Intelligent Infrastructure Is Like A Washing Machine

- Jennifer Roback, regional technical manager at CommScope (www.commscope.com), says: 

I hate laundry. I hate the whole process. Another sad part of laundry—it must always be done. By definition, you always have more of it to do and you are NEVER done. 

Now that you know I detest laundry, imagine what it would be like to do laundry without using a machine? Let’s face it; the hard work is done by the machine. 

The first electric washing machine was invented around 1908. Prior to that, you had to use a scrub board. Suddenly, using a washing machine to do laundry doesn’t sound so bad after all. 

When I was doing the laundry the other day, it occurred to me that that it was a lot like an intelligent infrastructure for your network. You need to manage your network and there is always more to do. You must have a process to be successful and you need the right tools to be successful. 

With laundry you need a process to gather and sort clothes. In our house, you have to check under the beds and in a lot of strange areas—like my husband’s home office. Then, you have to sort colors because you don’t want to turn everything pink. 

In your network, you gather your clients on your network equipment and you sort your traffic—voice, data, video and security. You need to sort your traffic to ensure quality service. You can’t have your video bandwidth bleeding into your voice calls. Documenting your network and sorting by hand can be tedious and inaccurate. That’s why it is efficient to have a solution to automatically document how you have segmented your traffic. 

The washing machine can be an effective tool if used the right way—don’t overfill it with clothes or soap or your clothes won’t be clean. An intelligent infrastructure tool is the same way. If used properly, your network will be easier to manage. It will provide updated documentation so you do not have to guess what is connected where, making the job of managing your network easier. It will also assist you with finding a device’s physical location in your network with an IP device discovery. 

Like laundry, intelligent infrastructures are now an important way of “business” life. That’s why I will be speaking about intelligent infrastructures during the upcoming 2012 BISCI Fall Conference & Exhibition in Anaheim, CA. My presentation, The Foundations for Intelligent Infrastructure Design, will take place Wednesday, September 19 at 10:30 a.m. PDT. You’ll learn how an intelligent infrastructure can help you and your customers manage these concerns while improving ROI with energy management capabilities. 

Now, if an intelligent infrastructure could only help me find those missing socks?