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How to choose the right Cisco switches for your LAN

It seems like one of the major tasks that I have been doing on a daily basis for the last ten years is creating network designs for people. Since a large part of the business that my company does is put in place a complete IP phone system into organizations that have between 50 and 3000 users, me and the other design guys create a lot of designs.

Most organizations do not upgrade their LAN to prepare for the future – most of them don’t touch the network as long as it is running properly and supporting the user’s applications. When starting the planning process for putting a secure voice system on the network, that takes the network requirements to another level.

There is a lot more to consider than QoS for putting voice on the LAN, although that is what the discussion is usually centered around. The LAN also has to have a number of other attributes:

Secure – with voice on the LAN, the switches must have security features that can prevent them from getting attacked with MAC address floods, rogue DHCP servers, gratuitous ARP’s changing the default gateway, and other attacks that can be launched by malware.

Fast – If voice goes through multiple switches, each hop can add latency. Instead of store and forward of the ethernet frames, switches should use cut-through to move things along. Server and uplink speeds should be gigabit, while for most organizations 10/100 Mbsp to the desktop is just fine.

QoS – As discussed above. This comes into play mostly in uplinks. When remote access layer closets are connected back to the distribution layer, there is a choke point in the LAN. Any choke points require queuing to prioritize the voice.

Reliable – Long Mean Time Between Failure, well tested code to limit bugs, good support from the manufacturer in case there is a software or hardware issue.

Managable – The switches have to be able to be managed remotely, have SNMP information, be able to log, and be configurable. GUI interfaces are ok, but there is nothing like a solid command line interface for rapid configuration, troubleshooting, and repair.

Power Density– Switches have to be able to support the power density of the planned devices. Most switches can not power all ports at the highest levels.

Power and Cooling – Since IP phones are powered from the switches, all access layer switches will require properly sized UPS’s. A basic switch consumes about 60 Watts. A 48 port switch with 15 Watt phones plugged into every port will require at least 600 Watts. Put a few of those switches in the closet an you are looking at not only a much bigger UPS, but also better cooling.

Redundant Design – The only place that there should be a single point of failure is at the access layer in the closets. If a switch fails, only the devices connected to that switch should lose connectivity – all others should work around the issue. In most cases that means dual uplinks from each closet to a redundant distribution layer at the core.

Why Choose Cisco Network Equipment

Today’s businesses require a network platform that enables technology innovation and business-critical services across the entire network. Cisco stands alone in its ability to provide an end-to-end network platform tied together by a common infrastructure and a common operating system, and manageable as a single, cohesive entity.

Only Cisco can provide the platform for campus, branch, data center, and wide-area networks that are highly available while integrating security at all levels of the network, helping to ensure the optimized delivery of application and communications, and providing inherent manageability. This platform includes:

Reliability: Cisco Systems has earned it’s solid reputation by producing network equipment that “shows up for work everyday”, but there is more than just uptime making Cisco the premier network gear provider worldwide. Advanced features like remote management, Quality of Service and Voice Over IP support make it the ONLY solution, like Swift Systems, that you can grow into but not out of.

Interoperability: Cisco provides legendary interoperability, providing real assurance that your investment in Cisco gear is ready for whatever tomorrow brings.

Scalability: Cisco solutions easily scale from Small Business Start-ups that want reliable managed workgroup switches to Enterprise-class Corporations that demand flawless uptime, need secure wireless networks, managed layer 2 and 3 switches, dependable routing, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and the software to manage it all.

Manageability: Managed switches provide remarkably better uptime as a result of enhanced diagnostics, allowing trained engineers to isolate network problems in a fraction of the time required with old-fashioned hunt and pluck troubleshooting. Router management features allow sophisticated configuration, utilization tracking, and diagnostics. Advanced features, like BGP enable non-stop Internet connectivity, and really separate Cisco from the pack.

why Used Cisco Security Systems

Used Cisco security systems can help companies maintain their network’s security, without having to spend more on the cost of brand new equipment. Companies today invest a great deal of money in strengthening their network infrastructure. They place great importance on securing their data against any outside attack, while making their management system and processes more efficient with the use of technology that can address their company’s unique needs.

The amount of attention a company gives to their IT infrastructure can affect the way their proprietary or mission-critical data is kept safe. However, as most IT managers can attest, keeping the operational costs down while effectively securing their proprietary data can be a tough balancing act. Implementing a powerful security system for data is, after all, a very costly investment.

This is where used Cisco security systems come in. With secondary market Cisco equipment, you can guarantee that your company will receive the best network and data security features it needs at a much lower cost compared to brand systems. For many years, Cisco has maintained its position as the leading provider of networking products and services.

And why choose used Cisco equipment? Cisco Systems manufactures high quality and durable networking equipment. Because of this, many small and medium-sized businesses rely on secondary market networking hardware to enhance their existing IT infrastructure.

The Internet is full of resources on used Cisco security systems. With a bit of research, you will find a reliable distributor that offer high-quality refurbished Cisco equipment.

WHY SELECT FORTINET

Many advantages can be obtained by combining several separate point based security systems into one unified security platform. The most popular reasons why customers choose Fortinet over other leading security vendors include the following 10 reasons.

1. Integrated security platform that provides 7 key security components to provide customers the greatest flexibility and protection available in a modern security platform: Stateful Firewall, Antivirus, Intrusion Detection & Prevention, IPSec Virtual Private Network (VPN), Web Content Filtering, Anti-Spam (including Spyware/Grayware), and Bandwidth Shaping. Fortinet’s security solutions are the only security products that are certified in four ICSA Lab categories – Firewall, VPN, IPS, and Antivirus.

2. Fortinet‘s award winning technology is consistent across its entire family of products and provides the same leading edge protection regardless of company size (SoHo to SME to large enterprise to service provider). Smaller customers benefit by taking advantage of enterprise and carrier class security features while larger customers benefit from Fortinet’s experience in designing strong security products that are intuitive, easy to deploy and use. In September 2004, IDC named Fortinet’s technology as the leader in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) security category with 29.5% market share. And in April 2004, Gartner named Fortinet’s technology as Visionary in their Enterprise Firewall Magic Quadrant.

3. FortiGate products lower Security TCO. Eliminating multiple security devices and collapsing them into one security choke-point decreases the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operating Expenditure (OPEX) costs. Implementing single purpose point security products is not only more expensive than Fortinet’s FortiGate security platforms, but it also lacks the Dynamic Threat Prevention System capabilities of Fortinet’s combined technologies – which greatly increases the detection rate of modern stealth and blended threats. With Fortinet’s simple “per box” licensing, ongoing maintenance, support, and product update costs are greatly reduced over competing products that are licensed on a “per user” basis.

How to Network Your Home Computers

How many computers do you have at home? How many of those are in use? Do you have a number of computer users as well? One in the study, couple in the kid’s room, one for the kitchen, if you have more than two computers and computer users in your home then you may try networking all the computers.

What are the benefits of home networking?

• If connected to a network, files can be sent back and forth by each computer.

• You can play music and video files from another computer.

• You can access the printer and the scanner that is connected to one computer from any other computer that is within the network.

• You can avail of the best features of the computer with highest configuration.

• If one computer in the network serves as a server, then you can store important files as back up in the server.

• You can share one Internet account to reap its benefits from different computers at the same time.

• Imagine playing Age of Empires or racing cars with real opponents at different computers in the house!

Yes, networking allows you to have multi-player games.

So how do you get home networking?

Networking can be done by using a wireless networking connection or by an Ethernet cable. All you need for Ethernet networking are:

– Number of networking cables
– Networking cards
– A router

Once you have these, follow the following steps.

– Select the computers that you want to be in the network
– Install a networking card in each
– Connect a cable to each which will in turn be connected to the router
– The router will then be connected to the server
– The router will then be connected to the modem machine in order to enable internet access to all the machines
– Once the hardware connections are in place, set up internet in each computer by configuring the Local Area Network (LAN) settings
– Finally use the router manual to access the password and set up internet connection on each computer through the router

So what are the precautions that you need to take while connecting your home computers in a network?

First and foremost you need to realize that whatever data you have in each computer will be accessible by everybody.

So start by defining the rights to each drive and folder of your respective computers. Since people other than family members who sit on someone’s computer can also access the information in other computers, ideally only ‘read’ right should be given to folders and drives with sensitive information, so that someone else cannot copy, edit or delete such information.

You can even deny ‘read’ rights to folders if need be. Since you are connecting to the internet through your network, you must install a firewall for maximum security. Install anti-virus software on each computer.

Connecting home computers in a network is a good idea, helps in staying connected and also make full utilization of the facilities available in each computer. With a little bit of precaution, networking can only be fun!

by Greg Hall