White Paper Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to describe the modern IP network, evaluate the potential solutions based on environment, and provide a road map for action.
There is no longer any doubt that IP is the strategic networking protocol for the future. It has been around since 1969, at the inception of the early version of today's Internet. It has proven to offer scalability, redundancy, resiliency, openness, adaptability, and manageability. The incredible popularity and exponential growth of the Internet and the Web have ensured its choice as the networking architecture for the early part of the 21st Century. Because of this, the networking industry is working, as a whole, to continue to enhance IP and its related technologies. The same cannot be said of SNA. By pushing SNA and APPN to the very edges of the network (that is, the device and application), the entire network can benefit from the continual enhancement in IP, all the while protecting the investment in SNA and APPN applications.