Cisco Expert Network Consulting

Network management platforms help companies to implement infrastructure effectively, look up user information rapidly, track network health, debug problems, protect against and respond to cyber attacks, and optimize performance. Network management systems can help detect inefficient or inappropriate uses of network resources such as streaming media or peer-to-peer file sharing that can waste bandwidth, reduce worker output or allow data leakage. A well planned network management environment can also help organizations to make smart capacity planning decisions by surfacing tendencies in network usage for different periods or jos.

Cisco offers a rich and expanding catalog of network management platforms that support unified management for local, cloud-based, or hybrid network architectures. With Cisco's newer generation of security, switching, and wireless infrastructure products, you can run Meraki, Cisco DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network management. For example, you can interface newer Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki Wi-Fi APs to the Meraki dashboard to monitor and manage vital components of your IT infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Catalyst Wi-Fi AP consultants, Cisco Meraki WiFi AP experts, Catalyst switches consulting experts, and Cisco Meraki switches consulting experts can assist your organization to plan, implement and optimize an up-to-date environment for network infrastructure management.

Legacy Network Management Platforms from Cisco and Others
An abundance of network management products from Cisco and other vendors underscores the importance and difficulty of network management. Progent's Cisco-certified network management engineers are experienced at helping businesses design network management solutions based on SNMP, SYSLOG services, and Cisco IOS NetFlow to create powerful tools for network utilization and latency, viewing important router and switch performance metrics, and recognizing traffic profiles, processes, and devices utilizing network services.

Progent can help customers to utilize a rich selection of open source and proprietary management utilities to manage Cisco infrastructure. Tools familiar to Progent's engineers include MRTG, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager, Cisco Monitor Manager, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Concord E-Health, Adventnet Netflow, Big Brother, and Necordia NetMRI.

Network management tools can enable organizations to be aware of current system utilization and effectively plan for future traffic increases. Network management tools can also be used to highlight poor or improper utilization of network services, for example streaming video, peer-to-peer sharing, etc. that can use up valuable or limited network resources. A well designed network management strategy can also help organizations to arrive at intelligent decisions on WAN and LAN enhancements once they appreciate how much system bandwidth really required at any one time.

Putting an efficient network management solution in operation in advance is vital to prevent severe problems that can be caused by Denial Of Service attacks and dangerous viruses/Trojans. Such events can leave the network unstable and in the absence of appropriate utilities it can be time consuming, if not virtually impossible, to discover the location of the trouble.

Network Management Solutions from Cisco
Cisco provides an array of effective tools that should be the basis for any network management solution. Used in conjunction with appropriate outside vendor products, Cisco's network management offerings can improve the business value of network infrastructures for companies of any size by improving important areas such as resource utilization, performance, resilience, protection, repair, and scalability. Cisco's top network management tools include:

Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) is a browser-based Java applet that lets you configure and operate the software built into security appliances. Cisco ASDM is loaded by the network device, and enables you to set up, track, and manage the unit.

Cisco Monitor Manager is a management and monitoring application intended to address the requirements of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Cisco Monitor Manager actively checks important device processes on voice/data environments serving 5 to 250 workers and equipped with up to 250 VoIP phones. Cisco Monitor Manager offers:

• Real-time scanning of important device processes on SMB-class routers, switches, and voice gateways, Unified Communications Manager Express, Unity Express, security devices, WAPs, and VoIP phones
• Compatibility with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 communications appliance for companies with up to 50 users

• Network discovery and physical topology
• Device and service level looks at Unified Communications deployment
• System wide device identification logging and documentation
• Highly secure and dependable communication
• Appliance performance monitoring
• IP Telephony tracking
• Connection status and traffic monitoring
• Immediate alarms and notifications
• Reports
• Setup archive

Cisco Network Assistant is a PC-hosted network management tool 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 simplifies setup, deployment, and ongoing administration and maintenance of Cisco-based networks. The application offers a unified system view and permits IT administrators to deploy its functions among Cisco switches, routers, and WAPs.

Security Manager is a feature-rich but simple to operate solution for centrally provisioning all facets of device configuration and security policies for firewalls, virtual private networks, and Intrusion Prevention Systems. Security Manager efficiently handles even small networks consisting of fewer than ten appliances, but also expands to manage enterprise systems composed of thousands of devices. Expansion is achieved through intelligent policy-based control techniques that can streamline administration. Key features of Security Manager include:

• Supports provisioning for Cisco routers running an IOS security software image, Cisco ASA 5500 family firewalls, Cisco PIX firewalls, Cisco IPS 4200 family sensors, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series security modules
• Reacts faster. more rapidly to threats: define and assign updated policies to many hundreds of appliances in a few simple steps
• Intuitive GUI provides exceptional ease-of-use
• A variety of views that provide versatile ways to manage appliances and security policies such as the option to administer the security environment visually on a topology map
• Extensive video help for the new user to accelerate training time
• Centrally specify which policies are shared and inherited by new devices to ensure corporate policies are implemented consistently, while providing sufficient versatility to customize policies at the individual device level
• Ability to build a common firewall rule database for all Cisco platforms with intelligent analysis of firewall policies to determine anomalies within the rule base
• Quickly configure location-to-location, hub-and-spoke, full-mesh IPsec, or extranet Virtual Private Network links by means of a VPN wizard
• Compatibility with Cisco ACS for granular role based connection control to appliances and administration services
• Integration with security MARS to compare monitored data with corresponding security appliance rules to promote faster management decisions and enhanced system availability
• Ability to assign particular jobs to each manager during the deployment of a rule, with structured change control and logging; permits the security and network operations staff to work cooperatively as a cohesive unit with efficient coordination

Progent can also help you to use network management applications to monitor and classify network data to enable traffic shaping, which allows you to program routers to impose different throughput constraints on certain classes of activity according to the priorities you assign. By buffering and queuing excess packets that exceed your committed volume, and by giving priority to critical processes, traffic shaping can prevent service provider overage penalties from spiraling out of control and/or avoid lost productivity caused by indiscriminate enforcement of your network traffic volume limits during peak use.

Progent's CISM and CISSP security consultants can show you how to develop an end-to-end security strategy that encompasses your network management solution, and Progent's remote and on-site network experts and Cisco CCIE-certified consultants can use the latest network monitoring and analysis tools to identify and fix problems rapidly to keep your network running smoothly.

To see more details about Progent's professional expertise for Cisco networking products, pick a topic:

• Overview of Progent's Cisco Consulting Services
• Fast Online Help from a CCIE Network Engineer
• Cisco Firepower Firewalls: Integration and Management Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Firewalls with Firepower Services: Setup and Management Expertise
• ASA 5500 Series Firewall Management Assistance
• PIX Firewall Management Assistance
• Cisco Routers Configuration and Troubleshooting Support
• Cisco Wireless Engineering Services
• Aironet Wireless APs Design Support
• Cisco Small Business Wireless APs Deployment Support
• Cisco Catalyst 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6/6E Wireless Access Points Planning, Deployment and Troubleshooting Services
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Support Services
• Meraki APs Design Expertise
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Consulting and Technical Support
• Cisco Voice over IP Phones and IP Video Desktop Phones Consulting Services and Wireless IP Phone Configuration
• Cisco Jabber Integration Expertise
• Catalyst Switches Configuration and Maintenance Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Configuration and Maintenance Services
• Meraki MS Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Network Security Setup and Troubleshooting Help
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP Trunks and CUBE Integration Consulting
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication Services for Remote Workers
• Design Solutions for Cisco-based Datacenters and Colocation Centers
• Network Design Consulting for Internet Service Providers