http://www.comms-express.com/news/ en-gb Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:00:02 GMT Copyright: (C) Comms Express 2007 http://www.comms-express.com/images/logo.jpg http://www.comms-express.com/ Server racks can help businesses manage IT assets within the data centre, and make the most of their hardware investments.

Companies can use racks to consolidate servers, organise them in a systematic manner and ensure they are secure at all times.

They can help make the most of valuable space within the data centre - ensuring companies do not run out of space and require extra room for IT equipment.

Server racks also help ensure that only individuals with the necessary authority can access the IT equipment stored inside.

According to Hanut, server cabinets offer a range of benefits to businesses including better security, manageability, serviceability and functionality.

And with companies increasingly reliant upon IT, they cannot afford to suffer server outages or other technology disasters within the data centre.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for rack cabinets on the net ]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/advantages-of-server-racks-for-businesses-801287282/ 2012-02-08 13:33:46 computer cables and other accessories during the final quarter of 2011, it has been reported.

According to IT analyst Gartner, just 2.9 million units were shipped in the UK between October and December - which may also have impacted sales of computer cabinets.

This was down 19.6 per cent on the previous year, partly due to economic uncertainty in the eurozone and rising costs at home.

However, growing demand for next-generation devices such as smartphones, tablets and e-readers may have also affected sales over the three-month period.

A decline in computer sales in the UK reflected a general trend witnessed across Western Europe, which showed signs of "underlying weakness".

"PC vendors face a long, uphill struggle to regain the interest of consumers," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

Across Western Europe, PC shipments fell by 16 per cent between October and December 2011 - a slightly slower rate of contraction than witnessed by the UK market.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for leads and accessories on the net ]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/fewer-personal-computers-shipped-in-uk-during-q4-801287280/ 2012-02-08 13:32:12 network cables are often still the best way of ensuring broadband services are accessible in every room of a building, it has been suggested.

Writing for USA Today, Michael Gray said wireless broadband may now be widely used and very useful, but it has its own downsides and limitations.

"An improperly secured network leaves your internet open to nefarious individuals who might violate your privacy," he noted.

"Also, wireless access is not yet as robust as a wired connection for use with online games, where any interruption to the flow of data can spell doom and gloom."

Mr Gray added that Wi-Fi also won't always penetrate thick walls - especially if the wall isn't standard construction.

And if there are several walls between the router and the device trying to use its signal, Ethernet cables may represent a better alternative.

"Your router probably has jacks on the back for a couple of additional cables. While the cable that came with your computer might only be a few feet long, this type of cable is also available in huge spools," Mr Gray explained.

He said that instead of using a Wi-Fi connection, broadband subscribers can run the Ethernet cable through the walls, floors, and ceilings of their house so that a cable or jack is available in every room.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for network supplies on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/network-cables-can-go-further-than-wi-fi-801286208/ 2012-02-07 15:05:46 structured cabling across its city centre and Headingley sites.

Sudlows has been awarded the framework contract for the job, which will see increased connectivity delivered to university buildings across Leeds.

The firm said it will deliver a flexible and resilient infrastructure that can support the ICT network across a dynamic learning environment, student services and accommodation.

Leeds Met's infrastructure consists of a combination of structured cabling and fibre cable systems, designed to ensure students and staff receive a fast and reliable bandwidth delivery.

In related news, Sudlows has also secured a contract to fit out The Manufacturing Technology Centre's new server room with data and networking equipment.

Andy Hirst, global projects director for the firm, said the new facility - to be designed by Sudlows - will be able to support an advanced level of research and data analysis.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for networking news on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/leeds-met-awards-structured-cabling-contract-801286202/ 2012-02-07 15:03:48 server room monitoring, server virtualisation can help businesses reduce energy consumption in the data centre.

The use of virtual servers is another option for businesses seeking to minimise power consumption and keep their bills down.

When businesses virtualise their servers, they are able to run many units from a single box, and ensure a greater proportion of the total capacity on each server is utilised.

And a recent study conducted by the Corporate IT Forum found that 60 per cent of companies are now using virtual servers to reduce IT costs.

Dani Briscoe, research services manager at the forum, said the technique is now "established" and businesses are happy with it.

Server room monitoring helps businesses control energy consumption and keep overheads down in the data centre.

Businesses can use such tools to control the data centre environment in terms of temperature, air flow and other factors impacting upon power usage.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for network tools on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/reduce-data-centre-costs-using-virtualisation-801286201/ 2012-02-07 15:00:19 fibre cables, the firm has announced.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at the service provider, said the firm was ahead of schedule on its rollout of fibre network cables.

When complete later in 2012, Virgin Media's 100Mb fibre broadband network will be accessible to around half the UK population.

Mr James explained that areas of Bromley, Dundee, Norton Hawkfield in Somerset, and Staverton in Gloucestershire have become the latest locations to receive a broadband speed boost.

"Reaching today's milestone puts us ahead of schedule as we help propel the UK up the global broadband rankings," he claimed.

"Broadband is coming of age as more people give up on slow DSL in favour of super-fast fibre optic speeds."

BT is also rolling out fibre broadband around the UK, investing £2.5 billion upgrading its network of telephone exchanges using fibre cables.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for networking news on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/virgin-media-fibre-cables-rollout-achieves-10m-milestone-801284405/ 2012-02-06 10:16:47 data cabinets and server racks when they embrace cloud computing, it has been suggested.

Stuart Hibbert, chief executive of icomplete.com, explained that companies can use as many or few services as they wish in the cloud, and use their own in-house IT infrastructures to support the rest.

So if a company has made a significant investment in data centre equipment, there is no need to simply write this off when migrating to hosted services.

Mr Hibbert claimed that many companies are establishing hybrid cloud setups, which utilise both existing hardware and software, and on-demand solutions delivered online.

"You've got services that you're running on-premise, but you've also got peak demand that you need from the cloud," he stated.

"By using a cloud infrastructure you can make sure you've got enough capacity to ensure everybody can actually do what they need to do at that particular point of time."

According to Big Four professional services firm KPMG, up to eight in ten businesses have now embraced cloud computing in some form or other.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for Intelligent Server Cabinet Solutions on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/hybrid-cloud-computing-utilises-legacy-it-solutions-801284400/ 2012-02-06 10:15:17 network cables featured in the construction process.

Tim and Holly Davies built their four-bedroom home after buying a plot of land from a neighbour on the edge of Sonning Common, reports the Henley Standard.

With Tim being an electrical contractor, the installation of top quality structured cabling was on the agenda from the start of the project.

The new house has been comprehensively wired with TV, FM, satellite and Cat6 cables, which provide a flexible infrastructure allowing any port to be connected to either telephone or data networks.

Wired network connections also support high definition multimedia streaming from either local servers or the internet, the news provider noted.

Each room has at least two Cat6 ports and all wall-mounted televisions have a pair of network ports allowing the simple connection of internet-enabled TVs.

Mr Davies said the new house - which is being put up for sale by the couple - had been designed with a family in mind.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for networking news on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/new-home-equipped-with-cat6-structured-cabling-801283384/ 2012-02-03 12:59:31 data cabinets hosted by a third-party outsourcer, it has been suggested.

According to Peter Job, founder and chief executive officer at Intergence Systems, virtually all data may be managed using cloud computing in the future.

He suggested that off-premise server racks and data cabinets may be used to hold businesses' information, with fewer firms relying on in-house storage architecture.

Mr Job said the cloud is becoming increasingly mainstream, with fewer companies worried about issues such as security which may have dissuaded them from embracing the delivery model in the past.

Businesses realise that by using data cabinets and networking equipment owned by a cloud computing provider, they can reduce costs significantly, he suggested.

His own company, Intergence Systems, has reduced development time by around a third simply by using applications accessible in the cloud, Mr Job noted.

"It just gives you a lot more access to applications than you would by buying them privately - they're publically accessible," the expert stated.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for wall mounted data cabinets on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/cloud-may-be-used-for-all-data-management-801283383/ 2012-02-03 12:57:58 network cables helped increase UK broadband speeds by 22 per cent between November 2010 and 2011, it has been reported.

According to Ofcom, UK households and businesses witnessed a 1.4Mb improvement during the 12-month period, from 6.2Mb to 7.6Mb.

The average broadband speed reported by the media regulator far eclipses the 5.1Mb reported by Akamai at the end of the third quarter of 2011.

Ofcom attributed the rapid rise in download speeds to the fact more people signed up for super-fast broadband packages last year.

The deployment of fibre cables - primarily in major towns and cities - means some Virgin Media and BT customers can now access speeds in advance of 100Mb.

Ofcom's data shows that in November over half (58 per cent) of people had a headline broadband speed of over 10Mb.

Virgin Media offered the highest average download speeds at 49Mb - although fewer than half of UK households and businesses can access the firm's network.

BT Infinity - which is available more widely - had the second highest speeds of around 36Mb.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for network equipment on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/fibre-cables-have-bolstered-uk-broadband-speeds-801283382/ 2012-02-03 12:57:08 data cabinets, a security expert has suggested.

Greg Day, Europe, Middle East and Africa security chief technology officer and director of security strategy at Symantec, said companies are spending the majority of their defensive budgets protecting physical hardware.

"There is a disproportionate investment between the assets and the protection of the information they hold," he claimed.

Mr Day suggested that more time and money should be spent protecting business data, rather than simply the data cabinets and server racks storing the information.

"Companies are slowly started to recognise how the threat has changed and that protecting information is key, yet for most the balance between information and asset security is skewed towards assets," he added.

UK firms are being urged to make internet security a priority, particularly with more and more data being stored in remote data centres via cloud computing.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for networking news on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/data-more-important-than-physical-assets-801280825/ 2012-02-02 12:13:50 fibre cables, it has been suggested.

As part of its new Infrastructure Action Plan, the Scottish government is aiming to extend broadband networks across the country and achieve a five-fold increase in download speeds.

Up to £185 million of public money could go towards the plan, while private sector investment is also being sought to help reduce the nation's digital divide.

Scottish infrastructure secretary Alex Neil, who announced the plan, said there is "no doubt that digital is the way forward".

"We relish the challenge to put Scotland at the forefront of the digital revolution and make world-class digital infrastructure a reality," he stated.

MSPs are aiming to deliver broadband speeds of 40Mb to 80Mb to 90 per cent of the population by 2015, and this means fibre network cables are likely to be used.

Fibre-to-the-cabinet and fibre-to-the premises broadband is capable of achieving fare greater download speeds than traditional copper networks.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for networking news on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/fibre-cables-could-boost-broadband-in-scotland-801280824/ 2012-02-02 12:12:36 Netgear has announced the launch of four new 12- and 24-port managed switches with PoE+ connectivity.

The firm's ProSafe Gigabit L2+ solutions are described as being "perfect for organisations requiring intelligence at the network edge".

Netgear access layer switches are an "extremely cost-effective" component of converged voice, video and data networking solutions, the firm said.

And the ProSafe managed switch product line now includes 24/7 telephone technical support plus three years of onsite service.

"Many IP telephony and IP camera deployments are still limited to Fast Ethernet switching, which enterprise vendors push on midmarket organisations because their Gigabit and PoE+ offerings are cost-prohibitive," said Laurent Masia, product line manager at Netgear.

"Underscoring our commitment to smart IT, not big IT, Netgear Intelligent Edge managed switches now deliver reliable, affordable and simple Gigabit technology backed with lifetime support."

News provided by Comms Express, number one for Netgear routers and switches on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/netgear-launches-new-managed-switches-801280822/ 2012-02-01 12:10:42 data cabinets are kept secure during 2012, it has been suggested.

Independent IT security consultant Kevin Wharram said companies can expect to see greater levels of data theft over the coming 12 months.

He also warned them to be on guard against malware, which continues to be an issue for businesses with online operations.

Mr Wharram said most companies will have noticed there is a lot of hacking going on at present - and this means businesses need to take all necessary data security precautions.

"The EU has proposed a new law, a European data directive, which actually states that they want to fine companies two per cent of their annual revenue in the event of data loss," he explained.  "So it's a big issue now."

According to the Cabinet Office, online crime costs the UK economy an estimated £27 billion per year.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for wall mounted data cabinets on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/businesses-need-to-keep-data-cabinets-secure-801280819/ 2012-02-01 12:09:16 data cabinets and server racks it has been claimed.

According to a study by the organisers of Data Centre World 2012, nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of management staff within UK data centres do not consult with their staff members about energy requirements before purchasing new equipment.

The company suggested that this lack of communication could cost companies dearly, especially after CRC legislation came into force last year.

Despite this, it was evident that many companies had taken steps to make their data centres greener, with 71 per cent of respondents saying they had replaced inefficient equipment.

John Hatcher, Data Centre World conference director said: “It is good to see that many data centres are moving towards greener technologies such as server virtualisation.

"However, the lack of communication within facilities' teams is a concern and with budgets tight due to the stalling economy, it is surprising that server virtualisation rates are not higher.”

News provided by Comms Express, number one for networking news on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/management-and-staff-need-to-communicate-equipment-purchases-801280312/ 2012-01-31 19:07:08 KVM solutions, helping to maximise efficiency within the data centre.

These tools enable multiple computers to share a keyboard, visual display unit and mouse (KVM), meaning duplication can be avoided.

As well as limiting space and power usage, this helps keep equipment costs down, contributing to the bottom line.

Among the solutions available are two-way and four-way KVM switches - which help avoid the use of different sets of peripherals.

Users can simply select which computer they wish to control at the push of a button, meaning KVM solutions are not only practical but also hassle free.

KVM cables can be used to connect switches to the computers under the control of the device.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for networking news on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/use-kvm-solutions-to-avoid-equipment-duplication-801279374/ 2012-01-31 12:09:27 Ethernet cables offer a number of benefits to businesses and organisations constructing networks to deliver power, it has been suggested.

Writing for EET Times, the Microsemi Corporation's Daniel Feldman explained that power over Ethernet offers convenience, flexibility, and enhanced management capabilities to users.

This is because it enables delivery over the same Cat5e cables used to transmit data, he noted.

"The current generation of standards-based technology enables up to 60W of power to be delivered over four pairs of cabling, which also improves efficiency when compared to earlier two-pair solutions," Mr Feldman added.

He said that as the industry moves toward delivering even more power over the Cat5e-and-above cabling infrastructure, system designers and network administrators need to understand the various emerging technology options.

"[These include solutions] developed under the auspices of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and others that bring expensive and cumbersome deployment complications and, potentially, safety risks," Mr Feldman stated.

Earlier this month, L-com's right-angle Ethernet cables won a product of the year award for at the Electronic House Products of the Year awards.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for network cables on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/power-over-ethernet-cables-has-advantages-801279372/ 2012-01-31 12:08:14 fibre cables helped to increase the UK average download speed during the third quarter of 2011.

According to the latest State of the Internet report from Akamai, average download capabilities increased from 5Mbps to 5.1Mbps in the UK between July and September 2011.

Globally, average broadband speeds increased from 2.6Mbps to 2.7Mbps, as investment continued in network equipment around the world.

The fastest countries for broadband tend to be those where fibre cables - rather than copper wires - are used exclusively by internet users.

South Korea, which has a broadband infrastructure based on fibre-optic technology, remains the fastest country in the world for downloads, averaging 16.7Mb.

Hong Kong also has a high proliferation of fibre cables for broadband purposes, helping the state achieve an average broadband speed of 10.7Mbps.

But as internet service providers such as BT and Virgin Media continue to deploy super-fast fibre technology, the UK's average download speed should rise.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for network cables on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/fibre-cables-help-increase-uk-broadband-speeds-801279371/ 2012-01-31 12:07:11 Network equipment manufacturer Cisco has acquired its 10,000th server customer, it has been revealed.

The firm - which is well known for Cisco switches - entered into the blade server market three years ago, in a bid to claim market share from established players such as IBM and Fujitsu.

With server and storage networking beginning to converge, the launch of Cisco servers began to look inevitable.

The firm's range of servers enable 10Gb Ethernet networking, meaning they can connect to other servers and external storage devices.

During the third quarter of 2011, Cisco sold almost 40,000 blade or rack-mounted servers, and figures for October-December are expected to show a continuation of this trend.

But writing for Gigaom.com last week, Stacey Higginbotham said that IBM is refusing to lie down and accept heightened competition from Cisco in the server market.

She explained how IBM has teamed up with NEC to deliver an OpenFlow-based controller-and-switch solution as part of a new sales drive.

News provided by Comms Express, number one for networking news on the net]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/cisco-acquires-10-000th-server-customer-801277951/ 2012-01-30 11:35:48 server racks and data cabinets.

Zen Internet is to spend £4 million on a new purpose-built data centre at its Greater Manchester headquarters, reports the Rochdale News.

Andrew Saunders, head of product management and marketing at the firm, said the investment was needed in light of the ongoing industry shift towards cloud computing.

As this trend continues to gather momentum and businesses become increasingly reliant on IT systems to function, he claimed it has "never been more important" to ensure critical applications are hosted in a dedicated, energy efficient data centre.

"This provides a secure, temperature controlled environment, which has access to reliable, resilient power and connectivity," Mr Saunders added.

He noted that the new data centre will meet increasing demand for hosting services from Zen's existing customers.

Last month, leading pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca outsourced control of its data centre operations to HCL Technologies.

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