Networks of the Future

Convergence, it appears, is going to be the core inspiration for networks of
the near future. The question that arises is whether the present day, e-commerce
based, client-server architectural platform for enterprises and the web is
capable of addressing some of the potential issues that seem to creep up. It is
therefore imperative to acknowledge some of the fundamental characteristics of
the present day network based systems, so that we understand and appreciate how
different futuristic convergence based networks are going to be.

The Unique Characteristics of Current Computing/Network Architectures:

• Centralised governance: Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic of
  web based network architectures that distinguishes them from previous 3-tier
  client-server architectures is that the clients have become very thin and
  light. The complex business processes are tirelessly handled by a central
  administration system and only the results are spelt out to the clients–thus
  rendering the client terminals almost dumb. The point of interest here is
  the presence of a central governing authority (called the ’server’)–that
  takes the responsibility of handling client requests that keep pouring in
  throughout the day. Web servers (or the Internet servers) that were
  primarily developed to handle Html requests and responses, had a lot of
  difficulty in coping with business processing or transaction requirements of
  the client’s requests. This initiated the need for an entirely new breed
  of servers that are now called the ‘Application Servers’, to do business
  processing in a different tier.

Almost all back end ‘resources’ (for e.g. databases), as well as all the
business process modules, have to make themselves fully available for the server
that might refer to them as and when it is necessary. Thus, a server must be
fully aware of all its resources and modules–so as to decide whether it has
enough resources and inputs to handle a client’s request or not. It is
interesting to note that the clients are not aware of any of these back end
resources. The back end remains as a ‘black box’ for the clients. While this
is an advantage from the point of security–it is not so from the point of
convergence.

This obviously makes the server more and more complex, bulky and difficult to
handle. This also implies that a particular server is tied (or dedicated) to a
specific set of business tasks. If a new business process has to be added or a
new resource has to be plugged away, these proceedings have to be informed to
the server so that it becomes aware of the structural changes. This introduces a
certain degree of inflexibility and makes incessant changes difficult to
perform.

Moreover, when several business modules that make up a system are piled up in
one place, it soon becomes an administrator’s nightmare–rendering it more
and more complex. Reaching a specific service becomes a complex task and
unnecessary time and computing power is wasted simply to identify where the
module that is capable of performing the specific task requested is located.

• The ‘poor’ thin client: The
  third distinguishing characteristic of this architecture is that the
  computing power that is available at the client’s end is almost fully
  wasted. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see a robust PIII machine used only
  for checking emails and browsing the net! The client is capable of
  performing a good number of business tasks it has actually requested the
  server to do–but the problem is that the business algorithms and resources
  are only available to the server and are not available for the client. Thus,
  it has to wait for the server to allot its time for completing the business
  process requested, while it can take care of the same by itself when it is
  endowed with sufficient resources. Thus, thin client architecture results in
  wastage of immense computing power available at the client’s end and at
  the same time, necessitates the need for more and more power at the server’s
  end.

• Everything is a computer: The
  fourth major and final point is something that is related to the current
  trend in convergence. With almost all telecommunication and entertainment
  devices being increasingly controlled by microprocessors, there is a need
  for any system to make its services available to a whole lot of strikingly
  heterogeneous clients that may require its service.

• Convergent networks: Convergence
  refers to that methodology by which a variety of diversified technologies
  & equipment come together to offer a set of services to the consumers.
  The simplest example would be a cable modem that enables a television cable
  to carry data from the World Wide Web–to be viewed on a television–rather
  than a computer. In this case, a well diversified variety of equipment and
  technologies–telecommunication, computer processing, data transfer and web–all
  come together, to offer a single service.

With almost all consumer electronic devices employing what are called ‘embedded
technologies’ it is important to think of a computing world that suddenly
breaths to life outside a PC, for e.g. Internet screenphones, wireless
smartphones, intelligent refrigerators, etc. It is obvious that we are slowly
moving towards a world that is entirely different from the present day computing
and networks–a world that is closely interconnected by a variety of consumer
electronic devices–a world in which all technologies would converge together
to provide a set of well defined services to the user.