We also said Intelligent FC switches were coming of age. Here, we were almost right. These devices are available but underutilized because many people are cautious about putting too much into one place. The intelligent FC switch market has shrunk to just a few players, with at least two start-ups (Maranti and Sandial Systems) meeting their demise in the past year or so, and a third being bought outright (Troika Networks, bought by QLogic).
We advised not to bet the farm on ILM (information lifecycle management), and we hope you listened. A complete ILM solution is a morass of policy and procedure most of you don't have time for. We said to pick and use the easy pieces of ILM, and we stand by that call.
We were also right when we said 64-bit computing would be possible in 2005, but many apps would not be ready. Many Microsoft-focused application developers are waiting for Vista and Server 2006 to come out. Of course, since the Digital Alpha we've had noncommodity 64-bit computing, but it's not mainstream.
Finally, we said disk-to-disk technology would come of age, and tape would become the archive format. We were dead-on. Now we predict nearly all tape will be encrypted by the end of 2006. Check back with us next December.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
