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The Internet of Things (IoT) is set to be one of the biggest tech trends of 2017 and beyond, and it's something that's set to impact almost every business to some extent. According to figures from Gartner, there will be 8.4 billion connected 'things' in use around the world by the end of this year - a 31 per cent increase from 2016.
This will naturally have a huge impact on many companies' networking solutions. As well as the vastly increased amount of data traffic they will have to contend with as a result of the IoT, the devices themselves will also have an impact on how businesses approach their networking solutions.
In a recent piece for No Jitter, contributor Matt Brunk noted that it will be important for a company to set out who should take ownership of an IoT deployment. If there is no-one within a firm whose specific responsibility it is to manage the process from start to finish, it is unlikely to be a success. Without clear oversight, systems and networks will degrade and best practices for key areas such as cabling infrastructure will be ignored, leading to poor performance.
"Letting vendors do whatever they want is never a good idea, and the same is true with employees," Mr Brunk stated. "IoT isn't about letting the doors open and giving a blind eye to the deployment's impact on your infrastructure. If you don't own it, you will lose it."
One area that is likely to be affected by the introduction of IoT devices is a company's wireless network, as adding these gadgets will place additional traffic demands on WLANs. However, Mr Brunk added there are a number of ways to mitigate any issues, including separation of traffic, the use of virtual LANs (VLANs), and implementing rules to allow inter-VLAN communications.
At the start of a deployment, organisations must undergo due diligence procedures in order to fully understand the effect wireless IoT devices will have on their network. This should include preparing a heat map to identify which locations are likely to be most affected, which should in turn dictate the placement and optimisation of wireless access points (WAPs).
"An organisation also must test and re-test to determine whether or not consistent coverage is available for all devices, but especially those located in ceilings, closets, and out of the way or out of sight [locations]," Mr Brunk said. "Along with the re-testing is the adjustment of power levels, and even the addition or deletion of WAPs."
Another factor to consider is the effect on switching infrastructure. A common practice for many network managers is to limit the number of MAC addresses that can ingress a port in order to ensure security. However, this can become problematic when using IoT solutions such as automated building controls.
These systems are often contained deep within a building's infrastructure and are interconnected through the use of cabling and unmanaged switches, Mr Brunk explained. However, they will always need at least one LAN switch port to allow access via a webpage or remote access using a VPN.
"When the gear is connected to switch ports with port security enabled, the numerous MAC addresses associated with management systems get blocked pretty quickly and knock out system visibility for building engineers," he continued.
Therefore, network managers may need to rethink how they approach the security of their infrastructure to ensure that systems remain protected, while still allowing necessary access for IoT devices.
