Cisco Certified Network Consultants

Network management tools assist organizations to implement network infrastructure efficiently, look up user details rapidly, monitor network health, troubleshoot problems, protect against and respond to cyber attacks, and maximize performance. Network management tools can spot inefficient or improper uses of network resources like streaming multimedia or peer-to-peer file sharing that can burn up bandwidth, reduce worker productivity or enable data leakage. A well planned network management solution can also assist companies to make smart capacity planning moves by showing trends in resource usage for various times or activities.

Cisco offers a rich and expanding catalog of network management platforms that allow unified management for local, cloud-based, or hybrid network architectures. With Cisco's newer security, switching, and Wi-Fi infrastructure products, you can run Meraki, Cisco DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network management. For example, you can interface the latest Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki WiFi 6/6E access points to the Meraki dashboard to monitor and manage critical components of your network infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Catalyst WiFi access point consulting experts, Meraki Wi-Fi access point consultants, Catalyst switches experts, and Meraki switches consulting experts can help you to plan, implement and tune an up-to-date environment for network monitoring and management.

Traditional Network Management Platforms from Cisco and Others
An abundance of network management products from Cisco and third-party suppliers underscores the importance and difficulty of maintaining networks. Progent's Cisco-certified network management engineers are experienced at assisting businesses design management strategies utilizing on Simple Network Management Protocol, Syslog, and Cisco NetFlow to build effective mechanisms for tracking network utilization and network latency, viewing important router and switch operational characteristics, and recognizing traffic profiles, applications, and appliances that use available resources.

Progent can help customers to utilize a rich selection of open source and license-based monitoring and management products to maintain a Cisco-powered environment. Utilities used by Progent's engineers include MRTG, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), Cisco Monitor Manager, Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Concord E-Health, Adventnet Netflow and Firewall Analyzer, Solarwinds Orion, and Necordia NetMRI.

Network management tools can allow organizations to be aware of current system usage and effectively prepare for future capacity increases. Management tools can also be deployed to highlight poor or improper uses of system resources, such as streaming multimedia, peer-to-peer sharing, etc. that can use up valuable and limited network resources. An efficiently crafted network management solution can also aid organizations to arrive at informed decisions on wide and local area network improvements once they understand the amount of system bandwidth actually needed at specific times.

Having an efficient network management platform in operation ahead of time is vital to prevent major disruptions that can be caused by Denial Of Service attacks and malicious viruses. Such assaults can leave the network unusable and in the absence of appropriate utilities it can be difficult, and in some cases practically impossible, to find the source of the trouble.

Network Management Solutions from Cisco
Cisco offers an array of powerful tools that should be the foundation for any network management strategy. Utilized in combination with appropriate third-party applications, Cisco's network management software can improve the business value of network infrastructures for organizations of all sizes by dealing with important areas such as system utilization, performance, availability, protection, troubleshooting, and scalability. Cisco's most popular network management products include:

Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) is a web utility that allows you to configure and monitor the management utilities built into security devices. Cisco ASDM is loaded by the Cisco device, and allows you to set up, monitor, and control the device.

Monitor Manager is a comprehensive management application developed to meet the needs of small and medium-sized organizations. Cisco Monitor Manager continuously monitors important device parameters on voice/data environments used by 5 to 250 workers and with as many as 250 Cisco Unified IP phones. Cisco Monitor Manager offers:

• Up-to-date tracking of important appliance processes on small and midsize business-class network appliances, Cisco Communications Manager Express, Unity Express, security appliances, access points, and VoIP phones
• Support for the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series communications appliance for businesses with as many as 50 users

• Network discovery and physical topology
• Device and process looks at Cisco Unified Communications deployment
• Networkwide device identification logging and documentation
• Highly secure and dependable communication
• Device operations monitoring
• VoIP Telephony tracking
• Interface status and traffic monitoring
• Real-time alarms and event notification
• Reports
• Configuration archive

Network Assistant is a PC-hosted management tool designed for for LANs and WLANS for growing companies that have as many as 40 Cisco switches and routers. By using Smartports, Network Assistant streamlines configuration, deployment, and ongoing management and support of Cisco networks. The application provides a unified system view and permits network managers to deploy its features across Cisco switches, routers, and WAPs.

Cisco Security Manager is a powerful but simple to operate solution for managing all facets of appliance configuration and policies for firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs), and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). Cisco Security Manager effectively manages even small environments with fewer than ten devices, but also scales to manage large-scale systems with thousands of routers, switches, and firewalls. Expansion is enabled through intelligent policy-driven management techniques that can simplify administration. Highlights of Cisco Security Manager are:

• Allows control of Cisco routers configured with an IOS security image, ASA 5500 firewalls, Cisco PIX security appliances, Cisco IPS 4200 inline security appliances, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series security modules
• Respond faster. more rapidly to attacks: define and apply new security policies to thousands of appliances in a few simple steps
• Intuitive graphical user interface offers exceptional ease-of-use
• Multiple views that provide flexible ways to control devices and security policies such as the option to manage the security network visually on a topology map
• Extensive animated training for the new user to speed up learning period
• Centrally call out which policies are shared and inherited by new appliances to make sure corporate policies are implemented regularly, while offering sufficient flexibility to customize policies at the local appliance level
• Ability to create a single firewall rule table for all Cisco firewalls with intelligent evaluation of firewall policies to detect conflicts in the rule base
• Quickly set up site-to-site, hub-and-spoke, full mesh, or extranet VPN interfaces by means of a VPN wizard
• Integration with Cisco ACS for granular role based connection management to appliances and administration services
• Integration with Cisco security MARS to associate events with related firewall rules to enable quicker decision making and enhanced network availability
• Ability to allocate particular jobs to every manager in the course of the implementation of a rule, with formal change control and logging; permits the security and network operations team to act together as a cohesive group with efficient teamwork

Progent can also help you to utilize network management applications to monitor and categorize network data to enable traffic shaping, which allows you to configure routers to impose different bandwidth restrictions on certain classes of processes according to the importance you specify. By storing and sorting data packets above your committed rates, and by giving preference to business-critical applications, traffic shaping can keep Internet Service Provider overage penalties from spinning out of reach and/or eliminate lost worker productivity caused by indiscriminate policing of your network bandwidth limits during peak demand.

Progent's CISA and ISSAP security specialists can show you how to create an end-to-end security strategy that encompasses your network management solution, and Progent's remote and in person network specialists and Cisco CCIE and CNA qualified engineers can utilize the latest network management tools to isolate and repair problems quickly to keep your network running smoothly.

For more information concerning Progent's professional assistance for Cisco technology, choose a subject:

• Overview of Cisco Consulting Services
• Fast Online Access to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Engineer
• Cisco Firepower Series Firewalls: Configuration and Management Services
• ASA 5500-X Firewall with Cisco Firepower Services: Consulting and Troubleshooting Support
• Cisco ASA 5500 Series Firewall Integration Support
• Cisco PIX Firewall Management Services
• Cisco Routers Configuration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Consulting Services
• Aironet Wireless Access Points Design Expertise
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 WiFi APs System Design Services
• Catalyst 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6/6E Access Points Solution Design, Configuration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Controllers Consultants
• Cisco Meraki APs Consulting Help
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager Consulting and Technical Support
• Cisco Voice over IP Phones and IP Video Desktop Phones Consulting and Cisco Wireless VoIP Phone Solutions
• Cisco Jabber Migration and Support Services
• Cisco Catalyst Switches Consulting and Support Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Deployment Services
• Cisco Meraki Switches Support and Troubleshooting Services
• Cisco Security and VPN Engineering Services
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP Trunks and Cisco CUBE Integration Expertise
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication Services for At-Home Workers
• Infrastructure Design for Cisco-based Datacenters and Colocation Centers
• Data Center Design Expertise for ISPs