Network Management Solutions From CCIE and CCNP Qualified Experts
An abundance of network management utilities from Cisco and other suppliers underscores the value and complexity of supporting IT infrastructure. Progent's seasoned network management consultants are experienced at helping companies design management solutions utilizing on SNMP, SYSLOG services, and Cisco IOS NetFlow to build effective tools for understanding network bandwidth usage and network latency, viewing important router and switch performance metrics, and identifying traffic profiles, processes, and devices utilizing network resources.
Progent can assist businesses to utilize a rich selection of free and license-based management utilities to manage a Cisco-powered environment. Utilities familiar to Progent's consultants include MRTG, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Wireshark/Ethereal, Concord E-Health, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow, Big Brother, and NetMRI.
Network management platforms can allow organizations to understand current network utilization and effectively prepare for downstream capacity expansion. Management tools can also be deployed to identify poor or improper uses of network services, for example streaming video, peer-to-peer file sharing, etc. that can waste expensive and limited network bandwidth. A carefully planned network management plan can also aid companies to arrive at informed decisions on system improvements once they understand the amount of network bandwidth historically required at various times.
Having an effective network management platform in operation ahead of time is vital to prevent severe disruptions that can follow Denial Of Service (DoS) attacks and dangerous viruses. These assaults can leave the network unstable and without proper tools it can be time consuming, and in some cases virtually impossible, to find the location of the problem.
Network Management Tools from Cisco
Cisco has created an array of effective utilities that should be the foundation for any management solution. Used in conjunction with appropriate outside vendor products, Cisco's network management offerings can enhance the competitive value of networks for organizations of all sizes by improving important areas such as resource utilization, throughput, resilience, protection, repair, and capacity planning. Cisco's most familiar network management products include:
Cisco ASDM is a web utility that lets you set up and monitor the software built into network appliances. Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager is loaded by the adaptive security device, and enables you to set up, monitor, and control the unit.
Cisco Monitor Manager is a management application intended to meet the needs of small and medium-sized companies. Cisco Monitor Manager actively checks important device parameters on voice and data environments serving five to 250 users and equipped with up to 250 VoIP phones. Cisco Monitor Manager provides:
Real-time tracking of important appliance processes on SMB-class routers and switches, Unified Communications Manager Express, Unity Express, security devices, wireless access points, and VoIP phones
Compatibility with the Unified Communications 500 communications appliance for organizations with as many as 50 users
Cisco Monitor Manager scans the system on a round-the-clock cycle and periodically polls and collects inventory and operations-monitoring data from the monitored devices in the system. Cisco Monitor Manager is a Windows-based utility and is entirely nondisruptive to IT operations and does not deploy any agent on target appliances. Cisco Monitor Manager offers a variety of valuable features and benefits such as:
Voice and data network discovery and physical topology
Device and service level views of Cisco Unified Communications implementation
System wide device identification logging and reporting
Highly secure and reliable operation
Cisco device operations monitoring
IP Telephony monitoring
Interface status and data traffic tracking
Immediate alerts and notifications
Documentation
Configuration log
Network Assistant is a PC-based network management application designed for for wired and wireless LANs (WLANs) for growing businesses that have as many as 40 Cisco switches and routers. By using Cisco's Smartports technology, the application streamlines configuration, installation, and continuing administration and maintenance of Cisco-powered environments. It provides a unified system view and allows network administrators to employ its features among switches, routers, and access points.
Cisco Security Manager is a powerful but easy-to-use application for centrally provisioning all facets of appliance set up and security policies for Cisco PIX and ASA security appliances, virtual private networks, and IPS. Security Manager efficiently manages even small networks with no more than than ten devices, but also expands to manage enterprise networks composed of thousands of routers, switches, and firewalls. Expansion is enabled through intelligent policy-based control techniques that can simplify administrative overhead. Highlights of Security Manager are:
Allows provisioning for Cisco routers running a Cisco IOS security software image, ASA 5500 adaptive security appliances, PIX firewalls, Cisco IPS 4200 Series inline security appliances, and Catalyst 6500 security modules
Reacts more quickly to threats: define and assign new security policies to thousands of devices in a few simple steps
Intuitive graphical user interface provides exceptional ease-of-use
A variety of looks that offer versatile ways to control devices and security policies including the ability to administer the security network graphically on a system topology image
Comprehensive video training for the new user to accelerate learning time
Globally call out which policies are common and inherited by new appliances to ensure corporate policies are configured consistently, at the same time offering optional versatility to modify policies at the individual appliance level
Ability to build a single firewall rule database for all Cisco firewalls with intelligent evaluation of firewall policies to detect anomalies in the rule base
Quickly configure site-to-site, hub-and-spoke, full mesh, or extranet VPN connections by means of a few mouse clicks
Integration with Cisco ACS for low-level role based access control to appliances and management services
Integration with security MARS system to correlate monitored data with corresponding firewall rules to support faster decision making and enhanced network availability
Ability to assign specific jobs to each administrator during the deployment of a rule, with structured change management and tracking; permits the security and systems operations staff to work cooperatively as a single unit with efficient coordination
How Progent's Consultants Can Help Your Business with Network Management
Progent's Cisco-qualified network management consultants can help you to use Cisco's management tools in combination with a selection of effective third-party programs to develop a complete network management strategy to keep your infrastructure operating smoothly, consolidate expensive resources, guard your data, recover rapidly from hardware failure or deliberates attacks, and allow you to expand or reassign network hardware effectively and affordably as your company evolves.
Progent can also assist you to utilize network management utilities to analyze and categorize system data to implement traffic shaping, which allows you to set up Cisco routers to enforce different bandwidth restrictions on certain types of activity based on the importance you assign. By storing and sorting data packets that exceed your contracted rates, and by giving priority to critical applications, traffic shaping can keep ISP overage penalties from spinning out of reach and/or avoid gaps in worker productivity resulting from brute force policing of your network bandwidth limits during periods of heavy use.
Progent's CISM and CISSP security professionals can assist you to develop a comprehensive security strategy that incorporates your network management processes, and Progent's remote and on-site network experts and Cisco CCIE-certified consultants can use the latest network management tools to identify and repair trouble rapidly to keep your network in business.
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An abundance of network management utilities from Cisco and other suppliers underscores the value and complexity of supporting IT infrastructure. Progent's seasoned network management consultants are experienced at helping companies design management solutions utilizing on SNMP, SYSLOG services, and Cisco IOS NetFlow to build effective tools for understanding network bandwidth usage and network latency, viewing important router and switch performance metrics, and identifying traffic profiles, processes, and devices utilizing network resources.
