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Cybersecurity Blog
PON: Just-in-time remedy for federal IT budget cuts
By Scott Rye
02/14/2012
The federal government is requesting $78.9 billion for information technology spending for fiscal year 2013. That’s a little more than a 1 percent decline (3 percent in real terms) over 2012 IT spending.
Like managers in all facets of federal operations, federal IT managers will need to do more with less, or at least more with the same, for the foreseeable future. But one area where they can cut real dollars from their spending -- and still enjoy better short-term and long-term results -- is in their LAN infrastructure, thanks to the rapid maturation of passive optical networking technology.
Passive optical networks, or PONs, are a dramatic improvement over the cost, performance, and security of traditional Ethernet LANs. It has been estimated that, in contrast to legacy Ethernet LANs, optical LANs can reduce capital expenses up to 70 percent, slash power consumption by as much as 80 percent, and cuts floor and closet requirements by up to 90 percent.
These savings result from PON’s doing away with the need for expensive workgroup switches and copper cable infrastructures, relying instead on minimally powered optical line terminals (OLTs) and optical network terminals (ONTs) to bring the signal from the WAN to the desktop for high speed data, high definition video, voice over IP (VoIP) telephony, traditional analog phone technology and even RF video (cable TV).
PON technology also provides Power Over Ethernet (PoE) technology on every data port to provide network power to VoIP phones and wireless access points (WAPs), eliminating the need to plug Ethernet-based appliances into a traditional wall outlet.
Signals can travel 12 miles over single-mode fiber, eliminating the need for repeaters. Each fiber cable can carry up to 69 Tbps of information, eliminating the need for multiple redundant cables to carry voice, data, and video.
With fewer cables, installation time and complexity are minimized. Redundancy is built in through spare fibers in each cable bundle. Instead of building for a few years, you’re building for several decades.
Add in rock-solid SIPRNet security and the “green” benefits of lower power consumption, and the case for PON quickly becomes a game-changer for federal IT managers having to do more with less.
If building a new LAN or refitting an existing LAN is on your horizon, learn more about the cost-and-performance advantages of passive optical networking. (What could you do with the $700,000 you might save on a million-dollar LAN installation?)
Scott Rye is Telos' director of advanced technology, Passive Optical Networking
