May 2009 / Emerging Technologies

Netbooks, solid state drives, 802.11n wireless. You may not be familiar with any of these technologies today, but in the very near future your business may be using them. From ultra-small laptops for your mobile workforce, hard drive replacements for workstations and servers, to the next generation of wireless networking: these emerging technologies are poised to change the IT landscape. In this month’s tech brief we’ll take an in-depth look at them and discuss the impact they will have on your business.

Netbooks

What are they?

Netbooks are small, streamlined laptops designed primarily for online browsing, emailing, and Internet applications. Typically a netbook weighs between 2-3lbs, has a screen smaller than 10 inches, and has no CD or DVD drive. Instead they are usually equipped with 3 USB ports, an Ethernet port, and a PC card slot. As for operating systems, netbooks usually come installed with Windows XP or Linux as opposed to the resource-heavy Vista.

With a typical netbook retailing for $200-$300, they’ve seen their popularity rapidly increase among consumers who use their computers for little more than surfing the web and checking email.

Do Netbooks Make Sense for your Business?

Although companies like Sony and HP are starting to offer more “beefed-up” netbooks aimed specifically at businesses, they aren’t ideal for every user. Most notably, the smaller-sized keyboard and monitor can pose an ergonomic challenge if used for extended periods. Even if you hook a netbook up to an external monitor and keyboard, the machine’s limited processing and storage capacity still limits you to basic productivity tasks. For that reason alone the audience that is appropriate for netbooks is generally constrained to a sub set of the laptop user community.

There are instances though where using a netbook makes sense:

• Office personnel who don't work on intense spreadsheets or complex documents, use a fraction of Microsoft Office's capabilities, and spend as much time on e-mail and Web apps as anything else; netbooks are an inexpensive alternative that may satisfy their needs.


• Sales reps that could use an ultra-portable computer to jot down notes, fill out sales orders, or produce invoices.


• Field workers that need to take notes on job sites where there is limited room or tight spaces.

Solid-State Drives

What are they?

A solid-state drive (SSD) is a data storage device that uses an array of semiconductor memory to store persistent data. SSDs are emerging as a possible replacement for hard drives, which use magnetic media to store data. Most SSDs utilize non-volatile flash memory; the same type used in USB flash drives. But while a flash drive is designed to be external to the computer, an SSD is designed to reside inside the computer in place of or in addition to a traditional hard drive.

SSDs have several advantages over magnetic hard drives:

• Speed: Since SSDs have no moving parts (unlike hard drives), seek and latency times are substantially reduced. Tests have shown speed increases of roughly 20% when booting a copy of Windows XP from a SSD versus a standard hard drive.


• Reliability: Also due to not having moving parts, SSDs are more durable and quieter.


• Power Consumption: SSDs use far less energy than regular hard drives as there is no motor to power.

There are drawbacks however to SSDs:

• Price: SSDs cost significantly more than hard drives with an average per gigabyte cost of $1.50 to $3.45 compared to $.38 for a hard drive. But thanks to mass production, cheaper flash, and tech advances, prices have started to fall and will continue to do so as the demand for SSDs increases.


• Capacity: Current SSDs are typically limited to anywhere from 16GB to 80GB of data storage, as opposed to hard drives which can run into the terabytes. This means that you’re essentially paying much more for much less storage. Advances in capacity are being made though, with Toshiba recently announcing the development of a 512GB SSD.


• Limited lifetime: Flash memory cells will degrade over time and can wear out after anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 write cycles.

Do SSDs Make Sense for Your Business?

As it currently stands, SSDs are most effective as an accompaniment to hard drives. This is especially useful on the server side where SSDs will speed up applications and performance without the need to add additional servers. Operating systems, databases, index files, and any other frequently accessed applications or data files could be ideal for placing on an SSD.

With that being said though, the typical small business with average computer needs might find that the current cost of SSDs outweigh the speed/performance benefits. But, for companies or individual users that require extremely fast response times for their applications and data, it’s a solution that’s worth considering.

802.11n Wireless Technology

What Is It?

To understand what 802.11n is, let’s break down its two parts: “802.11” and “n”. 802.11 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN) communication that is better known by the commonly used name Wi-Fi. “n” is the amendment to the 802.11 standards which will significantly improve the speed and range of wireless networks over its previous standards, 802.11b and 802.11g. In essence, 802.11n is the next generation of wireless technology.

If you have a wireless router in your home or office now, it’s most likely an 802.11g router, which has been the industry standard since 2003. G has a theoretical maximum speed of 54Mbit/sec. but in the real world, thanks to the degradation of the signal passed through objects and the interference caused by other electronic devices, its speed is usually half that or even slower.

The next generation 802.11n routers have a theoretical maximum speed of 600Mbit/sec. with real-world speeds around 100-140Mbit/sec. It accomplishes this primarily through a technology called “multiple input, multiple output” or MIMO. MIMO uses several antennas to move multiple data streams from one place to another. Instead of sending and receiving a single stream of data, MIMO can simultaneously transmit three streams of data and receive two. This allows more data to be transmitted in the same period of time. This technique can also increase range over which the data can be transmitted and received.

Does 802.11n Make Sense for Your Business?

The short answer is yes. 802.11n will be the standard for wireless technology for years to come and at some point you should upgrade. Any business will benefit from increased wireless speeds, especially those that make use of wireless video conferencing and VoIP. 802.11n routers and access points are available now and retail for anywhere from $100 - $1000.

There are two things though you should keep in mind:

• You’ll need both an 802.11n router and an 802.11n wireless card in your computer in order for it to work. If you have an 802.11n router but use an older machine with an 802.11g wireless card, you’ll experience only “g” speeds. Most new laptops that have come out in the past year are equipped with “n” wireless cards, and adaptors are available for “g” laptop cards to upgrade them to “n”.


• The 802.11n wireless standards have not been fully ratified by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), an international non-profit, professional organization which overseas these standards. Although the IEEE has approved a draft of the standards (which current 802.11n products are modeled after), changes may be made before it is fully ratified, which is expected by the end of this year. This means that if you buy an 802.11n product there is a chance that you’ll need to upgrade it when the standards are fully ratified. This upgrade will most likely come as a software update that can be easily applied, but there is always the slight chance that the standards may change enough that you’ll need a hardware upgrade.

Final Thoughts...

As always, before you jump into purchasing any new technology do the research to make sure that you’re getting the right product for your needs and that it fits into your overall IT strategy. Staples Network Services by Thrive is constantly evaluating new technologies to see what makes sense for our clients, so if you have any questions regarding the technologies we’ve discussed today, or IT topics in general, please contact us.