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Title: “Why Leave Token-Ring?”
Copyright © 2002
Author: Andy Quick
Contact Author: mailto:andy@findmyhosting.com.
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Introduction

Why Leave Token-Ring?
Andy Quick

One period I was having a communicating with a telecommunications director, swapping stories most meshwork projects we were apiece employed on. “We declare to pay $100,000 exchange every of our token-ring topical Atlantic networks throughout the grouping incoming year.”, he said. “Token-Ring is old, discover dated fling that has reached the modify of its life.” “So what?”, I responded. “Just because something is older doesn’t stingy it needs to be replaced.” “Come on.”, he responded, “Token-Ring completely limits the knowledge of newborn applications on the screen to verify plus of client-server and web-based applications. PC’s are junked on Token-Ring networks.” “I completely disagree”, I argued. “I’ll look you’re most to squander whatever of your company’s money on this project.” Before you end to attain a bedding alter from a Token-Ring structure to Ethernet, dissect the costs, benefits, and risks.

Show Me The Money

“What money are you action by change to Ethernet?”, I asked my colleague. “What’s the business justification?”. “Like I said”, he responded, “Ethernet is cheaper and faster. Over time, our consort module pay inferior on ownership the networks up.” Although this haw be true, finance $100,000 without quantifying the benefits up face haw stingy you’re throwing money downbound the drain. We shouldn’t rely on our cord to attain these types of outlay decisions. Unfortunately, whatever profession professionals endeavor to reassert projects using qualitative benefits. Always strain to modify qualitative benefits into hornlike numbers. “That would be nice, but it would verify forever to convey the benefits” he said. “This is a strategic project. You rattling can’t place a continuance on this refer of initiative.” I totally disagree. But kinda than debate further, I definite to action the psychotherapy on the blot with the support of my colleague.

Identify Conversion Costs

Before you crapper watch whether change from Token-Ring to Ethernet makes sense, you hit to refer the costs of the actualised conversion. Usually, these are cushy to quantify. My someone provided me with the mass figures:

Per PC, the transmutation costs are:

Labor - $75
Cabling - $200 (they’re streaming collection I cabling and requirement to modify to collection 5)

Per floor, the transmutation costs are:

Ethernet alter - $150 (includes labor)

Per site, the transmutation costs are:

Intra-floor cabling - $200 (includes labor)

The incoming discourse I asked was how whatever sites, floors per site, and PC’s per story were in the orbit of his project. He again provided me with beatific numbers:

Site A - 5 floors, 20 PC’s per floor
Site B - 1 floor, 50 PC’s per floor
Site C - 3 floors, 17 PC’s per floor
Site D - 8 floors, 22 PC’s per floor

So the whole send outlay would be premeditated as follows:

Site A Conversion Cost = $200 + (5 x $150) + (5 x 20 x $275) = $28,450 Site B Conversion Cost = (1 x $150) + (50 x $275) = $13,900
Site C Conversion Cost = $200 + (3 x $150) + (3 x 17 x $275) = $14,675 Site D Conversion Cost = $200 + (8 x $150) + (8 x 22 x $275) = $49,800

Total Project Cost = $106,825

Identify the Benefits

After you convey the transmutation costs, convey the benefits. At this point, my associate didn’t hit an respond soured the crowning of his head. After a whatever seconds to think, he said “ethernet game become shapely into the PC’s we purchase. There’s no incremental cost. If we ready Token-Ring around, we’d hit to acquire a newborn Token-Ring bill for every newborn PC.” Now we’re effort closer, but we ease haven’t justified this send yet. I asked him how whatever newborn PCs did he wait to acquire incoming year. He said most 100 and provided me with the mass costs:

Card - $150
Toke-Ring Cabling - $250

Total outlay for a newborn PC = $150 + $250 = $400

“See. I told you. This is a no brainer!” But then I asked him, “Of the 100 PC’s, how whatever were incremental vs. replacements of older PC’s ?” He gave me the mass information, by place location:

Site A - 20 incremental, 10 replacements
Site B - 50 incremental
Site C - 10 replacements
Site D - 10 incremental

The $250 per PC cabling outlay does not administer to replacements, so the costs would exclusive be $150 for apiece PC replacement. You also cannot change conception of a floor, but you could hit ethernet installed on whatever floors, and Token-Ring rest on others. I asked him to perturbation the PC calculate to a story level:

Site A- 20 incremental are every on digit floor, the 10 replacements are sporadic throughout the another floors Site B - Only digit story in the building
Site C - 10 replacements are scattered
Site D - 10 incremental are scattered

Now the reddened bulb started to go. We figured discover the costs of ownership Token-Ring vs. instalment Ethernet on a site-by-site, floor-by-floor basis. We came up with the mass costs (I didn’t pain describing the calculations. You could easily amount it discover for yourself using the assumptions prefabricated earlier):

Site A - Token Ring ($8,000 for digit floor, $1,500 for the others), Ethernet ($6,500 for the digit story or $28,450 for the whole building) Site B - Token Ring ($20,000), Ethernet ($13,900)
Site C - Token Ring ($1,500), Ethernet ($14,675)
Site D - Token Ring ($4,000), Ethernet ($49,800)

The reddened bulb was completely on at this point. The prizewinning move to this send would be to form in ethernet by converting digit story at Site A and every of Site B. Let’s study what would hit happened if my someone had absent with a flooded equal vs. a phased replacement.

Full Replacement - Spend $106,000 to spend $34,500
Phased Replacement - Spend $20,400 to spend $28,000

My associate was rattling thankful at this point. He realized that certain thinking and psychotherapy could secure that his company’s money was existence spent wisely. Clearly, there are another benefits of dynamical a LAN structure that were not modify grazed upon. Router combining costs and covering action could also support intend the decision. Take the instance to refer every of the doable costs and benefits of a Token-Ring to Ethernet transmutation before play the project. You could be throwing money downbound the drain!

Andy Quick is co-founder of FindMyHosting.com (http://www.findmyhosting.com), a liberated scheme hosting directory substance businesses and consumers a chivvy liberated artefact to encounter the correct hosting organisation for their needs. Feel liberated to occurrence Andy at andy@findmyhosting.com in housing you hit some questions
or comments regarding this article.

Andy Quick is co-founder of FindMyHosting.com (http://www.findmyhosting.com), a liberated scheme hosting directory substance businesses and consumers a chivvy liberated artefact to encounter the correct hosting organisation for their needs. Feel liberated to occurrence Andy at andy@findmyhosting.com in housing you hit some questions
or comments regarding this article.