Vol11 No5 2004 W hile the corporate world is embracing the next generation network and taking advantage of emerging IP applications to save costs and streamline communications, these new technologies are now beginning to filter through to our homes. There’s no doubt that home networking has been heralded as the next big thing, with a whole array of applications now being made readily available to the consumer. Inside this issue, Rob Milne takes a closer look at the emergence of the home networking market in Australia, discussing the opportunities it holds for a variety of parallel industries on page 4. With the onset of home networking, it’s no surprise, that KRONE, the most trusted name in network cabling, with a wealth of experience in structured cabling systems and installations in literally every office in Australia, has developed a solution for the home marketplace. Smart Broadway, is designed to streamline the convergence of these new technologies within the home. Further information on the Home Show and Broadway can be found on the back cover of this issue. On page 8, we continue to cover the theme of future applications for emerging technologies, with KRONE UK’s Mansel Healy discussing the implications of new technology uptake within the corporate arena, providing a timely warning to those who may decide to wait on the sidelines and be sadly left behind. As a leader in new technology, our aim is to not only provide future solutions to the marketplace, but to also make them the best quality available. It was therefore pleasing to have this confirmed at the recent Victorian NECA awards where KRONE featured as the vendor of choice for two award- winning installers. Trevor Kleinert has the full details on the awards in his article on page 3. Finally, we review two corporations who have recently installed KRONE solutions to meet their future needs. On page 12, we feature the first installation of our innovative Category 6 Angled Patch Panel system at the NSW Audit Office, followed by PMI Mortgage’s streamlined HIGHBAND ® 25 solution. Best of luck with this final quarter of 2004. May the future technologies of tomorrow be providing your business of today! Sincerely Craig Jones Managing Director 2 { NETWORKnews THE FUTURE IS NOW Consumers and corporations scramble to adopt new technologies Customer Stories 12 New Angle Streamlines Audit Office 14 PMI Insures Future With A HIGHBAND 25 Network Business Articles 4 Cabling The Home For An IP World 8 Cable Lagging Caution 11 Here’s The Drum About The TIN KRONE News 3 Vendor Of Choice 13 KRONE Invests In Technology Futures 15 Club KRONE End Of Year Editor: Joanna Parsons Art Direction: Nora Collins Website: krone.com.au Email: kronehlp@krone.com.au CONTENTS Copyright © 2001 KRONE Australia Holdings Pty. Limited I n late July KRONE was announced as the vendor of choice at the Victorian NECA Awards in two categories - under $500,000 Data Project and over $500,000 Data Project. Congratulations to endorsed installer, Newscom, who primarily used KRONE’s HIGHBAND ® 25 products for their winning installation at NMIT (Northern Metropolitan Institute of Technology) with Ideal as the supplier in the under $500,000 Data Project category. Commendations also go to Bell Technologies who chose a KRONE HIGHBAND 25 system for its winning installation at Toyota’s new corporate headquarters, in the over $500,000 Data Project category, again with Ideal as the supplier of the product. This, once again highlights the dominance of KRONE Australia in the marketplace, not to mention the continued success of HIGHBAND 25. NEW FACES AT KRONE With the recent promotion of Alex Price to the position of NSW State Manager, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ade Croucher to the position of Technical Sales Engineer. Ade will be responsible for concentrating on both pre and post-sales functions for the NSW and ACT markets. Ade is a CCNA (Certified CISCO Network Administrator) and has a wealth of experience and technical knowledge in the data communications field and will, no doubt, enhance our success in NSW. I am also pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Thiesfield to the position of Sales Executive in our Queensland office. Jason has over nine years experience in the telecommunications arena and will be a solid addition to the Queensland team, helping to further cement our position as market leader. p NETWORKnews { 3 VENDOR OF CHOICE KRONE cleans up at NECA Awards By Trevor Kleinert, RCDD, National Sales Manager Premis NET , Manager Fibre Optics Division, KRONE Australia Jason Thiesfield Sales Executive, Queensland Ade Croucher Technical Sales Engineer, NSW NEW FACES AT KRONE E ntertainment, security and access to technological services within the home are now clearly important purchasing decisions on the minds of new home buyers according to a recent HIA survey (see figure 1). Note the top three items are security, pay TV and data/internet services. And these are ahead of home environmental solutions like air conditioning and heating. People want to be secure and be entertained by that which only new technologies provide. Within the home the access to the “ triple play” of voice, video and data from many rooms in the house is now considered the minimum requirement. Previously multiple phone handsets was a driver for providing connectivity outlets to most rooms, today it is access to broadband and pay TV services, in addition to voice, which is creating the need for more connectivity options. Tomorrow Internet Protocol (IP) enablement of just about every household device imaginable will fuel the demand for increased network access in every room. Narrowband dial-up internet services which previously limited the household to one PC in the study, has given way to cheaper, higher bandwidth broadband; enabling multiple PCs to share the same connection. Australia now boasts a 25 percent broadband penetration amongst internet households and is currently the fastest- growing broadband market in the world. The wide range of internet content, services and commerce, together with PC gaming and educational requirements has created a need for personal access to PCs by many household members from different rooms. Once the second PC arrives to share a broadband service, the need for a home network exists. Today there are a vast array of products available for sensors, controllers and switches to enable applications as diverse as heating, lighting, security, watering, etc, for control of the home environment and services. Most of those available today are analogue or digital, non-IP based, proprietary and non-standard. This causes inoperability between devices and lower production runs tend to make these devices expensive. Being proprietary in nature such systems require many specialist skills to install, configure and maintain. In the business world similar issues labelled as “ islands of automation” found in older voice, storage, video, security and processing applications are being eliminated through the IP enablement of devices and the deployment of open standards. Now this wave of everything moving to IP is about to embrace the home. Using Ethernet and TCP/IP as the basis of network connectivity allows devices to communicate easily and efficiently with one set of rules and with a communications interface that is both standard and commodity; for both internal and external communications. This industry move has in turn opened up a whole range of opportunities for “ smart” enabled devices, at a consumer oriented price. We are now seeing IP technology appearing in a range of home products as diverse as security cameras, sensors, appliances, entertainment systems, gaming consoles, lighting, HVAC and environmental control systems. Investment today in home, non-IP based, proprietary solutions would indeed provide limitations for the future. VoIP handsets are now available to home users from ISPs and telecommunications providers utilising their investment in their own IP enabled backbones to make “ free” calls across their 4 { NETWORKnews CABLING THE HOME FOR Future IP enablement of just about every household device imaginable will fuel the demand for increased network access By Rob Milne, Business Development Manager, KRONE Australia Consumer Preference for Home Technologies When Building a New Home Interested to Install Security 100% Pay TV 100% Data/Internet 90% Air-Conditioning 75% Automatic Garden Sprinklers 70% Smart Lighting 62% Heating 60% Audio System 50% Figure 1 Source: 2004 HIA research figures network to other users and through agreements with similar providers across other networks, locally and globally. These providers also supply the PSTN gateway for local “ offnet” calls. For the first time, true competition in landline voice call costs and services is now being made available via technology rather than that determined “ artificially” by government regulation. Coupled with future video services in phones and simultaneous access to the internet for display of information on the phone, will provide a vast array of creative service offerings. This can only be good news for consumers. Witness now the changes in music distribution that will effect the way we listen to music in the home or on the move. It started with the ability to encapsulate music into computer based files such as MP3 and move these easily across the internet and private networks via IP. Then to music storage and playback on large capacity, easy to use, portable devices such as Apple’s iPod; for 10,000 songs in your pocket. And now to convenient, cost effective, legal music purchase via internet download directly to the PC or music playback device using services like Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Eliminating the middleman from physical music distribution. The next logical phase of this development will be direct enablement of home entertainment systems for music import and purchase, and for listening to internet radio stations. Select a mood, and in comes all the music you would ever need for an evening, chosen from a global music catalogue, into any device, in any room. How long before CDs go the way of the vinyl record? Following hot on the heels of music will be video distribution, enter Video on Demand (VoD). The ability to access movies and other video services when desired, online from the home will be the next major change in how content is provided for home entertainment. Technology has paved the way for TV signals to be transmitted across DSL or fibre WANs using IP. Delivery of video over DSL, FTTH and MetroEthernet based IP networks will be by way of one of two architectures; pure IP streaming and IP over DSL. VoD will provide content providers with a new distribution channel providing additional revenue. At the same time IP network operators have an opportunity to deliver differentiating, high-margin, revenue-generating video services. VOD services over IP networks will grow to a total of more than 17 million users worldwide, generating over $1.9 billion (US) in subscription and pay-per-view revenue during 2006, according to In-Stat/MDR. As IP begins to change video distribution and entertainment how long before the DVD and the corner video store is also relegated to history? Again, like music, video based entertainment and recording systems will be hooked into the home’s TCP/IP network to receive IP based video services and indeed many of these services will provide for interactive video. Ethernet itself is emerging as the new video backbone and transport layer within local networks. Connectivity costs for Ethernet can be ten times lower than that of traditional analog video routing and switching and it saves yet another run of cables and non-IP standard connectivity devices. To transmit video, which originates as an analogue signal, over Ethernet and IP requires video sources to be digitised, processed and highly compressed into TCP/IP packets. Each packet contains a lot of information regarding the video signal. Delays in network transmission (latency) and network errors resulting in packet drop will quickly degrade the resultant video information to be viewed. To implement real-time video over Ethernet, a network must be in excellent working order and the cabling system and connectivity supporting the network must be of the highest quality components with a high standard of installation. NETWORKnews { 5 AN IP WORLD " Australia now boasts a 25 percent broadband penetration amongst internet households and is currently the fastest-growing broadband market in the world." 6 { NETWORKnews The industry move to IP unification of devices and services provides for a standard network infrastructure to carry the same communication protocol to all devices. The rules for one device to talk to another are clearly defined. The hubs and switches required to route the information are common place and commodity. Configuration knowledge is common to all. Wireless LANs have attracted interest as a home networking alternative and as a supplement to add additional services to a cabled solution. Whilst wireless provides for useful mobility and convenience of some networked devices within the home and can provide easy to implement point solutions for homes without a cabled backbone, there are still many concerns regarding wireless as a total home network service. Bandwidth limitations, interference issues, short ranges, constantly evolving standards and security concerns, coupled with higher costs per device make it difficult to standardise on one wireless protocol across a myriad of devices within the home. Wireless LANs are not suitable for distribution of legacy applications such as basic telephony, TV, or point to point connection of certain equipment eg. remote control of audio/video equipment. Certainly issues with bandwidth, network latency and errors resulting in packet drop, will make it difficult for wireless networks to deliver high quality video and audio over IP. All providers of IP enabled network devices will provide the ubiquitous, standard RJ45 socket for 10/100Mb ethernet, but what variant of wireless should they provide, if any? Only a structured cabling solution provides for a foundation that supports present and future network technologies and services, which is both reliable and provides for the lowest cost of ownership. Wireless is still evolving, cabled solutions are rock solid and stable. Installation of a structured cabling backbone within a new or renovated home is the only way to ensure true investment protection for access to current home automation systems and future IP enabled services. A low cost, home Category 5 cabled solution will provide for IP network bandwidths of up to 1Gb/sec. It’s difficult to tell how many devices will be requiring access to future network services. How many outlets should be cabled for each room? I believe it’s a safe bet to at least look around a typical room today, and any powered electronic device you see now will tomorrow evolve into a smart device obtaining benefit from a network connection. Indeed, the devices themselves may even obtain power from that same network connection as Power over Ethernet (PoE) begins its evolution from business and into the home. That may seem like a lot of connections, but there are probably new devices around the corner we can’t envisage. Perhaps a safe rule might be, consider how many outlets you need from the above suggestion, and then double it. I figure you can’t have enough and the opportune time to install is when building or renovating. A structured cabling solution has all of its cables home run back to patch panels in a central distribution point. This is a location where services from outside the house such as ADSL, FTTH or cable TV enter the home and are then distributed over structured cabling using Ethernet and video hubs. Clearly now the central distribution box is a cornerstone of the cabled home. Not only does it house the distribution panels, but also active networking equipment and possibly security equipment. On the shopping list might also be other control devices for HVAC and even a micro web server/firewall for remote access back to Home Technologies Offered by Home Builders Standard + Optional + Both = Total Structured Wiring 34% 38% 6% 78% Monitored Security 7% 50% 5% 62% Distributed Audio 1% 52% 4% 57% Home Theatre 1% 5% 3% 55% Automated Lighting Control 0% 28% 3% 31% Energy Management 0% 28% 3% 31% Home Automation 0% 24% 3% 27% Source: US Consumer Electronics Association figures (statistics apply only to US market) " Only a structured cabling solution provides for a foundation that supports present and future network technologies ." NETWORKnews { 7 installed IP devices for monitoring and control. KRONE’s new, larger Smart Broadway home distribution panel, provides the ideal solution for home network distribution with enough space for current and future devices, and can optionally be expanded to accommodate up to 128 patch points; the largest capacity in the industry. All using industry standard, high quality KRONE connectivity components. The expandability, capacity and low cost also makes the Smart Broadway an ideal network distribution solution for small offices, shops, branch locations and professional premises without having to go to a full 19” rack. Home networking will provide a tremendous opportunity for the structured cabling installation and services industry. The launch of the Smart Wired Project in Australia by the Copper Development Centre (CDC) followed from recognition that “ technology in the home” was going to be the next big trend, and this was supported by surveys such as the Consumer Electronics Association survey carried out in the US. A survey by the CEA in January 2003 found that in 71 percent of new homes, builders saw home technologies as more important now than they were 2 years ago. The Smart Wired initiative in Australia recognised the need to have a standardised protocol on which all these new home technologies would “ plug and play” and that the solution should be affordable and reliable. The CDC have been working with industry partners NECA and CEDIA to introduce one accreditation for an electrical contractor to be able to install cabling for data garden irrigation, audio visual and security solutions. Allowing installations to occur cost effectively in a new or renovated home at the same time the power cables are pulled. The implementation of IP within the home will become the glue to making low cost, highly functional smart enabled devices in the home a reality, structured cabling will be the foundation and consumers are providing the demand. Therein lies the opportunity for installers already experienced and accredited in structured cabling installations. With at least 160,000 new homes and units forecast to be built in Australia during 2004/05 and a $20 billion renovation market, I say go to it! The home entertainment and high technology boom is well under way in most advanced and emerging countries and IP convergence in the home will only fuel that boom further. Even now in Japan, NTT, Fujitsu and the Japanese government are forming a working group to develop internet technologies that will allow homes to receive 10 Gigabit internet connections by 2010 to satisfy the demand! p BROADWAY Home Gateway to Broadband Services T hings are seldom what they seem. Mention high-speed networking and it’s the applications that first spring to mind. Next come thoughts of storage area networks plus the new switches and servers, then the technicalities of equipping PCs and workstations with new NICs or network interface cards. Likely or not, the actual cabling infrastructure that underpins this new connectivity is virtually an afterthought. Given that to most people structured cabling is somewhere near last on the list, this is entirely understandable. It’s also unfortunate, because the last thing that IT professionals want is the functionality of the cabling system lagging that of the active systems that depend on it - and ruining their performance. In fact it’s easy to demonstrate that the technology of the structured cabling you are installing needs to precede the deployment of the active equipment it will eventually be called upon to support - by between four and six years! If this sounds surprising, let me justify my assertion and explain why IT professionals need to consider the far-off future right now. IT’S THE LAW If we look back over history, there is an observable cycle from which has grown the dominance of Ethernet, driving IT managers constantly to seek “ future proof” solutions. Moore’s Law states that computing power doubles every 18 months and whilst active equipment and cabling were not specifically included, his edict clearly has a powerful influence on its replacement. Active equipment has a life span of roughly four years; the last major change- out was in 1999, anticipating Year 2000 issues. The next cyclical change-out is a little overdue but it’s starting to happen now as 10/100Mbit/s switches and equipment are being jettisoned for Gigabit/s actives. Now I’ll give you Healy’s Law, which states that passive always leads active, causing IT managers as much grief as Moore’s Law. Computers are being replaced every two to four years, actives every four years. Yet the cabling infrastructure - largely because of the disruption its installation causes rather than its actual cost - is expected to last five, eight, 12 years or more OUTLANDISH The only realistic solution then is to install structured cabling that’s so advanced that its capability will lead that of the active equipment for several years. And this just has to mean 10 Gigabit/s Ethernet, however outlandish it may appear now, when most desktop networking is barely at the 1 Gigabit/s stage. Connectivity manufacturers do not develop new systems out of self-gratification, they respond to user needs and whilst only fibre active equipment really has a requirement for 10Gbit/s data rates right now, actives with 10 Gigabit/s Copper NICs will come along within the next couple of years. (Remember, Gigabit/s was once said to be for 8 { NETWORKnews CABLE LAGGING CAUTION Delaying deployment of 10Gbit/s networking could be an expensive way of saving money, argues Mansel Healy By Mansel Healy, Marketing Director - Enterprise Networks, KRONE UK The only realistic solution then is to install structured cabling that’s so advanced that its capability will lead that of the active equipment for several years. servers and high end use only and now nearly every box ships with a Gigabit/s NIC!). And, since most IT managers have the opportunity to cable a building or floor only once every seven to ten years, you need to seize any opportunity to futureproof your installation. Critics will argue that 10 Gigabit/s Ethernet is exclusively for power users and early adopters, also that it’s premature to consider installing 10Gbit/s cabling before any standards have been set. These statements do not stand up to scrutiny. IT managers know that 10 Gigabit/s Ethernet is coming and understand very well the cost-benefit advantages of early business rewards versus deployment costs. Agreed, in an ideal world every user would strive for standards-based networking solutions but the practical need for cabling installations to lead active equipment deployment has forced users to adopt technology in advance of standardisation. Category 6 is a case in point: the world began installing it three years before a ratified standard appeared. ALTERNATIVE OPINIONS Although the eventual need for 10Gbit/s networking is widely agreed, opinions vary whether copper cables are the ideal solution. Some proponents believe that fibre is the only way forward and from an engineering standpoint fibre is of course a superb solution, but the high cost of fibre NICs means that economically, copper will win the day. Right now there is also talk of ultra wideband wireless techniques that could deliver equal connectivity with far greater flexibility than any fixed cabling and some users may be tempted to wait for these. My view is they can, if they can afford to take the risk. Wireless LANs are undoubtedly increasing in popularity and indeed capability. They seem likely to always lag copper and fibre in terms of data rate capacity, however, and the difficulty in managing the security aspects of WLANs mitigates against wireless replacing copper or fibre for the majority of users. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that WLANs will achieve 10Gbit/s data rates in the lifetime of 10Gbit/s copper systems. NETWORKnews { 9 .most IT managers have the opportunity to cable a building or floor only once every seven to ten years, you need to seize any opportunity to futureproof your installation. LAUNCH On the other hand, there is no technical obstacle to implementing 10Gbit/s networking right now, following my company’s recent launch of CopperTen ™ , an augmented Category 6 UTP system. So what should users do? Sit back and adopt a wait-and-see approach, continuing to install to current standards? Or should they try to employ strategies that will help protect them when 10 Gigabit/s networking hits the desktop? There’s no simple answer actually. If they don’t need to deploy a new network or extend their existing one, there’s something to be said for waiting. But in reality few network managers have static networks and all major enterprises will derive early return on investment by deploying 10 Gigabit/s Ethernet now. History shows that eventual standards seldom diverge significantly from early implementations. In any case, the 10 Gigabit/s copper cabling offered right now conforms fully to Category 6 standards, so it’s not as if this investment would be squandered. Already one major international financial institution has taken this point on board and installed CopperTen, because, says its network manager it represents the lowest risk strategy of all. Considering the need for future-proofing, the early benefits and minimal risk involved, the arguments in favour of deployment are all positive. The sole question is how soon this will be feasible given each user’s individual circumstances. THE FUTURE IS COPPER-COLOURED One last point I need to make clear is that I am not advocating a move away from fibre, which continues to have a clear role to play in the backbone, across the campus and in some horizontal applications. At this stage, however, most network managers favour UTP copper for the horizontal runs to users’ desks and workstations - which is exactly why we developed CopperTen. Unless the installation is already fibre-focussed, it is simpler to install augmented Category 6 UTP now and use today’s active equipment with its ready-fitted 10/100/1000 NICs, knowing that the same cabling will handle 10Gbit/s when this becomes a user requirement in three, five or seven years time. What’s more, once 10Gbit/s NICs start to be produced, they will fall rapidly in cost and become fitted as standard. Since most organisations find the opportunity to cable a building or floor only once in every seven to ten years, it makes sound sense to deploy 10Gbit/s copper cabling for data intensive networks as early as possible in order to futureproof the installation. Mansel Healy is Marketing Director for Enterprise Networks in Europe, Middle East and Africa with KRONE, the world-leading cable and connectivity company, recently acquired by ADC, with 75 years of experience in the design, development and supply of copper and fibre optic cable and connectivity solutions for enterprise and public networks. p 10 { NETWORKnews [...]... the Audit Office’s IT Department has reported that the KRONE Angled Panels are performing well, playing an important role in a neat, easy to maintain network that is responsible for providing services to 220 staff p NETWORKnews { 13 PMI INSURES FUTURE WITH A HIGHBAND 25 NETWORK ® KRONE provides “ patch happy” PMI with a flexible, easy-to-maintain network solution MI Mortgage Insurance Ltd is a leading... cabinets.” KRONE s Angled Patch Panel solution 12 { NETWORKnews The Audit Office of New South Wales new premises structured cabling system and the opportunity to improve on their existing network set-up of standard 16-port patch panels in somewhat less sturdy cable management units To meet their requirements, the Audit Office sought a solution that would provide neat and efficient management of their high-density... Sheet For more detailed information, visit www.aca.gov.au/standards_compliance.htm p NETWORKnews { 11 NEW ANGLE STREAMLINES AUDIT KRONE s Angled Patch Panel installation at the New South Wales Audit Office has helped reduce space and streamline network communications he Audit Office of New South Wales supports the Auditor-General by providing audit and related services to the NSW Parliament The Audit Office... be forfeited The new Club KRONE year will commence on 20 November 2004 at which time you can submit your invoices from this date onwards for inclusion against next year’s account I plan to keep all members informed of their individual points total by supplying regular updates before the cut-off date Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me p NETWORKnews { 15 Change the way... initially recommended KRONE s HIGHBAND 25 as a possible solution to meet their growing needs PMI were particularly impressed by KRONE s ability to visit on site and demonstrate the benefits of HIGHBAND 25 with interactive models Mr Bateup said KRONE had also provided reassurance with an option to visit HIGHBAND installations and speak to existing users of the product As a result, PMI chose a KRONE HIGHBAND... of time PMI spend managing their voice and data network, “ It is now visually clear and logically laid out making it simple to administer We have the flexibility to move services when we want, to where we want, allowing us to meet our internal customers requirements faster” , said Mr Bateup p By M ark M eyer, Club KRONE M anager, KRONE Australia All Club KRONE redemptions must be received before the... substantial waste and conducting assessments of whether agencies achieve value-for-money The Auditor-General regularly reports to NSW Parliament on the results and recommendations of the various audits and reviews A recent relocation of the Audit Office to new premises meant the installation of a new T By James Oliver, Sales Executive, KRONE Australia “ By utilising the angled patch panels and patch cord management... your life with SMART BROADWAY From the most trusted name in the industry a networking solution for your home! î À î Â î¹ î Ä î î Š * Only a structured cabling solution will provide the foundation to support present and future network technologies Conveniently link rooms with phone, fax, computer, cable broadband and free-to-air or pay TV capabilities and make entertainment work for you, when and where... over-ridden by a patch cord, making patching the exception rather than the rule Creating a system that is flexible, space saving, cost effective and easy to manage After a seamless installation by ACC Technologies, HIGHBAND 25 is now the backbone of an upgraded CLUB KRONE END OF YEAR et again, another year will be drawing to a close, and I hope it has been as successful for you as it has for Club KRONE. .. members taking advantage of the scheme’s benefits by redeeming their points for KRONE products or courses through our training provider, J B Hunter Technology With this in mind, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you all that the current Club KRONE year will finish on the third Friday in November (19 November) Y PMI network consisting of two floors interconnected with fibre, using Category 6 . Technologies, HIGHBAND 25 is now the backbone of an upgraded 14 { NETWORKnews KRONE provides “ patch happy” PMI with a flexible, easy-to-maintain network. Choice 13 KRONE Invests In Technology Futures 15 Club KRONE End Of Year Editor: Joanna Parsons Art Direction: Nora Collins Website: krone. com.au Email: kronehlp @krone. com.au