Thomas Edelblute

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Library Computing Without Wires
Infopeople Webcast Technology Tuesday Series
Tuesday, March 1, 20051200 noon to 100 p.m

• Thomas Edelblute
• Public Access Systems Coordinator
• Anaheim Public Library
• TEdelblute_at_anaheim.net

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Agenda

• Definitions
• Wireless inside the building
• Wireless technology and your bookmobile
• Building to building wireless
• Security
• Summary of Benefits
• QA

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5
Definitions
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What is Wireless?

• Radio
• Television
• Cell phones
• Some e-mail devices (Blackberry)
• Data communications

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What I Mean By Wireless

• Definition
• a way of connecting computers to your ILS without
  cables
• Methods
• Radio waves
• Lasers

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Wireless Inside The Building
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Benefits of Wireless Inside Buildings

• Easy to implement
• Inexpensive
• Solves cabling problems associated with historic
  buildings

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Inside the Building Implementation Issues

• Building structure issues
• Standards and their significance
• Equipment
• Limitations of WiFi

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WiFi

• WiFi Wireless Fidelity
• Refers to wireless standards designed to improve
  compatibility between equipment
• WiFi Alliance non-profit that does much of the
  testing

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WiFi Key Points

• 1) Access point (base station) DOES require cable
  connection
• 2) Power over Ethernet means access point does
  not need to be plugged into power outlet
• 3) Equipment has 2-3 year life span
• 4) More susceptible to security breaches

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WiFi Standards

• 802.11b
• 802.11a
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

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802.11b

• Maximum speed at close range 11 Mbps
• Maximum range 300 feet line of site
• Office environment range 100 - 150 feet
• Speed at maximum range 1 Mbps
• Frequency 2.4 GHz

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802.11b Site Survey
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PDAs with 802.11b

• Wireless Markup Language (WML) made for these
  devices
• Innovative Interfaces first on the market with a
  searchable catalog made for PDAs and cell phone
  screens

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802.11a

• Maximum speed at close range 54 Mbps
• Maximum range 175 feet line of site
• Office environment range 100 - 150 feet
• Speed at maximum range 6 Mbps
• Frequency 5 GHz

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802.11g

• Maximum speed at close range 54 Mbps
• Maximum range 250 feet line of site
• Office environment range 100 - 150 feet
• Speed at maximum range 2 Mbps
• Frequency 2.4 GHz

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Standard to Choose for Public Access

• 1) 802.11g is the most common on the marketplace
• 2) g is backward compatible with b
• 3) 802.11a is available
• Why not get a hybrid that supports all three
  standards?

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WiFi Equipment Required

• Wireless Access Point
• connect to cabled LAN
• start at 100
• price increases for security protections
• Wireless Router
• connect directly to DSL or cable modem
• under 200
• Wireless Network Cards
• Each device connecting to the wireless network
  needs one
• 100 each

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Wireless Network Cards

• Desktop computers
• usually have to purchase separate wireless
  network card
• Laptop computers
• many have built in wireless card Centrino
• can buy wireless PC Card

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Optional WiFi Equipment

• Authentication Package
• Software that permits authorized users to use
  your wireless network
• Statistical Analysis
• Software that allows you to keep track of who is
  using your wireless network
• Filtering Software
• Software that allows you to control what sites
  are accessed via your wireless network

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Why Not Use Wireless Everywhere?

• Cabling will always outperform wireless
• Latency (response time) slower with wireless as
  distance from access point increases
• What will you do when the wireless access point
  fails?

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802.11n

• May make wireless competitive with wired networks
• Ratification of standard expected in 2 years
• Promising greater speed and distance
• Video streaming in mind

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Wireless Technology and Your Bookmobile
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1st and 2nd Generation Cell Phones

• Text data communication only
• Telnet connections
• Insufficient bandwidth for client/server
  graphical applications

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3rd Generation Cell Phones

• Can support data transfer
• Citrix or Windows Terminal Services provide
  screen shots to laptops in the field.

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Ev-DO (Evolution Data Optimized)

• Pioneered by Verizon in San Diego and Washington
  DC
• Spreading through the United States
• Check with the provider for the rates covering
  your area

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Ev-DO PC Card
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Bookmobile to ILS Connection
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Upcoming Cellular Options

• ATT, Cingular, and T-Mobile pursuing
  technologies to compete with Ev-DO called GSM,
  GRPS, and Edge
• Faster connection speeds (100-130 kbps)
• At least a year away from implementation

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Building to Building Wireless

• Also known as Municipal Area Networks (MAN)

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Wireless Alternatives to T-1 and Fiber Optic
Connections

• T-1, leased lines and fiber are more expensive
  than wireless options
• Wireless can be almost as fast
• Options are
• 802.11
• Free Space Optics
• Spread Spectrum Radio
• Future Technologies

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Option One 802.11

• Require special antennas to boost the signal
  across town
• Too many residential wireless networks to compete
  with.
• Too many sources of interference

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Option Two Free Space Optics

• Short range laser beams
• Low cost alternative to fiber
• Connect one building to another
• Range of 1 or 2 km (depending on model).

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Connectivity Using Free Space Optics
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Weather Considerations

• Fog and snow scatters the laser light
• Attenuation decrease in signal strength
• Compensated by more focused beam

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Auto-Tracking

• The ability to maintain target link.
• Essential due to building sway, vibration, wind
  effects and temperature fluctuations.

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Option Three Spread Spectrum Radio

• So named for its ability to hop frequencies
• Hard to intercept
• Resists jamming
• Popular with military
• Now in commercial applications
• Products claim 10 mile range

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Option 4 Future Technologies

• Two new wireless standards
• Connecting buildings across a city
• 802.20 favored by Flarion and Arraycomm
• 802.16 aka WiMAX
• Favored by Intel and Fujitsu
• Products by 2006?

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WiMAX

• Does not rely on line of site
• 75 Mbps over several miles
• Some believe
• all cellular base stations will have WiMAX
  support
• WiMAX chips may appear in laptops for mobile
  computing
• may be able to reach areas where DSL, cable and
  T-1 services are not abundant at 3 Mbps

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Security Considerations
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Security Threats

• War-drivers
• use your Internet bandwidth
• advertise the availability of free Internet
  access to others
• Malicious hackers trying to steal or alter data
  inside network
• People launching attacks outside of your network
  from within your network (denial of service
  attacks)

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Security Solutions

• Lock down network
• MAC address authentication
• Encryption WEP/WPA/WPA2
• Monitoring
• Virtual Private Network (VPN)

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Lock Down Network

• Vendors sloppy with security
• Dont assume defaults are acceptable
• Ask vendor
• can administrator name and user be changed or
  disabled?
• can telnet be disabled?

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MAC Address Authentication

• Security system based on defining computers that
  are allowed on the wireless network based on
  their MAC Address
• MAC address is unique identifier of the network
  card in a computer
• e.g. 00-10-DC-CB-89-1A
• MAC Medium of Access Control
• beware MAC addresses can be inpersonated
  (spoofed)

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Encryption

• WEP
• Wired Equivalent Privacy
• first encryption standard for wireless
• uses RC4 encryption algorithm
• fallen out of favor due to its weakness
• WPA
• WiFi Protected Access
• strong encryption standard
• recommended to protect data from evil forces that
  lurk
• WPA2
• a stronger level of encryption security
• check for certified products at
• http//www.wi-fi.org/OpenSection/certified_produc
  ts.asp?TID2

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Rogue Access Point Detection

• Rogue access point an access point that is
  illegally made available on your network
• How they work
• smart sensors analyze network traffic
• prevent unsecured back door to secured network
• block rogue communications over the airwaves
• identify location of rogue

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Comprehensive Security Solutions

• Consist of several components
• distributed sensors monitor all activity
• provides authentication
• rogue access points
• intrusion detection
• enforce network policy
• Example Cisco Air-Defense

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Virtual Private Network (VPN)

• VPNs use the Internet for transporting data but
  rely on security and encryption to ensure that
  only authorized users can access the internal
  network
• Important to use VPN for all communications that
  come into library system from the Internet
• remote connections to ILS
• bookmobile

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Summary of Benefits
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Improve Operations for Staff

• Mobile workstations
• Instant inventory updates
• Roaming Reference connection
• Movable circulation points out onto the floor

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Connect Your Bookmobile To Your Circulation System

• Connect live to circulation system
• Instant updates for your patron records while out
  in the field.
• Instant ability to see place and receive holds.

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Save Money

• Replace Expensive T-1 Lines
• Eliminate ongoing leased line costs
• Eliminate costs associated with new cable runs

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Library Wireless List

• For more information on wireless, subscribe to
  the libwireless list
• http//people.morrisville.edu/drewwe/
• wireless/libwireless.html

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QA