Cisco Certified Expert Network Consulting and Support

Network management tools assist companies to deploy infrastructure effectively, look up user details rapidly, track network health, debug problems, protect against and respond to threats, and optimize responsiveness. Network management systems can spot inefficient or improper uses of network resources such as streaming media or peer-to-peer file sharing that can waste bandwidth, reduce worker productivity or enable data leaks. A well planned network management environment can also help organizations to make informed network enhancement moves by surfacing trends in resource demand for different times or activities.

Cisco has developed a rich and expanding catalog of network management platforms that support centralized management for local, cloud-based, or hybrid network models. With Cisco's newer security, switching, and wireless networking products, you can run Meraki, DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network monitoring and management. For instance, you can interface newer Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki Wi-Fi access points to the Meraki dashboard to manage vital components of your network infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Cisco Catalyst Wi-Fi access point consultants, Cisco Meraki Wi-Fi AP experts, Catalyst switches consultants, and Meraki switches consulting experts can help your organization to design, deploy and optimize an up-to-date solution for network infrastructure management.

Traditional Network Management Tools from Cisco and Others
An abundance of network management products from Cisco and other vendors highlights the importance and difficulty of network management. Progent's seasoned network management engineers are expert at assisting companies design management strategies based on SNMP, SYSLOG services, and NetFlow protocols to create powerful tools for tracking network bandwidth usage and network latency, viewing important router and switch operational metrics, and identifying traffic patterns, applications, and devices utilizing network resources.

Progent can help businesses to utilize a broad range of open source and license-based monitoring and management solutions to manage a Cisco-powered environment. Tools familiar to Progent's consultants include MRTG, Cacti, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), Cisco Monitor Manager, Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow, Big Brother, Solarwinds Orion, and Necordia NetMRI.

Network management tools can enable organizations to be aware of current network usage and effectively plan for future traffic expansion. Network management tools can also be deployed to detect inefficient or improper uses of network services, such as streaming video, peer-to-peer file sharing, etc. that can waste valuable and scarce network bandwidth. A well crafted network management strategy can also assist businesses to arrive at intelligent decisions on system upgrades once they understand how much system resources actually needed at specific times.

Putting an effective network management system in place ahead of time is essential to avoid major problems that can result from Denial Of Service attacks and malicious viruses. Such assaults can leave the network unusable and without proper tools it can be time consuming, if not virtually impossible, to identify the location of the problem.

Network Management Products from Cisco
Cisco provides an array of powerful tools that should be the basis for any network management strategy. Utilized in combination with the top outside vendor tools, Cisco's network management software can enhance the competitive value of network infrastructures for organizations of all sizes by addressing key areas such as resource utilization, performance, resilience, security, troubleshooting, and scalability. Cisco's most familiar network management products include:

Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) is a web utility that lets you configure and monitor the software on security appliances. Cisco ASDM is loaded by the Cisco appliance, and allows you to configure, track, and control the unit.

Cisco Monitor Manager is a comprehensive management solution intended to address the requirements of small and midsize businesses (SMBs). Cisco Monitor Manager continuously checks key appliance parameters on voice/data environments serving five to 250 users and equipped with as many as 250 VoIP phones. Cisco Monitor Manager offers:

• Real-time monitoring of important appliance parameters on SMB-class routers and switches, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express, Cisco Unity Express, security devices, access points, and Cisco Unified IP Phones
• Compatibility with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 communications appliance for companies with as many as 50 workers

• Network discovery and topology
• Device and service level views of Unified Communications deployment
• Networkwide device identification logging and documentation
• Highly secure and reliable communication
• Device performance tracking
• IP Telephony monitoring
• Connection status and traffic monitoring
• Real-time alarms and notifications
• Documentation
• Setup log

Network Assistant is a desktop-hosted management application optimized for LANs and WLANS for growing companies with as many as 40 Cisco switches and routers. By using Smartports, the application streamlines configuration, installation, and continuing administration and maintenance of Cisco-powered environments. Network Assistant provides a centralized system view and allows IT managers to deploy its functions among switches, routers, and access points.

Security Manager is a feature-rich but simple to operate application for managing all aspects of appliance set up and policies for Cisco firewalls, VPNs, and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). Security Manager efficiently handles even small networks consisting of fewer than ten appliances, but also scales to control enterprise networks with thousands of Cisco routers, security appliances, and switch services modules. Expansion is achieved through intelligent policy-based management techniques that can simplify administration. Highlights of Security Manager are:

• Supports provisioning for Cisco router platforms configured with a Cisco IOS security image, Cisco ASA 5500 family firewalls, Cisco PIX security appliances, IPS 4200 sensors, and Catalyst 6500 family security services modules
• Respond faster. more rapidly to attacks: specify and assign new security policies to thousands of appliances in a few simple steps
• Rich graphical user interface offers superior ease-of-use
• A variety of looks that provide versatile methods to manage devices and policies including the capability to administer the security network visually on a system topology image
• Extensive video help for the novice user to speed up training time
• Globally specify which policies are common and inherited by new appliances to ensure corporate policies are configured consistently, while offering optional versatility to customize policies at the local appliance level
• Ability to build a common firewall rule table for all Cisco firewalls with intelligent evaluation of firewall policies to detect anomalies in the rule base
• Easily configure location-to-location, 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 connection control to appliances and administration services
• Operation with security MARS to correlate monitored data against corresponding firewall rules to enable faster management decisions and enhanced network availability
• Capability to allocate particular tasks to each manager in the course of the deployment of a policy, with structured change control and logging; permits the security and network operations staff to act in sync as a single unit with efficient teamwork

Progent can also assist you to utilize network management utilities to analyze and categorize system data to enable traffic shaping, which allows you to set up routers to enforce a variety of throughput constraints on certain classes of activity according to the importance you specify. By buffering and queuing excess packets that exceed your committed volume, and by giving priority to the most important processes, traffic shaping can prevent service provider excess usage charges from spinning out of reach and/or avoid gaps in productivity resulting from brute force enforcement of your network traffic volume restrictions during peak use.

Progent's CISM and CISSP security specialists can assist you to create a comprehensive security strategy that incorporates your network management solution, and Progent's remote and on-premises support experts and Cisco CCIE-certified engineers can use advanced network management technology to isolate and repair trouble rapidly to keep your network running smoothly.

For additional information concerning Progent's professional assistance for Cisco technology, pick a subject:

• Introduction to Cisco Expertise
• Fast and Affordable Online Help from a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Engineer
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Series Firewalls: Integration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Firewalls with Firepower: Integration and Management Support
• ASA 5500 Firewalls Engineering Services
• PIX Series Firewall Engineering Services
• Cisco Routers Consulting Support
• Cisco Wireless Consulting Services
• Aironet Access Points Design Help
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless APs System Design Support
• Catalyst 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6/6E Wireless APs Planning, Configuration and Debugging Consulting
• Cisco Wireless Controllers Consulting
• Meraki Wireless Access Points Deployment Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Configuration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Voice over IP (VoIP) Phones and IP Video Phones Expertise and Cisco Wireless VoIP Phone Solutions
• Cisco Jabber and Management Expertise
• Catalyst Switches Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Nexus Switches Support and Troubleshooting Services
• Meraki MS Switches Deployment Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Security Engineering Support
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and CUBE Integration Consulting
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication Services for an At-Home Workforce
• Design Expertise for Cisco-based Data Centers
• Data Center Design Expertise for Service Providers