Sustainability

By Jason Higgins

Introduction:
What is sustainability?
The theory or perception of sustainability, is the means to remain productive and the ability to be
unending. Sustainability is about being able to consume resources while having new resources to
replace the ones consumed. Whether the old materials recycled as new resources, or the new
material comes from a replenishable supply, this is sustainable.

What impact does sustainability have on network technicians & the IT sector ?

For network technicians this could be the capability to retain jobs and the ability to train new
workers to replace ones that have retired. It could be the ability to more efficiently manage a
network and resources that are consumed. It could be the choice of hardware used and the design
of a network.

This essay will give an insight into the possible scenarios, implications & implementations related
to creating a sustainable environment in the general field of networking. We will look specifically at
the network operation roles & design, the business & investment roles, as well as the training &
educations roles which enable a sustainable environment.

Sustainability in Network Operations:

Sustainability is very important for network technicians. A network is a crucial factor in the ability
for end users and businesses, to communicate & share valuable information ordata with their
peers.

For network technicians it is very important to create a reliable and redundant network. Should a
major link fail another link, or section of a network should be able to quickly and effectively pick up
where the other left off. Thus providing sustainable connectivity to all users on the network.
( Sourced from: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Importance-Network-
Redundancy.htm , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_topologies )
Some solutions is to allow physical loops, but create a loop free logical topology.

Network technicans, some of whom are architects, must design a network within restrictions and
limitations. Restrictions & limitations occur in the expediture involved in the network operation,
including the set network budget, employee wages, network upgrades, power consumption &
unforseen repairs, breaks & downtime. For the network technician, creating a reliable, redundant
& balanced network.

Sustainability in Business Orientated Networking:

The Theoretical Model of Sustainability in Networking:

ISP / Telco Revenue:

Wholesale Contracts.
Business Connections.
Residential Connections.
Mobile & Wireless Connections.

*Gain profit to invest in the network

& pay for upkeep.

Investment:
Expenditure / Loss of Income:
Capital Investment in the network.
Staff wages.
International & National Transit.
Network Upkeep.
Backhaul lines, wireless networks.
Marketing.
Trialing new technologies.
Competing rival prices.
Improve network efficiency.
*Expenditure to pay the staff
*More investment to accommodate
and keep the company running.
more clients & their needs.
Sustainability in business networking, permits the ability for telecommunications to operate &
provide essential services to clients. In no way is this goal easily affordable.

Expenditure in upkeep & investment are very expensive. Laying thousands of kilometers of fibre &
copper as well as new cabinets & hardware run into the hundreds of millions.

To work around this problem, ISPs use a model of reinvesting a percentage of profits directly into
investment for thier network. This is for the prospects of remaining competitive in the market, as
well as having a larger network to pull in more subscribers & branch out their wholesale services.

Bandwidth is also another important issue . The network technicians need to upgrade the
bandwidth & number of handovers to the ISP to allow end users fast access to the ISP core ( &
from there possibly to national or international destinations ). Also to consider is how much
international & national transit the ISP purchases.

National transit is very cheap, on the other hand international is not ( due to SXC monopoly ). To
address this issue network technicians can implement caching servers to download popular
material into local sources at the ISP. Future users will only need to connect to the ISP & download
the material locally, thus saving international transit.

Caching servers are a big part of maintaining a sustainable business operation in an ISP. It is
litterally not sustainable cost wise providing a large quota of international transit per user. Thus
many technicans only authorise small purchases of international bandwidth at ratios of around
1:400 in NZ.

Failing these objectives doesnt mean that the physical network isnt sustainable, but it does mean
that the business prospects & capabilities of the network, will not be sustainable. The network
technican needs to be capable of balancing network operating costs & establish what is affordable
in the budget & what equipment will im prove the network the most, to ensure the business can
continue trading.

-Example of Sustainability in NZ Networking:

A good exaple of sustainability in the field of networking, is the recent advances in Telecom New
Zealands network. The cabnetisation project is designed to lessen the logical distance to the
exchange by running fibre to the cabinet & then copper or fibre to the home.

The specifications of the cabinets, allow expansion for rival ISPs, efficient power consumption,
cooling, & connects directly to the power grid with redundant power supplies in the event of
power failure.

Power consumption is a contributing factor to the wider circle of sustainability in ecological

enviroments. Cost to provide GPON ( Gigabit Passive Optical Network ) is considerably cheaper
than ADSL, using less than "3.5W per interface" & the range "extends up to 80km", far greater than
that provided by an ADSL signal.

( Quoted from: http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=jW9l0-

nyNmUC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=adsl+vs+fibre+power+consumption&source=bl&ots=-
hBo5vhR1v&sig=BxmAsWSTy6I4jj8Ls_KnRzBhBFs&hl=en&ei=r6yiTYaJDIyEvAPG1-
CNBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=power&f
=false )

Sustainability in the Networking Work Force:

To sustain communications, companies need crutial workers to analyse, improve & maintain the
lines the physical network. Companies & organisations around the world have promoted their
products associated with the IT sector, to help boost demand for their products & also provide the
industry with people qualified with their equipment.

Well known industry organisations & companies such as Comp TIA, Microsoft, Cisco, Juniper & Red
Hat Linux, provide official courses to train new members from no knowledge, to expert.

In the IT industry, technology is consistently changing. The companies designing networking

equipment are constantly finding new ways to speed up networks & improve efficency for ISPs &
businesses. Leading organisations & companies like Cisco, update their learning programs every
few years to keep up with the new technologies.

A good example of this is the industry accepting new VoIP with open arms, to replace the old
telephone system, Cisco as of 2010 “announced the new CCNA Voice & new CCNP Voice” programs
to its education partners around the globe.

( Quoted by: http://www.flane.be/news/11545 )

This model of organisations training workers, provides a consistent model for sustainability as new
workers will be required to replace old ones. Not only can this model easily scale to meet the ever
increasing demand for network professionals, but it will ensure the workers have an understanding
of the equipment they are using.

( Sourced from: http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/academy/index.html ;

http://www.juniper.net/us/en/training/ ;
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-overview.aspx )
Conclusion:

We have explored:

– The implications in network design & consistency for technicans.

– The implications in the business model for networking, the implementations of

infrastructure & investment by network technicans to create a sustainable environment.

– The avaliable trainings options for network technicians & the implications involving the
frequent updating of the course materials in this field.

The path of the network technician is an important one in the global communications industry. Not
only must the services provided to subscribers be sustainable, but the business model & actual
career training for network technicians, must be sustainable as well.

We have found that designing networks to modern industry standards ( or better ) & creating a
working business & investment model, is the way to create physical sustainability for networks. We
can also conclude that there is a variety of education for the industry to keep jobs flowing & allow
the physical networks to be maintained.