Cisco Network Consulting and Support

A wealth of network management utilities from Cisco and other vendors highlights the importance and complexity of supporting IT infrastructure. Progent's seasoned network management engineers are experienced at assisting businesses design management solutions utilizing on SNMP, Syslog, and Cisco NetFlow to create powerful mechanisms for network utilization and latency, monitoring key router and switch performance metrics, and recognizing traffic profiles, applications, and devices that use available resources.

Progent can assist customers to deploy a rich selection of open source and license-based monitoring and management tools to manage a Cisco network. Tools familiar to Progent's consultants include Cacti, Nagios, Paessler Router Traffic Grapher, Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Concord E-Health, Adventnet Netflow and Firewall Analyzer, Big Brother, and Necordia NetMRI.

Network management tools can enable IT administrators to be aware of current system usage and intelligently prepare for downstream traffic increases. Management utilities can also be deployed to highlight poor or inappropriate utilization of system services, such as streaming video, peer-to-peer file sharing, etc. that can use up expensive or scarce network resources. A carefully crafted network management plan can also enable businesses to arrive at intelligent choices on system improvements once they understand how much system resources actually required at any one time.

Putting an effective network management solution in place ahead of time is critical to avoid major disruptions that can be caused by DoS attacks and malicious viruses/Trojans. Such assaults can leave the network unusable and without proper utilities it can be time consuming, if not virtually impossible, to discover the source of the trouble.

Network Management Products from Cisco
Cisco has created a selection of powerful tools that should form the basis for any management strategy. Utilized in conjunction with appropriate outside vendor tools, Cisco's network management software can enhance the business value of networks for organizations of any size by helping with important areas such as system utilization, performance, resilience, protection, repair, and capacity planning. Cisco's most popular network management products include:

Cisco ASDM is a web utility that permits you set up and monitor the software on security appliances. Adaptive Security Device Manager is loaded by the Cisco appliance, and allows you to set up, track, and manage the unit.

Cisco Monitor Manager is a comprehensive management application intended to meet the needs of small and medium-sized companies. Cisco Monitor Manager continuously checks key appliance processes on voice and data environments serving 5 to 250 workers and with up to 250 Cisco Unified IP phones. The application offers:

• Real-time monitoring of important appliance processes on Cisco SMB-class routers, switches, and voice gateways, Communications Manager Express, Cisco Unity Express, security devices, WAPs, and IP phones
• Support for the Unified Communications 500 appliance for businesses with as many as 50 users

• Network discovery and physical topology
• Device and service level looks at Cisco Unified Communications implementation
• Networkwide inventory collection and documentation
• Highly secure and reliable communication
• Cisco device operations tracking
• VoIP Telephony monitoring
• Connection status and data traffic monitoring
• Real-time alerts and notifications
• Reports
• Setup archive

Network Assistant is a desktop-based management tool optimized for wired and wireless LANs (WLANs) for expanding companies that have up to 40 Cisco switches and routers. By using Cisco's Smartports mechanism, the application simplifies configuration, installation, and continuing administration and maintenance of Cisco-based networks. It offers a unified network view and permits IT managers to employ its features across Cisco switches, routers, and access points.

Security Manager is a highly functional but easy-to-use application for centrally provisioning all aspects of device set up and security policies for PIX and ASA firewalls, VPNs, and Intrusion Prevention Systems. Security Manager efficiently handles even small environments consisting of no more than than ten devices, but also expands to manage enterprise networks composed of thousands of routers, switches, and firewalls. Scalability is achieved via smart policy-based control techniques that can streamline administration. Key features of Cisco Security Manager are:

• Supports control of Cisco routers running an IOS security software image, Cisco ASA 5500 family firewalls, Cisco PIX firewalls, Cisco IPS 4200 Series inline security appliances, and Catalyst 6500 family security services modules
• Respond more quickly to threats: define and assign updated policies to many hundreds of devices in a few easy steps
• Intuitive graphical user interface offers superior ease-of-use
• A variety of looks that offer flexible methods to control appliances and policies such as the capability to manage the security network graphically on a topology image
• Comprehensive video help for the first-time operator to accelerate learning time
• Globally call out which policies are shared and automatically inherited by new devices to make sure company-wide policies are implemented regularly, at the same time providing sufficient flexibility to customize policies at the individual appliance level
• Ability to build a single firewall rule table for Cisco firewalls with smart evaluation of firewall policies to detect conflicts in the rule table
• Quickly set up site-to-site, hub-and-spoke, full mesh, or extranet VPN interfaces by means of a VPN wizard
• Compatibility with Cisco ACS for low-level role based access control to devices and administration functions
• Integration with security MARS to compare monitored data against corresponding firewall rules to help with quicker management decisions and enhanced network up time
• Capability to assign specific jobs to every manager during the deployment of a policy, with formal change control and tracking; permits the security and systems operations staff to act in sync as a cohesive group with efficient coordination

Progent can also help you to utilize network management utilities to analyze and categorize system data to enable traffic shaping, which allows you to configure Cisco routers to enforce a variety of throughput restrictions on certain classes of processes according to the priorities you specify. By buffering and sorting excess packets above your committed rates, and by assigning preference to critical processes, traffic shaping can keep ISP excess usage penalties from spinning out of reach and/or avoid gaps in productivity resulting from brute force enforcement of your network traffic volume limits during peak demand.

Progent's CISM and CISSP security specialists can assist you to create an end-to-end security plan that incorporates your network management processes, and Progent's remote and on-premises support experts and Cisco CCIE and CNA qualified engineers can use the latest network monitoring and analysis tools to isolate and fix trouble quickly to keep your network productive.

To find out more details about Progent's professional assistance for Cisco solutions, choose a subject:

• Introduction to Progent's Cisco Expertise
• Fast and Affordable Online Access to a Cisco CCIE Network Engineer
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Series Firewalls: Configuration and Troubleshooting Support
• ASA 5500-X Firewalls with Firepower: Setup and Management Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall Management Assistance
• PIX Series Firewall Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Routers Consulting Services
• Cisco Wireless Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Aironet APs Design Services
• Cisco Small Business WiFi Access Points System Design Services
• Cisco Catalyst 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6/6E APs Solution Design, Deployment and Debugging Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Controllers Integration Consulting
• Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Points Deployment Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Configuration and Technical Support
• Cisco Voice over IP Phones and IP Video Phones Consulting Services and Cisco Wireless VoIP Phone Solutions
• Cisco Jabber Integration Services
• Cisco Catalyst Switches Engineering Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Deployment Expertise
• Cisco Meraki Switches Deployment Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Network Security Setup and Troubleshooting Services
• SIP and CUBE Infrastructure Solutions: SIP Trunks and Cisco CUBE Integration Expertise
• Design and Support for Cisco-powered Datacenters and Colocation Centers
• Network Design Consulting for Internet Service Providers