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On Tuesday, July 14, at 11 a.m. PDT/2 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. GMT, @eWEEKNews will host its 88th monthly #eWEEKChat. The topic will be “Next-Gen Networking Trends,” and it will be moderated by eWEEK Editor Chris Preimesberger.
Some quick facts:
Topic: #eWEEKchat, July 14: “Next-Gen Networking Trends”
Date/time: Tuesday, July 14, 11 a.m. PDT / 2 p.m. EDT / 7 p.m. GMT
Participation: You can use #eWEEKchat to follow/participate via Twitter itself, but it’s easier and more efficient to use the real-time chat room link at CrowdChat. Instructions are on that page; log in at the top right, use your Twitter handle to register, and the chat begins promptly at 11 a.m. PT. The page will come alive at that time with the real-time discussion. You can join in or simply watch the discussion as it is created. Special thanks to John Furrier of SiliconAngle.com for developing the CrowdChat app.
Our in-chat experts this month are: Mike Anderson, VP of Marketing, Stateless; Larry Lunetta, VP of WLAN and Security Solutions Marketing, Aruba; Charles Cheevers, CTO of Home Networks, CommScope; Sivan Tehila, Director of Solution Architecture, Perimeter 81; Tony Cai, Partner Sales Executive, Nerdio; Amy Abatangle, CMO of Netdata; and Matt Mangriotis, Cambium’s director of product management. Check back for late additions.
Chat room real-time link: Use https://www.crowdchat.net/eweekchat. Sign in with your Twitter handle and use #eWEEKchat for the identifier.
Next-Gen Networking: What exactly are the trends?
For decades, IT networking was all about wiring, plugging cables into the right ports, and using firewalls for security. While those conventions are still a mainstay of the connected world, innovation has changed the industry enormously in the last eight to 10 years. The data center industry has long since moved to larger-pipe connectivity (Ethernet, Infiniband), central network controls, automated storage and security, built-in intelligence—to mention only a few upgrades.
Software-defined networking (SDN), SD-WAN (wide-area networks) and other network virtualization technologies have driven the conversation in the industry for the past few years. However, for all the talk about SDN and SD-WAN (there have been hundreds of analyst reports and thousands of news stories written about it), the tech world is still in the relatively early stages of these and other innovations, such as network-functions virtualization (NFV). Still, there are more than a few network administrators who continue to think it might be overkill to overhaul a system for a small or medium-size business when the current one works just fine.
The problem is that the amount of data being generated is not about to slow down or be reduced any time soon. Industry analysts have calculated that all the data racked up in the world in one month in 2020 probably totals more than the data stored in the entire year of 2019. Businesses need to keep up with this data growth in order to stay competitive in their markets; should someone slip, others gain advantage that they might not relinquish for a while.
Lots of upgrading now in progress
With the advent of widespread SD-WAN, WiFi 6 and 5G on the horizon, plenty of key decision-makers are, in fact, currently upgrading their networks. Speed in moving data streams to where the computing is taking place, and vice-versa, has never been more important to businesses–local or global.
WiFi 6, for one example, enables speeds to improve, latency to recede and cause familiar limitations of WiFi to vanish. The relatively fallow ground of 6GHz means that compromises due to legacy devices would be gone, making WiFi something that you could use anywhere in the office or on the production floor.
Imagine WiFi 6 at 60GHz. With all of that extra bandwidth, wireless capacity would move far beyond the current limitations of fiber networks in the office. While there will still be a role for fiber outside of the office, inside the office, 60GHz WiFi 6 will simplify enterprise networking by providing a multi-gigabit infrastructure without the disruption of cabling or the expense of wired infrastructure.
Cambium Networks is one of the forward-looking networking companies that is already providing hardware and software infrastructure around WiFi6. “From New York to Naples to Nigeria, everyone wants super-fast wireless connections,” Cambium CEO Atul Bhatnagar said. “By bringing together Wi-Fi 6 and 60GHz solutions with cloud software, we’re changing the game with unified wireless that can serve any city, any enterprise, any school, any business or any industry at a fraction of the cost of wired networks. With this new wave of technology, wireless is the new fiber, and it simply just works.”
Seed questions
Certainly 5G connectivity will be a huge improvement over 4G LTE in the wireless world. That will be a major talking point in our #eWEEKchat. Here are examples of seed questions we’ll pose to our audience on July 14:
- Will WiFi 6 become the next backbone-type network? Why or why not?
- What is intent-based networking and what are its business advantages?
- How is SD-WAN able to converge network, security and AI all in one?
- How and why is NVIDIA, one of the world’s top graphics processor makers, becoming a leader in next-gen networking?
- Who are some of the young networking startup “stars” of the business and what new functionality do they bring to the table?
Join us July 14 at 11 a.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. GMT for an hour. Chances are good that you’ll learn something valuable.
#eWEEKchat Tentative Schedule for 2020*
xJan. 8: Trends in New-Gen Data Security
xFeb. 12: Batch Goes Out the Window: The Dawn of Data Orchestration
xMarch 11: New Trends and Products in New-Gen Health-Care IT
xApril 8: Trends in Collaboration Tools
xMay 12: Trends in New-Gen Mobile Apps, Devices
xJune 9: Data Storage, Protection in a Hypersensitive Era
July 14: Next-Gen Networking
Aug. 11: Next-Gen Cloud Services and Delivery
Sept. 8: tentative: DevSecOps: Open Source Security and Risk Assessment
Oct. 13: DataOps: The Data Management Platform of the Future?
Nov. 10: Hot New Tech for 2021
Dec. 8: Predictions and Wild Guesses for IT in 2021
*all topics subjects to change
x=completed