It sounds like the distant future, but it is all happening right now. It is called the Internet of Things (IoT), and it could change the way you live and work. Smart cities are already in the planning stages that reduce vehicle emissions, are much more energy efficient, and handle traffic in such a way as to reduce traffic jams and pedestrian injuries. It all sounds like a dream, but there are problems to overcome as we head into the future of IoT.

What Is IoT?

In a perfect world, IoT means that every device that runs on some sort of power is connected to the Internet, or connected directly to each other. As you can imagine, there are issues with getting some items connected to the Internet, and there is also problems justifying connecting electric toothbrushes to a central server.

As these devices go through their daily activities, they collect information that can be used in a variety of ways. As our example in the opening paragraph suggested, devices and wearable technology would be able to anticipate a person’s needs and transmit critical information on its own. The data stored can be used to make a taxi cab fleet more fuel efficient, and it can be used as evidence in a personal injury lawsuit involving a car accident.

Commercial Adaptation Of IoT

Small and large businesses have started to create IoT strategies designed to connect all of their devices to a central storage and analysis point. There are two ways businesses can implement an IoT strategy; either buy all new equipment that is already IoT enabled, or start enabling equipment one piece at a time. Obviously, the more cost effective route is to enable devices one piece at a time, but that does not make it the easiest approach.

One of the most significant problems companies have with an IoT implementation is connecting legacy devices to the Internet. Large mainframes can be connected to the Internet, but what about the company trucks? It takes a significant amount of planning to outfit any size organization with an IoT network.

The payoff for installing an IoT system is significant. Companies can monitor the condition and activities of their vehicles in detail and develop a number of fuel-saving measures. Employee productivity can be easily monitored, and that opens up the door for developing more productive methods. Companies would be able to put worker’s compensation fraud to an end, and corporate attorneys would have much more information to use in defense of the company in any kind of lawsuit.

Many industries will show a massive growth toward IoT within the next several years.

Is IoT Vulnerable?

The vulnerabilities in an IoT system come from the significant number of Internet connections they create. When a car sends back information about its fuel usage, it is also opens up a connection on the Internet that hackers can use to access the company network. Even your personal information is not safe when your toaster retrieves your favorite toast settings from a central server and uses that information to make your morning a little better.

Compliance Issues

Implementation of IoT networks has been going on in the corporate world long enough for government agencies to start developing laws and guidelines regarding the creation and maintenance of an IoT system. But with so much information being transmitted from so many devices, there have been plenty of concerns raised about compliance with security standards.

The protection of data has been critical, and standards such as HIPAA for storing health care data and PCI for protecting credit card information have been created to make sure that the private data of customers and patients stays safe. But with the IoT, maintaining compliance with these laws is not easy. Most of these government agencies have issued detailed ways to make sure that data is transmitted over an IoT system safely, but the laws keep changing as more and more devices are placed online.

Protecting Your Data

Some of the factors that make the IoT possible is the massive expansion of WiFi service, the dramatic drop in technology costs, and the rapid rate at which technology is being adopted around the world. But at the heart of any IoT system is a reliable and secure cloud storage solution.

Global IT has dedicated servers placed in a secure location that you can use to safely store all of your IoT data. The amount of data you will collect with a IoT system is well beyond what your company is used to handling. Instead of taking chances, it is best to rely on the experts and state-of-the-art equipment used by Global IT to protect your critical data.

Resources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#5a9a68386828

http://www.forbes.com/sites/janakirammsv/2016/08/22/10-steps-to-implementing-a-successful-enterprise-iot-strategy/2/#7b413f221fcd

https://www.thingworx.com/blog/iot-helps-business-regulatory-compliance/

http://www.business.com/technology/internet-of-things-security-compliance-risks-and-opportunities/

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-enterprise-internet-of-things-market-2015-7

Image Sources: aquaticinformatics.com and businessinsider.com

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DSL is the abbreviated word for Digital Subscriber line, Digital subscriber line or DSL works off a DSLAM or Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer which server as an interface device connecting from your location to the DSL providers closest network aggregation point, commonly a Central Office. DSL speed is affected by the wire feet distance from your location to the underlying providers DSLAM. DSL providers require a DSL modem installed on your premises.

Distance is measured in feet and up to 20,000 feet or 4 miles from the DSLAM (typically located in a Central Office).
How fast is your DSL?:
20,000 feet would produce approximate bandwidth 128kbps upload, 384Kbps download.
15,000 feet would produce approximate bandwidth 256k upload, 768kbps download.
10,000 feet would produce approximate bandwidth 400k upload, 1.1Mbps-2Mbps download.
5,000 feet would produce approximate bandwidth 500-768k upload, 3M-5Mbps download.
1,000 feet would produce approximate bandwidth 768k-1Mbps upload, 5M-7Mbps download.
* Distances and speeds are estimated. Actual distance varies and is determined by actual wire feet.

DSL is best used for residential or a web surfer, as the downstream is much faster than the out or upstream.
DSL is also prone to more technical glitches than T1 and has a lower priority of repair for the carrier.

We recommend purchasing DSL through your Global IT representative, or going direct and using the local provider in your area for DSL. The local provider will offer the best QOS and customer service compared to competitors.

DSL does not offer service level agreements (standard of services) so it is a best guess effort.

You can receive static IP’s with DSL.

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Several limiting factors when testing bandwidth:
1. Limitations with NIC cards
2. Wi-Fi will almost always test slower than actual. This is due to wireless speed limitations, signal strength and packet loss
3. PC/Firewall/router duplex settings
4. Browser or device slowness (Cache)
5. Old cabling and patch panels limited to 10Mbps or 100Mbps
6. Slower 100Mb switches in between you and the core network switch, firewall or router
7. Other bandwidth traversing in/out from your networking to the internet needs to be factored into the math. For example, on a 100Mbps/100Mbps circuit and test your current usage lets say is about 20/50, your speed should reflect about 80/50.
8. Testing server speed limitations – Because testing servers are free, some companies do not like to pay for upgraded networks, servers and maintenance or additional bandwidth and so they limit the bandwidth for example to 50Mbps or 100Mbps. This bandwidth pipe will be shared across all network tests hitting that server at the same time, and that can be hundreds or thousands of simultaneous tests at one time.
9. Testing server test limitations – In most cases the testing servers are just not capable of testing speeds over 100Mbps per connection or test and when multiple tests are being run. The testing server or network is not capable of sustaining the many concurrent testing requests.

If you try internet speed testing using different speed testing systems, you will notice inconsistent results. This can be due to the current testing server load or software, geographical location of the server, or network configurations that may be different from the other servers.

Also, the most ideal way to test is to isolate out your network by connecting directly into the core switch or router and test from there. No other network devices should be connected during your test. This will rule out any local usage, viruses, or an incorrectly configured device. Read more on our website or test our network speed

Here are some approved testing servers:

ATT – http://www.att.com/speedtest/

Verizon – http://speedtest.verizon.net/

TWC – https://www.timewarnercable.com/en/support/speed-test.html

Level 3 – NY – http://linespeedtest.newyork1.level3.net:81/capacity.html

http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php

http://www.speedtest.net/

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Net Neutrality and What This Means to You

The internet was originally organized to be open, this meant that all “lawful” content, devices and applications could be used and shared freely. This principle was also intended to prevent unreasonable discrimination in the handling of internet traffic. The ultimate goal of the open internet, also known as Net Neutrality, is to promote competition and provide a platform for innovation.

Net Neutrality has been challenged recently by Verizon with lobbying efforts through legislators to the FCC. Verizon’s goal is to transition the internet from an open lane highway to now granting exclusive rights to faster or slower internet access lanes with potential Internet content limitations. The ruling is significant because ISP’s will now be able to provide or change customers to various tiered bandwidth solutions. As a result, lower priced internet connections, such as FiOS, Time Warner or U-Verse, may have limited access to certain networks or be constrained by speed and content limitations. In the end, ISP’s will be allowed to control what information can be shared across their networks and consumers may be forced to pay more for upgraded access to information.

Resources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality

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Residential Internet Service Providers (ISP) compared to business Internet Service Provider connections. Here are some apparent differences:

Residential products:
1. Provision dynamic IP addresses (not static)
A dynamic IP means that the IP address will change without warning. Therefore you cannot efficiently and reliably use business features like monitoring, added security (VPN, Tunnels), RDP and public servers, etc.

2. Does not guarantee the speed of the connection, speeds are estimated. With cable, the aggregating connections are shared (not dedicated) between hundreds or thousands of customers in the same area. This results in when everyone is using the Internet and bandwidth usage spikes, everyone in your area is pulling bandwidth from the same aggregation pipe or port. You then begin to notice slower bandwidth speeds, latency and, or, packet loss during peak area times (morning, noon, evening)
In some cases; the residential Internet may see initial higher speeds than other residential areas. This is typical because there are fewer customers in that area at that time. However, as more customers become added and more people are using internet from the same connection aggregation link, expect the service level to be downgraded.

3.Does not offer SLA’s (Service level agreements)
Service Level Agreements are a providers guarantee that they will supply the service as stated. Otherwise, you have reason to leave or renegotiate terms, pricing.
* Residential ISP services, do not offer SLA’s because they cannot guarantee the connection will be reliable; it is best efforts

4. Use lower grade hardware; routers not designed to sustain higher bandwidth throughput and speeds. Lower grade equipment like routers can cause failure or require regular rebooting
5. Use bursting methods. When you initially test the speed is higher, i.e. 100Mbps for the first few seconds, however as you continue to use the Internet connection, the speed slows down closer to 1Mbps. This is called policing and the common practice of residential ISP’s
6. Slower sending speed (Up), faster download (Down). However, speeds do drop off as policing is engaged

Business products:
1. Use static IP addresses
2. Are dedicated (not shared) connections between your location and the Internet
This means, that a connection is dedicated to your business and carries a guaranteed speed commitment or SLA

3.SLA’s (Service level agreements) are typically standard, demonstrating uptime, latency and packet loss is at a minimum
Example of a dedicated ISP connection SLA 1.Core network uptime 100%
2.Latency, less than 65 milliseconds
3.Packet loss, less than 1%
4. Enterprise equipment; hardware costs more and is capable of sustaining more up time without rebooting
5. Is a guaranteed, consistent dedicated up/down speed or link to the Internet, only limited by equipment, hardware or technical configurations
6.Guaranteed sending/downloading (simultaneous) capacity

If you run a business or have a need for a reliable Internet connection, business grade products are the right fit for you. If you are at home or have a small business with few staff, residential Internet products may be a better fit for you.

Learn more about business ISP connections visit https://globalit.com/services/internet-services/internet-access/

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DNS (Domain Name System) is a service that resolves a web address, like globalit.com, to an IP address, like 199.66.225.17, which is the location of a server that is hosting the website. In some cases just entering an IP address will direct you to a website. However, remembering a string of arbitrary numbers isn’t as user-friendly as entering an easily remembered web address. While humans prefer to communicate in words, computers communicate using numbers.

For example, let’s say you want to go to globalit.com. First, you would open your browser and enter the website you wish to view. After you press enter, a request is sent to a Name Server that checks for that particular website in its DNS databases. If the name isn’t found, the Name Server sends the request to another Name Server.  When a match is found, a response is sent back which says “Found globalit.com at 199.66.225.17”. Then your computer records this information in a temporary DNS directory, kind of like a phone book. Now each time you attempt to visit globalit.com, the computer locates it in the directory and directs you to the proper server hosting that website.

One of the most well-known free public DNS services is offered through Google. As of 2013, Google Public DNS is the largest public DNS service in the world, handling more than 130 billion requests on an average day. This is part of their effort in making the internet more accessible and easier for the public to use.

Many service providers offer DNS servers on the internet for public use. The DNS configurations settings are stored in the device’s or network’s TCP/IP configuration.

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What separates dedicated Internet from the above connection types is that you are the only one using that connection to the internet. This means the speed is always going to be the same from your connection to the hub. When you purchase dedicated internet, you are guaranteed an upload and download speed. These speeds can vary from 1.5 Mbps to 10 Gbps.

Another great thing about dedicated internet is that you can have control over something called Quality of Service (QoS). This enables constant flow connections without timeouts, lag, or packet loss which are noticeable when connecting to websites, especially HTTPS websites that require a secure connection between computers. Voice over IP (VoIP) applications should only be using a dedicated connection and when doing so will sound crystal clear because there are no other users cluttering up your data connection. This is also helpful when streaming or uploading streams to clients by ensuring the viewing experience is smooth and clear.

Dedicated Internet lets you have your own private internet connection without having to worry about speed drops or VoIP and streaming issues. If there ever is an issue, you know it’s not because of your internet connection. It’s probably the website you are connecting to, or you may need to upgrade to a faster speed.

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One of the advantages of using colocation is the significant price advantage obtained by sharing enterprise-class bandwidth with other web servers. It is often more costly to have large enough and multiple dedicated internet connections at your place of business for web hosting, especially when that bandwidth is often under-utilized.

Another benefit to consider is the likelihood that the power or dedicated internet connection can experience numerous service outages. This could happen many times due to distance and multiple network connections between your location’s internet connection and the major internet aggregation hub. Typically colocation centers are located inside a major internet hub that experiences less than .001 % internet outages. This is due to multiple networks connecting into this main technology hub and the resources built around maintaining high availability to multiple customers. This offers the highest quality in latency and reduces the possible downtime to an absolute minimum while maximizing speed.

In short, colocation allows all sized businesses to have the web presence of a large enterprise-class business that you can depend on.

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