Network & Data Communications



Abstract3

1. Introduction4

2. Current situation of LAN and WAN network at IBM8

3. IBM and Xylan14

4. IBM and Com15

5. 3746 as a Router/Switch16

6. New WAN Design for IBM18

7. WANs Slow To Keep Pace21

8. New WAN Requirements for IBM22

9. IBM Opportunities/Strengths24

10. Essential WAN Services26

11. The New WAN Advantage30

12. Network Security Measures at IBM32

13. Conclusion35

14. Recommendations fo IBM38

End Notes42

Appendices43

Company Detail and its Product Line43

Network & Data Communications

Abstract

While IBM Corp. has not been particularly active in the acquisitions arena, it has been jointly developing with and acquiring access to specific technologies and capabilities from companies like Xylan, Cascade, and 3Com, and then working to integrate the various architectures into a logical set of offerings. IBM has been acting as a single point of contact for customers - delivering its own products and services along with those from other vendors. During the past year, IBM has tried to shift its strategy from direct head-to-head competition with internetworking's Big Four - Cisco, 3Com, Bay Networks, and Cabletron - to positioning itself as a total solution provider for network computing. Perhaps IBM's greatest opportunity is as a general contractor - the company that puts all the various networking pieces together.

Along with a turbulent macro economic cycle comes business rationalization and in networking the wide area offers a unique opportunity to deliver value both in terms of operational ef?ciency and business initiative alignment. Advances in network-embedded, software- based WAN Services such as security, uni?ed communications (UC) and WAN optimization are starting to deliver the same type of application experience and management tools to control application performance that was once only available over the LAN. But the wide area network has been pieced together, usually site by site, without a comprehensive plan. This lack of planning is most acute in branch-of?ce-to-WAN and data center connections as geographically distributed branches are connected with inconsistent WAN Services and indigenous WAN transport. IT planners are being offered an opportunity to implement a common set of WAN Services embedded within routers such as UC, WAN optimization, security etc., between branch, headquarter and data center sites which promise to lower operational spend, align business initiatives and policy while delivering Local Area Network (LAN)-like application performance. This paper presents a strategy for common WAN Services embedded in routers connecting branch of?ces to data centers and larger corporate sites that speed up work?ow and business process for all employees independent of geographic location.

1. Introduction

A computer network is a group of connected nodes that are used for data communication. A computer network configuration consists of data processing devices, software, and transmission media that are linked for information interchange.[1]

Nodes are the functional units, located at the points of connection among the data circuits. A node, or end point, can be a host computer, a communication controller, a cluster controller, a video display terminal, or another peripheral device.

Computer networks can be local area networks (LANs), which provide direct communication among data stations on the user's local premises, or wide area networks (WANs), which provide communication services to a geographic area larger than that served ...