Cisco Expert Network Consulting and Support

A wealth of network management tools from Cisco and other suppliers highlights the importance and difficulty of maintaining networks. Progent's seasoned network management engineers are expert at helping businesses design network management solutions utilizing on Simple Network Management Protocol, Syslog, and Cisco NetFlow to build powerful mechanisms for tracking network utilization and latency, viewing important router and switch performance characteristics, and recognizing traffic patterns, processes, and appliances utilizing available services.

Progent can assist customers to utilize a rich range of open source and license-based monitoring and management utilities to maintain a Cisco-powered environment. Utilities familiar to Progent's engineers include MRTG, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Cisco ASDM, Cisco Monitor Manager, Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Concord E-Health, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow, Big Brother, and Necordia NetMRI.

Network management platforms can help organizations to understand existing system utilization and effectively prepare for future capacity expansion. Network management tools can also be deployed to identify poor or inappropriate utilization of system services, such as streaming multimedia, peer-to-peer file exchange, etc. that can eat up expensive and scarce network resources. A well crafted network management plan can also enable organizations to make intelligent choices on WAN and LAN improvements once they appreciate the amount of system resources actually needed at various times.

Putting an effective network management solution in operation ahead of time is essential to prevent severe disruptions that can be caused by DoS attacks and dangerous viruses. Such assaults can render the network unusable and in the absence of appropriate tools it can be difficult, and in some cases practically impossible, to find the location of the problem.

Network Management Products from Cisco
Cisco has created an assortment of effective tools that should form the foundation for any management strategy. Used in combination with appropriate outside vendor products, Cisco's network management offerings can improve the competitive value of networks for organizations of any size by helping with important areas such as resource utilization, throughput, availability, security, troubleshooting, and capacity planning. Cisco's top network management products include:

Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) is a web Java applet that lets you set up and monitor the management utilities on security devices. Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager is installed by the adaptive security device, and enables you to configure, track, and manage the unit.

Monitor Manager is a management application developed to address the requirements of small and medium-sized businesses. Monitor Manager continuously monitors important appliance parameters on voice and data environments serving five to 250 users and equipped with up to 250 VoIP phones. Monitor Manager offers:

• Up-to-date monitoring of important appliance parameters on SMB-class network appliances, Unified Communications Manager Express, Cisco Unity Express, security appliances, access points, and VoIP phones
• Support for the Cisco Unified Communications 500 communications appliance for companies with up to 50 users

• Voice and data network discovery and topology
• Device and service level looks at Cisco Unified Communications implementation
• System wide device identification logging and reporting
• Highly secure and reliable operation
• Appliance performance tracking
• Cisco Unified IP Telephony tracking
• Connection status and traffic tracking
• Immediate alarms and notices
• Reports
• Configuration log

Network Assistant is a desktop-based network management tool designed for for wired and wireless LANs (WLANs) for expanding businesses with as many as 40 switches and routers. By using Cisco's Smartports technology, Network Assistant simplifies configuration, installation, and continuing management and support of Cisco-powered environments. It provides a unified system view and allows IT managers to employ its features among switches, routers, and access points.

Security Manager is a feature-rich but simple to operate solution for managing all aspects of appliance set up and security policies for Cisco PIX and ASA security appliances, virtual private networks (VPNs), and Intrusion Prevention Systems. Cisco Security Manager efficiently manages even small networks consisting of fewer than ten appliances, but also expands to control large-scale networks composed of thousands of Cisco routers, security appliances, and switch services modules. Scalability is enabled through smart policy-based control procedures that can streamline administration. Key features of Security Manager are:

• Allows provisioning for Cisco router platforms configured with an IOS security image, Cisco ASA 5500 adaptive security appliances, PIX security appliances, IPS 4200 inline security appliances, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series security modules
• Respond faster. more rapidly to attacks: define and apply updated policies to thousands of devices in a few simple steps
• Intuitive graphical user interface offers exceptional ease-of-use
• Multiple views that provide versatile methods to control devices and security policies including the ability to administer the security network graphically on a system topology image
• Extensive animated training for the novice user to reduce learning period
• Globally specify which policies are common and automatically inherited by new appliances to make sure corporate policies are configured regularly, at the same time offering sufficient versatility to customize policies at the individual device level
• Capability to create a single rule table for all Cisco platforms with intelligent evaluation of firewall policies to detect conflicts in the rule base
• Easily configure location-to-location, hub-spoke, full mesh, or extranet Virtual Private Network links with a VPN wizard
• Compatibility with Cisco ACS for granular role based access management to appliances and administration functions
• Operation with security MARS to associate events against corresponding firewall rules to help with faster management decisions and enhanced system availability
• Ability to allocate particular jobs to each administrator during the implementation of a policy, with formal change control and logging; permits the security and systems operations staff to work in sync as a single group with efficient coordination

Progent can also show you how to utilize network management applications to monitor and categorize network data to implement traffic shaping, which allows you to program routers to impose a variety of throughput constraints on certain types of activity according to the importance you specify. By buffering and queuing data packets above your contracted volume, and by giving priority to business-critical processes, traffic shaping can keep service provider overage charges from spiraling out of reach and/or avoid gaps in worker productivity resulting from brute force enforcement of your network bandwidth limits during periods of heavy demand.

Progent's CISA and ISSAP security specialists can show you how to create an end-to-end security plan that encompasses your network management solution, and Progent's remote and in person network specialists and Cisco CCIE and CNA qualified consultants can use advanced network monitoring and analysis tools to isolate and repair trouble quickly to keep your network productive.

To see additional details concerning Progent's engineering help for Cisco products, pick a topic:

• Overview of Progent's Cisco Network Support
• Fast and Affordable Online Support from a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Network Engineer
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Series Firewalls: Configuration and Management Services
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Firewall with Cisco Firepower Services: Integration and Management Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall Integration Assistance
• PIX 500 Firewall Upgrade. Migration Assistance
• Cisco Routers Consulting Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Network Design Services
• Cisco Aironet Access Points Engineering Help
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless Access Points System Design Expertise
• Cisco Catalyst 802.11ax APs Solution Design, Deployment and Debugging Services
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Consultants
• Meraki Access Points Engineering Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Consulting and Troubleshooting
• Cisco VoIP Phones and IP Video Phones Expertise and Cisco Wireless VoIP Phone Integration
• Cisco Jabber and Management Services
• Catalyst Switches Consulting and Support Services
• Nexus Switches Configuration and Maintenance Expertise
• Meraki Switches Deployment Services
• Cisco VPN and Security Engineering Help
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and Cisco CUBE Integration Consulting
• Design Expertise for Cisco-powered Datacenters
• Infrastructure Design Expertise for Internet Service Providers