Windows Server 2008: A WAN Op Strategy
July 30, 2010 11:00 AM
Bluecoat, Citrix, F5, Riverbed and other similar vendors all offer highly functional and well performing WAN Optimization appliances. Unfortunately, those high-end solutions can be either overkill or over budget for some organizations. So, instead of buying the whole pizza, why not try a slice first?
Get Ready For The Impact Of 2048-bit RSA Keys
July 22, 2010 09:00 AM
If you've had to renew an SSL certificate for any of your critical infrastructure delivery devices recently, then you probably took notice of the need to generate and deliver at least a 2048-bit CSR to your Certificate Authority of choice. While this new standard may have little impact on you, for others the impact may be huge.
SMB Storage Replication: Acceleration VS More Bandwidth
June 24, 2010 08:00 AM
With the cost of secondary storage and bandwidth plummeting, does it really make sense to invest in expensive acceleration solutions to service your storage replication needs? Faced with tight capital budgets, small organizations in particular should consider a "backward thinking" approach. Today, you can get 5TB of Amazon S3 storage for $150/month, and for another $100, you can get a nice fat business class internet pipe to ship your storage there. Compare that annual operational cost with the capital cost of 5TB of on-site storage and WAN acceleration, and you have a tough cost vs. benefit decision to make.
Ready For Open Source WAN Acceleration?
June 14, 2010 13:35 PM
Open-source products have always had a place in enterprise IT. Administrators and engineers usually have some open source tools around, whether on production systems, in a test and dev lab, or in an skunk works playground where folks can knock around ideas and try new things. Consider how open-source alternatives have reshaped the Network Management System (NMS) space. Not so long ago, if you wanted to get a taste of a truly robust enterprise monitoring solution, you had to drop serious cash on the table--even if you only wanted a few of the features that the big names included in their packages. These days, IT pros have robust options from Nagios to Zenoss and others that provide key capabilities without the costs of commercial software.
Embracing Virtual WAN Acceleration
May 28, 2010 11:47 AM
Almost every major WAN Acceleration vendor has jumped in on the virtual appliance bandwagon. The question is, are you ready to give up that shiny new appliance with your vendor's logo and replace it with just another boring server you have kicking around your data center? Let's face it, when you buy a Citrix NetScaler or a Bluecoat Proxy SG for WAN Optimization, you're really making an investment in a software solution.
Metering Social Networking Sites At The Gateway
March 29, 2010 17:21 PM
Most managers have no problem with a little internet frivolity during business hours. A personal E-mail here and a Facebook posting there can't possibly interfere with productivity on any measurable scale, right? Then there's "that guy." You know him, the guy who is on Facebook all day long. The guy who's connected with everyone on LinkedIn. The guy who tweets every detail of his day to the world. In other words, the guy who ruins everything for the rest of us.
Default Passwords Can Kill You
March 01, 2010 08:00 AM
It's been widely reported that Czech security experts recently uncovered a large botnet that exploited the weak and default passwords of many broadband routers and DSL/Cable modems. The impact? DNS redirects to malware sites, DDoS attacks and data leakage for many unsuspecting broadband users. Don't let this happen to externally-facing gear in your datacenter. There are a couple of easy and free ways to pen test your network.
WAN Link Aggregation
February 16, 2010 09:00 AM
Is the high cost of bandwidth from Tier-1 providers crushing your operating budget? Fight back with some value engineering in the form of WAN Link Aggregation. It wasn't that long ago that I was shopping for a 10Mbit internet pipe for a small company in a well wired urban center. I had a budget that I thought was relatively fair in order to acquire the bandwidth I needed. Boy, was I wrong. I got a few budget busting quotes back that were simply not going to fly.
E-Mail Encryption Goes Mainstream
February 04, 2010 10:00 AM
Fess up, have you ever emailed your credit card number or Social Security number to a friend, family member, or even to a third party? I have, and yes, I was a bonehead for doing it. In the business world, you need to make sure your employees aren't doing it either. Why should you care? New state mandated data privacy regulations are changing the rules of the game when it comes to emailing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in cyberspace. Simply stated, it's bad business, and it's becoming increasingly illegal.
Will Desktop Virtualization Break-Out In 2010?
January 04, 2010 08:30 AM
We've been covering Desktop Virtualization ad nauseam at Network Computing and for good reason. As a technology, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) has the potential to change the way we deliver an operating environment to our users. Unfortunately, broad acceptance of VDI has been hampered by vendors' inability to stream graphically intensive apps over remote viewing protocols like RDP, ICA, and others. If the lofty promises of the leaders in the virtual desktop computing space hold true, 2010 might be a breakout year for VDI.
Extreme Catching Up On Enterprise WiFi
December 13, 2009 08:12 AM
The switching business is tough, and Extreme Networks has faced its share of hard times recently. With the departure of CEO Mark Canepa in late October and with the announcement of a sizable layoff, it would be easy to assume that Extreme Networks has lost momentum against the big players like Cisco and Juniper, but Extreme is far from down and out. Read on to hear about some interesting news with respect to Extreme's enterprise WiFi strategy.
Backup Adminstrators' Best Practices
December 01, 2009 12:53 PM
A peer of mine at another organization is stuck in a time warp. Every day at 5PM he must shuffle tapes back and forth, deal with long back-up windows and deal with restore issues due to the complexity of his environment. If you're not adapting your backup strategy to the times, you're putting your organization at risk.
Has Your Storage Provider Lost Your Backup Tapes Yet?
June 06, 2008 19:23 PM
Is there anything more infuriating than your off-site storage provider losing your backup tapes? Isn't that their primary function?!?
Would You Use Ad-Sponsored Software In Your Environment?
May 28, 2008 21:26 PM
Are you OK with banner ads flashing across one of your enterprise apps in exchange for a purchase price of $0?
Lockheed Breaks WPA-Encrypted Wireless Network With 8 Clustered Sony PlayStations
May 21, 2008 14:30 PM
The blogosphere has reported recently that Jason Crawford of Lockheed Martin's Wireless Security Lab has managed to crack a WPA-encrypted network with a bunch of Sony PlayStations. Hopefully he didn't break them in the process. So what's the purpose? Read...
Wanna Hear A Bad Idea? Wireless USB Thumb Drives.
May 16, 2008 17:27 PM
Word on the street is that a company called Touch360, a self-described company of "explorers, innovators, creatives, and researchers with a yen for adventure," has apparently developed a wireless USB thumb drive. Data thieves everywhere, rejoice, because soon your victims...
Does Your Organization Use Aggressive E-Mail Keyword Filtering Technology?
May 12, 2008 23:57 PM
Jeff Vance of Network World put out a great piece a few months back on how a data leak prevention tool running at George Washington University Hospital averted what could have been a major security risk to Vice President Dick...
Data Loss Prevention Systems Help Battle Against Insider Threats
May 08, 2008 18:57 PM
If you're responsible for the security of your network and its data, you might want to shift your focus away from looking at your network from the outside in, and look at it from the inside out. From a threat...
USB Thumb Drives Are A Convenience, But Also A Major Threat
May 01, 2008 23:53 PM
If you're like me, then you have a drawer full of USB thumb drives that you've collected from vendors over the years. Whenever I'm in a rush, I pop one out, copy some data to it, and transport it to...
PayPal Takes The Fight To The Enemy
April 21, 2008 14:04 PM
In an effort to fight back against a massive amount of phishing attacks against PayPal, the e-commerce company recently announced that it will soon force customers who want to use its service to upgrade to browsers that have the latest...
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