Cisco Expert Network Consultants

A wealth of network management utilities from Cisco and other vendors underscores the value and difficulty of network management. Progent's seasoned network management consultants are experienced at assisting businesses develop network management strategies based on Simple Network Management Protocol, Syslog, and Cisco Netflow protocols to create powerful tools for network utilization and network latency, monitoring important router and switch performance characteristics, and recognizing traffic profiles, applications, and devices utilizing available services.

Progent can assist customers to utilize a rich selection of open source and license-based monitoring and management tools to manage Cisco infrastructure. Utilities familiar to Progent's engineers include MRTG, Cacti, Nagios, Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow and Firewall Analyzer, Big Brother, and NetMRI.

Network management platforms can enable organizations to understand existing network utilization and intelligently prepare for future traffic expansion. Management utilities can also be used to identify inefficient or inappropriate utilization of system services, for example streaming video, peer-to-peer file exchange, etc. that can waste expensive and scarce network resources. A well designed network management plan can also enable organizations to arrive at intelligent choices on system enhancements once they recognize the amount of system bandwidth historically required at various times.

Having an efficient network management system in operation beforehand is critical to avoid severe problems that can be due to Denial Of Service (DoS) attacks and malicious viruses. These assaults can render the network unstable and in the absence of appropriate utilities it can be difficult, and sometimes practically impossible, to identify the location of the problem.

Network Management Tools from Cisco
Cisco offers an assortment of effective utilities that should be the basis for any network management strategy. Utilized in conjunction with appropriate outside vendor applications, Cisco's network management software can improve the business value of network infrastructures for companies of any size by helping with important areas such as resource utilization, performance, resilience, protection, troubleshooting, and scalability. Cisco's most popular network management products include:

Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) is a web Java applet that allows you to set up and monitor the software on network appliances. Cisco ASDM is installed by the adaptive security appliance, and enables you to set up, monitor, and manage the unit.

Monitor Manager is a management and monitoring solution developed for the needs of small and medium-sized companies. Monitor Manager continuously checks key appliance parameters on voice and data environments serving 5 to 250 users and with as many as 250 Cisco Unified IP phones. The application offers:

• Up-to-date scanning of important appliance parameters on SMB-class routers, switches, and voice gateways, Unified Communications Manager Express, Unity Express, security devices, WAPs, and Cisco Unified IP Phones
• Support for the Unified Communications 500 Series for businesses with as many as 50 users

• Network discovery and physical topology
• Device and process views of Cisco Unified Communications implementation
• Networkwide device identification logging and documentation
• Advanced security and dependable communication
• Device operations monitoring
• VoIP Telephony tracking
• Interface status and data traffic monitoring
• Immediate alarms and event notification
• Reports
• Setup archive

Network Assistant is a desktop-hosted network management tool designed for for wired and wireless LANs (WLANs) for expanding businesses that have as many as 40 switches and routers. By using Cisco's Smartports technology, the application streamlines configuration, installation, and ongoing management and support of Cisco-based networks. Network Assistant offers a centralized system view and permits IT administrators to deploy its features across Cisco switches, routers, and wireless access points.

Cisco Security Manager is a feature-rich but simple to operate application for managing all aspects of appliance configuration and security policies for Cisco firewalls, VPNs, and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). Cisco Security Manager effectively manages even small networks consisting of no more than than ten appliances, but also scales to control enterprise systems with thousands of appliances. Scalability is enabled through intelligent policy-based management techniques that can simplify administrative overhead. Highlights of Security Manager are:

• Allows provisioning for Cisco routers configured with a Cisco IOS security software image, Cisco ASA 5500 Series adaptive security appliances, Cisco PIX firewalls, Cisco IPS 4200 sensors, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 security services modules
• Reacts faster. more rapidly to threats: define and assign updated policies to many hundreds of devices in a few simple steps
• Intuitive GUI offers superior ease-of-use
• Multiple views that offer flexible ways to control devices and security policies such as the capability to administer the security environment graphically on a system topology map
• Extensive animated help for the first-time operator to accelerate learning period
• Globally call out which policies are common and automatically inherited by additional devices to make sure company-wide policies are implemented regularly, at the same time providing optional flexibility to customize policies at the local device level
• Capability to create a single rule table for Cisco firewalls with intelligent evaluation of firewall policies to determine conflicts in the rule base
• Quickly set up site-to-site, hub-spoke, full mesh, or extranet Virtual Private Network links with a few mouse clicks
• Integration with Cisco Access Control Server (ACS) for granular role based connection control to appliances and management services
• Operation with Cisco security MARS to associate monitored data with corresponding firewall rules to promote faster decision making and enhanced network availability
• Capability to allocate specific tasks to every administrator in the course of the implementation of a rule, with structured change control and tracking; permits the security and systems operations team to work together as a cohesive group with effective teamwork

Progent can also help you to use network management utilities to monitor and categorize network data to enable traffic shaping, which allows you to set up routers to impose a variety of throughput constraints on certain classes of processes according to the priorities you specify. By buffering and sorting excess packets that exceed your committed volume, and by giving preference to the most important applications, traffic shaping can keep Internet Service Provider overage penalties from spinning out of reach and/or avoid lost productivity caused by indiscriminate policing of your network traffic volume limits during peak use.

Progent's CISA and ISSAP security specialists can assist you to develop an end-to-end security plan that encompasses your network management processes, and Progent's remote and on-premises network specialists and Cisco CCIE-certified engineers can use the latest network management technology to identify and remediate problems quickly to keep your IT system productive.

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

• Overview of Cisco Network Support
• Fast and Affordable Online Support from a Cisco CCIE Consultant
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Series Firewalls: Integration and Management Services
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Firewall with Cisco Firepower Services: Consulting and Management Support
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall Consulting Assistance
• Cisco PIX 500 Firewall Upgrade. Migration Services
• Cisco Routers Configuration and Troubleshooting Support
• Cisco Wireless Engineering Help
• Cisco Aironet Access Points Deployment Support
• Cisco Small Business Wireless APs Consulting Services
• Catalyst Wi-Fi 6/6E Access Points Planning, Configuration and Troubleshooting Consulting
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Integration Consulting
• Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Points Engineering Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Integration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco VoIP Phones and IP Video Desktop Phones Consulting Services and Wireless IP Phone Configuration
• Cisco Jabber Consulting and Support Services
• Cisco Catalyst Switches Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Nexus Switches Deployment Services
• Meraki MS Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Security Setup and Troubleshooting Expertise
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP Trunks and CUBE Integration Expertise
• Infrastructure Design for Cisco-based Datacenters and Colocation Centers
• Data Center Design Consulting for Service Providers