Comparative Risk Analysis Between GPON Optical LAN and Traditional LAN Technologies

Today's digital frontier can be described as the new Wild West with untested cutting-edge technologies finding their way into the public domain. With increased interest in Gigabit Passive Optical Networks (GPON) to provide LAN access, one question must be asked. What is the risk? Risks associated with traditional Ethernet LAN technologies are well known and documented. As is common with new technologies, risk from failures or exploits may not be realized until after implementation is complete. In many cases, risk assessments are pushed to the side with focus on quick implementation and costs savings as they take precedence. Using a traditional Cisco Ethernet LAN Infrastructure to provide a baseline, we will compare known risks to a comparable set of GPON systems provided by Envistacom.