Building the perfect, virtual wireless network

Difficulties are created for the IT department because the Ethernet-free devices are using cloud applications and unified communications applications which require support for real-time video and voice. Mobile users require networks that support high speed, high user density, and high quality of service without wiring.

The architecture in the PC era was never designed to handle the post-PC era of computing with the ubiquitous mobility demanded by today’s users. With mobile applications and devices predominating, and the rapid adoption of cloud applications, access networks no longer need the high switching power required by PC architectures.

The network design tenets of the past 20 years called for IT architects to design access layers by provisioning anywhere from two to four Ethernet switch ports a desk. As organisations increasingly go wireless, access switches are underused, taking more space and consuming more resources than their workload justifies.

The first step in preparing the network for transition is switch consolidation. This is the process of more efficiently using existing switches to support a mobile environment, while reducing the total number of wired switches or ports that organisations’ need.

It also reduces the IT departments reliance on functionality built into Ethernet edge switches and pushes that responsibility to the centralised wireless system that seamlessly integrates with the datacentre.

Once switches have been reduced, reused, or recycled, IT architects can begin to choose areas appropriate for moving to an all-wireless edge.

Traditional microcell WLAN architectures were designed to complement wired infrastructures implemented for stationary users. Ultimately, the guiding network design principle is to maintain a limited number of users an access point and as long as this condition is met, service should be fine.

With truly mobile users it is possible and easy to design areas where there is consistently a crowd of users but no one can predict when or where that crowd will move next. The only answer is to assume the crowd is everywhere and overbuild everything.

Virtualisation has transformed almost every part of the network architecture including changing the premise of WLAN design to create an access architecture designed

for mobility. Virtualised wireless technology pools all available wireless resources and partitions it to create wireless environments for every device. Each device has a virtual port provisioned with the processing power, quality of service and security required for that device.

As the device moves, its environment moves with it so the device performs exactly the same, regardless of whether it’s stationary or mobile.