News

Networking and communication

  • December 18, 2006 18 Dec'06

    Cisco WLAN design best practices

    Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology has built-in security features, but a one-size-fits-all approach won't ensure adequate security for your organization. This tip provides best practices for designing your security architecture, including user community...

  • December 18, 2006 18 Dec'06

    WLAN interference and clogged pipes -- happy holidays!

    WLAN interference caused by decorations and slowed traffic due to online shopping are just some of the network woes of the holidays.

  • December 17, 2006 17 Dec'06

    Top 10 VoIP tips of 2006

    Echo and latency issues top the list in 2006, as seen in our top 10 list of most popular tips. If you have missed any of these tips, now is the time to catch up before the end of the year.

  • December 13, 2006 13 Dec'06

    Hosted VoIP eliminates cost, complexity

    Hosted VoIP is being adopted at increasing rates as more and more companies look to avoid the excess costs and complexities of on-premise solutions.

  • December 13, 2006 13 Dec'06

    VoIP management tools: Calculating ROI

    Before purchasing management tools for VoIP, you may need to calculate the return on investment (ROI) to justify the cost of those tools. In this tip, Gary Audin explains how to calculate ROI and provides specific checklists for calculating the ROI ...

  • December 13, 2006 13 Dec'06

    Hosted VoIP eliminates cost, complexity

    Hosted VoIP is being adopted at increasing rates as more and more companies look to avoid the excess costs and complexities of on-premise solutions.

  • December 13, 2006 13 Dec'06

    Swindon is broadband capital

    Swindon is still the broadband capital of Britain, research on coverage has revealed.

  • December 11, 2006 11 Dec'06

    SIP desktop phone blends functionality, style

    VoIP desktop phones are no longer the clunky hunks of plastic that take up space on your desk. Siemens yesterday launched a new family of SIP phones that are as slick as they are functional.

  • December 10, 2006 10 Dec'06

    Hitachi, BlueArc announce OEM partnership

    What had been rumored to be an acquisition has turned out to be an OEM deal, but HDS has also made an investment in BlueArc, indicating an acquisition could be the next step.

  • December 10, 2006 10 Dec'06

    Storage Decisions in the wild, wild west

    Dedupe, iSCSI, backup, virtualisation and cowboys in Stetson hats -- Storage Decisions Las Vegas 2006 had it all.

  • December 07, 2006 07 Dec'06

    Dell, Microsoft tout joint NAS product

    The new NX1950 product is vastly more expensive than its counterparts from HP and NetApp, but it scales higher, supports clusters and has redundant controllers.

  • November 30, 2006 30 Nov'06

    Symantec blames piracy for Veritas licensing snafu

    Weekly compilation of storage news: Symantec says that software counterfeiting is throwing a wrench in tech support ; FRCP rules take effect.

  • November 29, 2006 29 Nov'06

    Video conferencing brings desktop VoIP, app sharing

    Voice, video and Web conferencing vendor Genesys adds desktop VoIP and enhanced application sharing to its collaboration lineup.

  • November 28, 2006 28 Nov'06

    Effective wireless security is available, but holes exist

    Specialist vendors offer products that allow even small businesses to run a secure wireless network without paying a high price, but that doesn't mean companies are using it.

  • November 26, 2006 26 Nov'06

    Static routing for Cisco users [Day Two: The good and bad of static routing]

    What is static routing good for? And what are its shortcomings? Read on to discover how and when to use this technique.

  • November 26, 2006 26 Nov'06

    Managed and hosted VoIP: muddling through

    Managed and Centrex and hosted, oh my! For companies looking for an alternative to a premise-based phone system, there are plenty available, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Get a clearer understanding of exactly what's available so you can ...

  • November 21, 2006 21 Nov'06

    Virtual SAN product specifications

    Product snapshots that highlight key specifications for a cross-section of VSAN platforms selected based on input from industry analysts and SearchStorage.com editors.

  • November 16, 2006 16 Nov'06

    How can a small business achieve high quality VoIP?

    As a small trader, I must be able to communicate with my trading partners who are often in other countries. We use IP telephony to keep costs down. Can you suggest how I can have high quality VoIP calls that will exceed PSTN call quality?

  • November 16, 2006 16 Nov'06

    Why do VoIP calls remain active after the phone call is ended?

    For our small business needs, we use a Linksys PAP for our IP telephony service. Sometimes though, we noticed that the call will remain active after we have ended the call and hung up. How do we configure the ATA or gateway to avoid this problem?

  • November 16, 2006 16 Nov'06

    Why is UDP used more in VoIP than TCP?

    If UDP is unreliable, why is it used more in VoIP rather than TCP?

  • November 16, 2006 16 Nov'06

    What is the difference between VoIP, CTI and IP telephony?

    What is the difference between VoIP, CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) and IP telephony?

  • November 16, 2006 16 Nov'06

    Can VoIP work on a GPRS-enabled mobile phone?

    Is it possible to use VoIP on GPRS-enabled mobile phones?

  • November 16, 2006 16 Nov'06

    When should a VoIP system be analyzed and with what tools?

    We have recently implemented a VoIP network with separate VLANs and QoS. It all seemed to be working fine when it first went in, but recently, certain people have been complaining about sound breakup whilst talking to customers on the phone.

  • November 16, 2006 16 Nov'06

    VoIP news briefs: Verizon Business, TheInfoPro and Ovum

    Verizon Business introduces a new management portal; TheInfoPro looks at the rate of VoIP adoption; and Ovum warns of VoIP security threats.

  • November 15, 2006 15 Nov'06

    How is average repair time determined for both a TDM PBX and a VoIP system?

    I am trying to find some statistics on average time to repair or troubleshoot VoIP and TDM PBX. We heard PBX takes 30 minutes versus VoIP at 4.5 hours -- is this true?

  • November 15, 2006 15 Nov'06

    How can VoIP be integrated into an existing PBX system?

    I am trying to integrate VoIP into my existing PBX system. I have a Talkswitch 48CVA which supports both PSTN and VoIP lines. My main phone number is a landline which forwards calls to my VoIP line when my status is busy or I do not answer.

  • November 14, 2006 14 Nov'06

    SANS: VoIP, zero-day threats surge

    Digital miscreants are using VoIP and a growing pile of zero-day flaws to launch a ferocious wave of targeted, financially-motivated attacks, according to the SANS Institute.

  • November 13, 2006 13 Nov'06

    IM, Skype, P2P open security holes: Survey

    IM, Skype, Web conferencing and other real-time applications are a major concern to IT, but end users seem to shrug off the risks, a new survey has found.

  • November 08, 2006 08 Nov'06

    VoIP security safeguards -- they may be there already

    Protecting your VoIP system may be easier than you think, especially since many of the necessary tools are already there.

  • November 01, 2006 01 Nov'06

    Juniper Networks' enterprise router takes aim at Cisco branches

    Juniper's new branch office J-Series routers provide all-in-one security, VoIP, WAN acceleration box to rival Cisco's ISR router.

  • November 01, 2006 01 Nov'06

    VoIP convergence: Managing staffing issues

    Companies making the transition to IP telephony must find a way to converge their voice and data networks -- and the employees who work on them.

  • November 01, 2006 01 Nov'06

    What is a seamless router?

    In this expert response, Sudhanshu Gupta gives us a quick history lesson in routing when he answers the question "what is meant by the term 'seamless router'?"

  • October 31, 2006 31 Oct'06

    E-vaulting's many faces can confuse IT efforts

    E-vaulting is the process that describes how enterprise IT departments ship backup tapes and replicate data to remote disk arrays and VTLs. E-vaulting is not a new concept, but more recently it has grown to mean remote backups and replication for ...

  • October 31, 2006 31 Oct'06

    Five years until FAN's a hit: Brocade Australia

    File Area Networks (FANs) will take around five years to become a ubiquitous piece of enterprise storage infrastructure, according to Graham Schultz, Brocade's Country Manager for Australia.

  • October 31, 2006 31 Oct'06

    Internode covers Coorong with solar-powered broadband

    Internode has blended super-fast ADSL2+ broadband with solar-powered microwave towers to deliver virtually total broadband coverage across South Australia's largest local government region.

  • October 31, 2006 31 Oct'06

    Net neutrality: All or nothing, or somewhere in between?

    The notion of net neutrality can hinder VoIP QoS guarantees and thus has incited a contentious debate.

  • October 30, 2006 30 Oct'06

    Wireless network security testing

    The abundance of wireless devices is making wireless networks -- both authorised and unauthorised -- more common. Attack your own wireless networks to find vulnerabilities before malicious hackers do. Security testing expert Kevin Beaver covers the ...

  • October 25, 2006 25 Oct'06

    Cisco launches mega videoconferencing system

    Cisco Systems Inc. has talked about TelePresence and demonstrated it, and now it's finally something enterprises can buy, but at six figures it's a high price to pay.

  • October 25, 2006 25 Oct'06

    Video, audio are network drains

    Network misuse is rampant, according to a recent survey. Employees using the corporate network for recreation or high-bandwidth business can put a strain on network resources, but network engineers can combat that with filtering and monitoring.

  • October 24, 2006 24 Oct'06

    How does the service provider differentiate between data and VoIP as data?

    For our mobile devices in trucks, we use GSM/GPRS communication. Our customers are paying for a certain data amount -- depending on the service package to which they subscribe. We use a modem in our device, which can do both data and voice. But as I...