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Network Switches Grow Up (continued)

routers can detect and prioritize voice traffic -- which is more sensitive to latency than data traffic -- over data traffic. Likewise, higher priority data traffic can take precedence over less important data.

• Enable fault tolerance The higher-end switches offer redundant power supplies, cooling and forwarding engines that make networks more fault-tolerant. Manufacturers are also migrating this functionality down to smaller platforms. This is good news, especially in smaller offices using only a single switch; if that switch goes down, the entire office is offline. Yet now even lower-end switches are adding this capability.
• Aid compliance "Due to regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley, it is very important to show that only certain people have had access to certain data," says Petrosky. "The higher-end switches provide you with a clear audit trail that allows you to do just that."

All this additional capacity and functionality raises even more security issues. "The higher bandwidth these devices deliver allows people to email ever-larger documents of all types. And any time that you connect more people to more information more easily, you up the risk of security breaches," says Kelton.

Still, he says, the pros greatly outweigh the cons. With switches evolving so rapidly, Kelton recommends that enterprises evaluate their networks and upgrade their switches at least every two years. "Everything is changing so rapidly and the increased functionality is so potentially valuable that enterprises need to make a point of keeping up," he says.

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