Converging routes

With routers becoming feature-rich, switches picking up speed and the structured cabling market getting smarter, the networking equipment market is due for a overhaul, says Srikanth R P

The battle on features in the Indian networking hardware market is evident from the trends witnessed last year. Features such as security, content processing, VPNs and load balancing are being added to routers. At the same time, intelligent cabling systems are picking up steam in India. Telecom service providers are avid customers of Gigabit and terabit switches. According to IDC, the router market grossed $104.64 million during the first nine months of 2004. This was up from $92 million for the same period in 2003 translating to a modest growth of 13.73 percent. As expected, Cisco dominated the first three quarters commanding market shares of 89 percent, 87 percent and 88.5 percent respectively. While Cisco has remained numero uno, there is a slugfest for the second position between Nortel Networks, Dax Networks and Juniper Networks.

Security is a new focus area and this is evident from the product launches of router vendors. Almost every vendor launched integrated routers with in-built security. Market leader Cisco launched the Integrated Service Router (ISR) with features such as VPN, security and wireless capability out-of-the-box. The new Cisco ISR 1800, 2800 and 3800 series is aimed at SMBs looking for routers that have the capability to offer security, voice and wireless in a single box, and Cisco claims that these are a huge hit.

The company also launched the CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, a new class of routers aimed at telecom service providers. Says Suprabhat Chatterjee, Business Development Manager, Enterprise, Cisco Systems, India & SAARC, “The CRS-1 is the industry’s first router to scale to over 90 terabits of bandwidth capacity. It offers more than four times the speed and over 100 times the capacity of any other router in the market.” Cisco expects the CRS-1 to be deployed by Indian telecom carriers. As the demand on telecom networks grows and more services are introduced by telecom service providers, the speed of routers will be crucial.

Broadband push

With the announcement of broadband initiatives by service providers, a new product category of ‘broadband routers’ is emerging. As BSNL and MTNL have a huge reach through the 40 million landlines that they control, a huge demand is cropping up for customer premise equipment such as ADSL routers that let users access and share an Internet connection. ADSL routers act as DSL modems and they come equipped with security features such as a firewall. To capitalise on this opportunity, D-Link announced a flurry of products aimed at this market. The company launched products such as DSL-502T, a basic ADSL modem and router with firewall features. Additionally, the company launched routers with wireless capabilities which let small enterprises set up wireless connections.

Anand Mehta, Manager, New Business Area Development, D-Link India, reveals, “In India, we are the first vendor to launch the DSL-502T, an ADSL2+ router. This is the first ADSL2+ router tested and approved by major Indian ISPs for mass deployment.” While ADSL supports speeds up to 13 Mbps, ADSL2+ supports speeds up to 22 Mbps. D-Link has been successful in this emerging category as close to a lakh units have been sold since mid-January this year. Similarly, MRO-TEK is trying to cash in on this market with its alliance partner, Zyxel, with ADSL routers.

Following the industry trend, 3com launched its 6000 series of routers with in-built security features such as firewall, IPSec and VPN.

Similarly, Juniper released the J-series of routers with security features included. Says Java Girdhar, country manager, India and SAARC, Juniper, “The managed services (MSP) area is a big opportunity.” Girdhar believes that with JUNOS, Juniper’s proprietary OS, MSPs can deliver services with increased security and predictable performance. While the J2300 is aimed at small offices, the J3400 is positioned for small to medium enterprises. The J6300 is aimed at large remote sites. Similarly, Dax Networks found good success with its core router offering, the DXMP-3600.

We are the first vendor to launch the DSL-502T, test the ADSL2+ router and get it approved by Indian ISPs for mass deployment Anand Mehta Manager, New Business Area Development, D-Link India	The CRS-1 is the industry's first router to scale to over 90 terabits of bandwidth capacity Suprabhat Chatterjee Business Development Manager,Enterprise, Cisco Systems, India & SAARC	With large telecom players differentiating themselves in terms of services, we expect gigabit and terabit routers to become popular among Indian customers Nareshchandra Singh Assistant Manager, Communications Research, IDC India

The year ahead

With the boom in the Indian telecom space, carrier class routers with the capability to handle and route data in terabits are going to be piloted and deployed. Says Nareshchandra Singh, Assistant Manager, Communications Research, IDC India, “With large telecom players attempting to differentiate themselves in terms of services, we expect gigabit and terabit routers to gain popularity among Indian customers.”

D-Link believes that with broadband connectivity, new applications will appear such as video conferencing, video on demand, interactive learning and collaborative working. With these, there will be a need for routers to route data according to the application. In fact, entry-level routers with in-built security features could start appearing as customer premise equipment. With the spurt in the broadband market, Singh of IDC believes that entry-level routers may become commoditised with a host of unbranded players entering the fray.

The use of a router to protect small offices could gain precedence as many organisations believe that the use of an integrated router will provide better value for money than a traditional software-based firewall. John Calvert, Principal Analyst, Gartner, avers: “Traditional router prices will decline slowly, because the technology is mature, and there is little competition. VPN-enabled routers and firewall equipment prices will decline more sharply because of economies of scale and competition.”

With telecom operators adopting MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching), vendors believe that there will be demand for routers that help service providers channel data according to the type. For instance, voice, video and data can be assigned priorities so that voice and video transmissions aren’t interrupted as these are more sensitive to lag and delay than data transmissions though in the case of an IM conversation that isn’t true. The long and short of it is that different classes of data need to be prioritised based on data type and the nature of the application. Sujit Singh, Country Manager, Dax Networks, predicts, “Applications such as MPLS backbone and Metro Ethernet will be major drivers for the core routers market. In the last year, we have seen many telecom majors expand their backbone network with core routers.” Dax aims to make inroads in the MPLS market with its DXMP-1700 series of routers.

Feature-rich routers

The router as a device has matured to become an integrated security device. Analysts expect every router in the future to integrate key features such as content processing, VPNs, firewalls and load balancing. Features that were available only in high-end routers will be now seen even in entry-level models. For instance, features like VPN and encryption that were available only in the high-end routers are available in entry-level routers today. Routers offering wireless capabilities will be popular, replacing the need for separate wireless access points for small office networks.

As Anand Mehta of D-Link, explains, “VPN and encryption are already basic features in most new routers. Wireless is another feature that has become the de-facto standard in broadband routers. This is the trend in US and is percolating down to India.”

As routing speeds increase, there has also been a sharp decline in low-speed interfaces such as BRI while high-speed interfaces like E1, E3 and OC-3 have become more popular on routers. Vijay Yadav, Country Manager, India and SAARC, 3com India, elaborates: “If customers need low bandwidth, they can buy low bandwidth and necessary cable infrastructure, but the module can be a high-speed one (2 MB). Hence when a customer wants to upgrade to higher speeds, they do not have to change their routing infrastructure.”

Routers with the ability to recognise and prioritise voice traffic will also be a common feature. As voice clearly cannot have any latency, the ability of the routers to recognise different types of traffic according to the source or type of data will become important. For example, voice traffic will have priority over say, e-mail traffic.

With increasing IP telephony deployments, vendors are equipping routers with VoIP. Cisco’s 3800 series comes bundled with call manager software. These routers can act as a gateway for routing voice calls in an IP enabled network. Similarly, the D-Link DI-1750 router supports voice.

Switching soars

The market for switches is exploding. According to IDC, the switches market for the first nine months of 2004 stood at $163.3 million compared to $109.28 million for the same period in the year 2003. This translates to an excellent growth of 49.43 percent. Cisco is the clear leader in this category too with D-Link and Nortel occupying the second and third slots.

In the year 2004, Cisco launched the Catalyst 3750 Metro Series aimed at service providers. Cisco claims that this switch will help service providers offer VPN services bound by service level agreements. Cisco also launched the Cisco Catalyst 6500 and 4500 series with enhanced security and integrated 10 Gigabit Ethernet support. Gigabit switches are certainly becoming a preferred option. IDC’s Singh says that the broadband plans of service providers and creation of metro Ethernet networks will drive the growth of gigabit switches.

According to Anand Mehta of D-Link, “Gigabit is a hot word today. Gigabit switches are clearly being preferred today as they have the capacity to handle high bandwidth. The backbone today is working at gigabit speeds and the adoption of 10 Gbps is on the anvil.” While gigabit to the desktop is still a distant dream, gigabit switches are increasingly being deployed in campus networks.

Meanwhile, 3Com is making good progress in the gigabit switch space. Yadav of 3com India elaborates, “In the last year, three projects namely BSNL National Internet Backbone 2.1, BSNL National Internet Backbone 2.2 and MTNL Broadband, based predominantly on Switch 7700 have made us a force to reckon with in the Gigabit fibre switching space.” The 7700 series have the capability to prioritise network traffic for different applications.

Faster switches, more capable routers

Unlike routers where the vendors are increasing the number of features in a single device, switches are concentrating on picking up speed. The major change will be in interfaces. According to Yadav, gigabit will overtake [Fast] Ethernet.

Another trend that will drive the switching market is the adoption of MPLS-based networks. Vendors expect MPLS Metro switches to be a popular item this year. S Narayanan, CMD, MRO-Tek, justifies: “It is today possible to push the MPLS from mere core service provider backbones to access networks and enterprise networks. As an MPLS UNI (user to network) interface incorporates Frame Relay, Internet and IP related interfaces in a single interface, it is now possible to offer consistent SLA-based services.”

Layer 3 switches have proved to be effective within the enterprise, but these will not replace routers for sending data over a WAN. However, Layer 3 switches are increasingly being preferred in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). Vijay Yadav of 3com recommends, “Organisations planning multi-locational WANs should definitely go in for switch-based MANs. The reason is simple–switches today offer many routing features such as BGP4 (Border Gateway Protocol 4) with a clear benefit of 100 times the speed.”

However, as routers are more focused on WANs, analysts expect Layer 3 switches and routers to have separate markets. As Mehta of D-Link, explains, “Routers focus on more WAN ports and a limited number of LAN ports while switches have a completely different orientation. In addition, WAN traffic generally varies between 64 Kbps to 2 Mbps per port while LANs work normally at 100 Mbps. However, this gap would be bridged in MAN applications.” The lines are however blurring as Layer 3 switches incorporate features such as access control policies—traditionally a router feature. The number of ports has also increased. A minimum port count of 12 and more often 24 is standard, with 48 port switches being deployed in the call centre industry,.

The demand for high bandwidth will lead customers to migrate from Cat5 to Cat6 and Cat7 K K Shetty Country Manager, AMP NETCONNECT, Tyco Electronics Corporation India	Most government, banking, financial and educational organisations used Cat5e while the technology sector deployed Cat6 Vikas Pinjarkar General Manager, Sales (SCS), D-Link India	Breaking the barrier of 10 Gigabits over copper will render the cabling infrastructure in data centres more cost-effective than fibre Bala K Chandran, MD, ADC Krone India

Structured Cabling

The structured cabling market stood at Rs 326 crore in 2004 compared to Rs 300 crore in the year 2003, and is expected to grow at 12 percent to reach Rs 360 crore in the current year.

2004, showed the potential of copper as a stand in for fibre in the data centre. With the launch of a 10 Gigabit Ethernet cabling solution over copper, costs can come down drastically for enterprises. Krone Communications was the first vendor to launch a product offering in this category christened ‘CopperTen’ followed by Systimax Solutions with its product, ‘GigaSPEED X10D’.

Bala K Chandran, MD, ADC Krone, feels, “The high costs in the data centre are not necessarily because of the passive cabling part but because of the active electronics, which are more expensive for fibre than copper. Breaking the barrier of 10 Gigabits over copper will render the cabling infrastructure in data centres more cost-effective than fibre.”

Another trend that took wing was a small shift from Cat5 to enhanced Cat5 and Cat6 cabling systems. In the opinion of K K Shetty, Country Manager, AMP NETCONNECT, Tyco Electronics Corporation India (P) Ltd., “Today Cat5 is seen as a very basic system that meets the cabling needs of smaller networks. Customers who want better bandwidth prefer to buy systems higher than Cat5.”

The market for Cat5 and Cat6 was clearly divided in terms of adoption. Vikas Pinjarkar, General Manager, Sales (SCS), D-Link India, clarifies, “Most government, banking, financial and educational sectors used Cat5e technology while call centres, BPOs and software units deployed Cat6 technology.”

Cabling gets intelligent

The next big trend in the structured cabling market is the introduction of intelligent cabling systems. An intelligent cabling system in simple terms is essentially a network infrastructure which provides a comprehensive solution incorporating both hardware and software for effective management. An intelligent cabling system consists of an end-to-end structured cabling system with intelligent patch panels and software agents that provide a complete view of physical layer connectivity. A physical layer management tool collects real-time information, which in turn is used to maintain a connectivity database. As Bala Chandran of ADC Krone, explains, “With information provided by the software agents, the system can visualise the data on the computer screen, guiding the network manager in managing the connections, checking their integrity and documenting them in the connectivity database.”

These systems have become crucial to data centres as they can prevent unauthorised or unintentional changes in data centres. Dr Ispran Kandasamy of Systimax explains, “Intelligent cabling systems can virtually eliminate wiring errors and cut downtime in voice and data networks by providing tools for administrators and technicians to monitor the entire communication network from one point.” Some intelligent cabling solutions have an automatic device discovery option, which allows the systems manager to discover the devices attached to a switch. These systems can take immediate corrective action by setting off alerts using user-defined scripts, and sending alerts using e-mail or mobile phones.

Intelligent cabling systems are also crucial to organisations in sectors such as call centres and banks, where network downtime equates with loss of business.

Primarily suited for large networks, these systems are picking up in India. Tyco Electronics has names such as Orange (Mumbai), Wipro Technologies (Bangalore), Tata Interactive (Mumbai) and Mentor Graphics (Hyderabad) on the list of companies deploying its intelligent cabling systems. Similarly, ADC Krone’s intelligent cabling system is installed at the Qualcomm development centre in Hyderabad.

Remote management is the biggest attraction of intelligent cabling solutions. For instance, a Web-based intelligent cabling solution allows network managers to detect the fault without even going to the actual site.

In the future, vendors and analysts expect Cat6, which supports Gigabit Ethernet, to be the preferred means of cabling using copper. As high bandwidth applications increase, analysts expect data centres to deploy 10 Gigabit structured cabling solutions over copper. Shetty of AMP NETCONNECT predicts, “The demand for high bandwidth will lead customers to migrate from lower cabling systems such as Cat5 systems to higher systems such as Cat6 and Cat7.”

Impact of wireless

The adoption of wireless technologies is expected to affect the structured cabling market.

As Parag Arora, Business Development Manager, Cisco Systems, India and SAARC, explains, “With its ability to support feature-rich applications, organisations are realising that wireless is a viable option to run enterprise-wide applications. Today business benefits have compelled organisations with small offices and the SOHO segment to be the first movers in adopting wireless as a standard against structured cabling.” Cisco along with Linksys is looking at growth opportunities in the service provider space as the company believes that wireless will help service providers drive broadband in the home and small office segment. However, Arora is quick to add that large enterprises will continue to have a hybrid solution for the next few years.

Players in the structured cabling market have a different view and believe that wireless technologies will act as complementary rather than contradictory. Shetty of AMP NETCONNECT argues, “Issues of bandwidth, security and cost are factors which will mean that structured cabling will continue to be preferred in enterprises.” Shetty says that wireless is fine for a small set-up but will not be the option for large enterprises.

srikanth@expresscomputeronline.com