Managing a network has never been easier. In the last decade alone, we have witnessed a major transformation when it comes to home and office networks. Rich feature sets that were once available to only larger enterprise customers are now available for small deployments, cloud computing has revolutionized managing a network, and internet speeds have increased exponentially. Overall, with user-friendly features and plenty of resources available on the web, it’s now not only possible, but in some cases, fairly simple for the average person to set up and manage a network.
Ronnie Royston, a telecomputing architect and software developer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has witnessed these changes firsthand. Royston is a Cisco (News - Alert) Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE). He explains three major ways that managing a network has changed in the last decade.
Cloud Computing
According to Ronnie Royston, cloud computing has been one of the most significant ways that managing your own network has changed in the last ten years. Cloud computing has extended more control and more features to everyone, he asserts. Plus, there are so many benefits to be reaped from managing your network in the cloud. First, the consumer can have access to their data and apps literally anyplace anytime. People take it for granted that they can open files or read their emails no matter where they are, but this is actually a fairly recent development. Second, the cloud has the ability to simplify patching and software updates, which makes network management that much easier. With the cloud, updates arrive automatically, which means no more having to manually schedule updates or worrying about missing one and leaving your network vulnerable.
Internet Speed
Another way that networks have changed over the last decade relates to internet speed. Internet speeds have vastly improved in the last 10 years, so much so that it makes it much easier to run a network. For example, research shows that internet speeds in the United States in 2009 averaged 5 Mbps, whereas in 2019, they averaged 100 Mbps. This is a massive jump that reflects just how far this technology has evolved in 10 years and telecommunications companies have taken notice.
Now, most major telecom companies offer packages that include much more internet (in fact, many offer unlimited internet) and at far higher speeds than were even possible a decade ago. Although there will probably always be times when your home internet network isn’t performing as you’d like, the increased speed and allowance that telecom companies now provide has resulted in fewer issues, which also makes it easier to manage a network. For example, where in the past the internet significantly slowed down as soon as more than one or two people in the home were using the network, now, even home networks are capable of operating at near full speed even when several devices are using it.
Ronnie Royston on Security
One final way that managing a network has changed over the last decade is security. Ronnie Royston shares that both businesses and individuals have become much more concerned with the security of their network than ever before. Data breaches, ransomware attacks, and more pose a threat to your home network.
While some people have done little more than setting up a password, many others are starting to realize that this isn’t nearly enough if you want to ensure your private information is kept safe. This has led to a major security trend in network management that Ronnie Royston has witnessed firsthand. Not only is his company being asked to set up networks in people’s homes, they are being asked to make it as secure as possible. There are plenty of ways that people can make themselves less vulnerable to cyber attacks and hacking, including changing the name of your default WiFi (News - Alert) network, otherwise known as your Service Set Identifier, setting a strong and unique password, activating network encryption, and even turning off your wireless home network when you’re not at home.
