Cisco Certified Expert Network Consultants

A wealth of network management products from Cisco and other suppliers underscores the value and difficulty of supporting IT infrastructure. Progent's Cisco qualified network management consultants are expert at helping companies develop management strategies utilizing on SNMP, Syslog, and Cisco NetFlow to build effective mechanisms for understanding network utilization and network latency, viewing key router and switch performance characteristics, and recognizing traffic profiles, applications, and devices utilizing network services.

Progent can assist businesses to utilize a broad range of free and proprietary monitoring and management tools to maintain Cisco infrastructure. Utilities familiar to Progent's engineers include MRTG, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), Cisco Monitor Manager, Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Wireshark/Ethereal, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow and Firewall Analyzer, Big Brother, Solarwinds Orion, and Necordia NetMRI.

Network management tools can help organizations to understand current network utilization and intelligently plan for future capacity increases. Network management tools can also be used to highlight poor or inappropriate utilization of network services, for example streaming multimedia, peer-to-peer sharing, etc. that can use up expensive and scarce network resources. An efficiently planned network management plan can also aid organizations to arrive at informed choices on system improvements once they appreciate how much system resources historically required at any one time.

Putting an effective network management system in operation beforehand is vital to prevent severe disruptions that can be caused by Denial Of Service (DoS) attacks and malicious viruses/Trojans. These assaults can render the network unusable and without appropriate utilities it can be difficult, and in some cases practically impossible, to identify the source of the trouble.

Network Management Products from Cisco
Cisco has developed an array of powerful utilities that should be the foundation for any management solution. Used in combination with the top third-party applications, Cisco's network management offerings can improve the business 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 most popular network management tools include:

Cisco ASDM is a web Java applet that lets you configure and operate the management utilities built into network appliances. Cisco ASDM is installed by the network appliance, and enables you to configure, track, and control the device.

Cisco Monitor Manager is a management application developed to meet the requirements of small and midsize organizations. Monitor Manager continuously scans key appliance processes on voice/data environments used by 5 to 250 workers and with as many as 250 Voice over IP phones. Cisco Monitor Manager offers:

• Real-time monitoring of key device processes on SMB-class network appliances, Cisco Communications Manager Express, Unity Express, security appliances, WAPs, and IP phones
• Compatibility with the Unified Communications 500 Series for businesses with up to 50 users

• Voice and data network discovery and physical topology
• Physical and process looks at Cisco Unified Communications deployment
• System wide device identification collection and reporting
• Highly secure and dependable operation
• Cisco device performance monitoring
• IP Telephony tracking
• Interface status and traffic monitoring
• Real-time alarms and event notification
• Documentation
• Configuration log

Cisco Network Assistant is a PC-hosted management tool optimized for wired and wireless LANs (WLANs) for expanding businesses that have up to 40 switches and routers. By running Smartports, Cisco Network Assistant streamlines setup, installation, and continuing administration and maintenance of Cisco-based networks. The application provides a centralized network view and permits network administrators to employ its functions among Cisco switches, routers, and access points.

Security Manager is a highly functional but simple to operate application for centrally provisioning all facets of appliance configuration and security policies for PIX and ASA firewalls, VPNs, and Intrusion Prevention Systems. Cisco Security Manager efficiently handles even small environments with fewer than ten appliances, but also scales to control enterprise networks with thousands of devices. Scalability is achieved through smart policy-driven control techniques that can simplify administrative overhead. Key features of Cisco Security Manager include:

• Allows provisioning for Cisco router platforms running an IOS security software image, Cisco ASA 5500 firewalls, PIX security appliances, Cisco IPS 4200 Series sensors, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 family security services modules
• Respond faster. more rapidly to threats: define and assign updated policies to thousands of appliances in a few simple steps
• Rich graphical user interface provides exceptional ease-of-use
• Multiple views that offer versatile methods to control devices and policies such as the ability to administer the security network graphically on a topology map
• Comprehensive video help for the novice operator to accelerate learning period
• Centrally specify which policies are shared and automatically inherited by new appliances to make sure company-wide policies are configured regularly, at the same time offering optional flexibility to modify policies at the local appliance level
• Ability to build a single rule table for all Cisco firewalls with smart evaluation of firewall policies to detect conflicts in the rule base
• Quickly configure location-to-location, hub-spoke, full mesh, or extranet Virtual Private Network interfaces by means of a few mouse clicks
• Compatibility with Cisco ACS for low-level role based connection management to appliances and administration services
• Operation with security MARS system to compare events against corresponding security appliance rules to promote quicker decision making and enhanced network up time
• Ability to assign particular jobs to every manager in the course of the implementation of a policy, with formal change management and logging; allows the security and systems operations team to act together as a cohesive group with efficient teamwork

Progent can also show you how to use network management utilities to monitor and classify network data to enable traffic shaping, which allows you to program Cisco routers to impose different bandwidth restrictions on designated types of processes according to the importance you assign. By buffering and sorting excess packets that exceed your contracted volume, and by assigning priority to business-critical processes, traffic shaping can prevent Internet Service Provider overage charges from spinning out of reach and/or avoid gaps in worker productivity resulting from brute force policing of your network bandwidth restrictions during periods of heavy demand.

Progent's CISM, CISSP, and ISSAP security consultants can show you how to create a comprehensive security plan that encompasses your network management solution, and Progent's remote and on-site network specialists and Cisco CCIE and CNA qualified engineers can use advanced network monitoring and analysis tools to identify and repair trouble quickly to keep your IT system running smoothly.

To find out more details about Progent's consulting help for Cisco networking products, select a topic:

• Introduction to Cisco Network Support
• Timely Online Support from a CCIE Network Engineer
• Cisco Firepower Firewalls: Configuration and Management Support
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Firewall with Cisco Firepower: Consulting and Management Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewalls Integration Support
• Cisco PIX 500 Series Firewall Maintenance Support
• Cisco Routers Consulting Services
• Cisco Wireless Engineering Support
• Aironet Wireless APs Design Support
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless APs Consulting Support
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Consultants
• Cisco Meraki Access Points Design Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager Integration and Technical Support
• Cisco Voice over IP (VoIP) Phones and IP Video Desktop Phones Consulting and Wireless IP Phone Solutions
• Cisco Jabber Consulting and Support Services
• Catalyst Switches Configuration and Maintenance Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Consulting and Support Expertise
• Cisco Meraki MS Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Network Security Integration Help
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP Trunking and Cisco CUBE Integration Consulting
• Design Solutions for Cisco-based Data Centers
• Network Design Consulting for Service Providers