, Tauschek believes refresh cycle times should be more like four to six years instead of the common three-year PC cycle.

Hronek doesn’t often see formal, periodic network refresh cycles with his clients, but “if it happens anywhere, it’s going to be in the core of the network.” He says a common tactic is to update high-traffic core switches and redeploy the prior core devices out to the network edge. This cascading upgrade provides performance boosts to those areas that need it most while eking out a few more years of productive use from formerly high-end equipment.

Network Applications Can Drive A Refresh

Aside from rolling out IP telephony apps on converged voice/video/data networks, companies often find that new versions of major business applications, such as ERP, CRM, or collaboration software, are more bandwidth-hungry. Hronek notes that updates to Microsoft’s (www.microsoft.com) enterprise applications, such as Exchange or SharePoint 2007, tend to be “thicker,” hogging more bandwidth in comparison to more efficient apps, such as Citrix’s (www.citrix.com) virtual desktop. This exposes bottlenecks that can push older, marginal networks over the edge.

Enhanced security is another reason many companies justify a LAN refresh, according to Tauschek. He points out that network access control requires edge switches that support port-based authentication (802.1X), a feature not available on older hardware.

Monitoring Networks

While user complaints still serve as the warning of pending network doom, Hronek and Tauschek agree that a more effective, proactive method of ascertaining network problems requires deploying a network management system and traffic monitors. Tight budgets are no excuse for neglect, either. Tauschek notes, “There are several solutions available to monitor network traffic, including a number of free, open-source applications.”

Tauschek says, “There comes a time in every company’s life when it is necessary to upgrade or redesign the corporate LAN. A variety of circumstances can drive the need for a physical and/or logical LAN architecture upgrade.”

Given the pace of evolution in networking hardware, companies need not rush an upgrade. However, Hronek advises IT managers to be proactive in maintaining their networks. “Even if you don’t have any specific projects in mind right now, try to build some capital improvement for infrastructure into your budget each year,” he says. “You have to continue the upkeep, otherwise it’ll just fall apart.”

by Kurt Marko