Networking and communication

What storage managers are buying and why, page 4

What storage managers are buying and why Continue Reading

Comparing VoIP vendors

For many companies, the tough decision isn't whether to use IP telephony or not -- it's which vendor to choose. We've collected some of Carrie Higbie's tips and tricks for vendor selection, garnered from her "Ask-the-Expert" section. Carrie regularly answers your questions on the topic of "Preparing your network for VoIP." We've included links to her answers about comparing VoIP vendors for further information. Continue Reading

Comparing VoIP vendors

For many companies, the tough decision isn't whether to use IP telephony or not -- it's which vendor to choose. We've collected some of Carrie Higbie's tips and tricks for vendor selection, garnered from her 'Ask-the-Expert' section. Carrie regularly answers your questions on the topic of 'Preparing your network for VoIP.' We've included links to her answers about comparing VoIP vendors for further information. Continue Reading

By

• Carrie Goetz, StrategITcom LLC

EMC plays catch-up with Clariion

Clariion arrays now have support for both Fibre Channel and iSCSI in one box, as well as other features that competitors have been using against EMC for some time. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Xiotech, Pillar scale down, support iSCSI

Xiotech, Pillar introduce entry-level iSCSI arrays; Overland loses Dell deal; EMC and IBM report earnings. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Editors

Nokia E62 thin mobile productivity device

In this product review, John Shepler weighs in on Nokia's new E62 mobile device for Cingular Wireless. Continue Reading

Cisco ramps up unified communications tools

Cisco last week released a host of new products to enhance its suite of unified communications tools, including an IP phone that's easier for end users to accept. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Writer

Creating a WPA2 compliant network

Our expert, Lisa Phifer, goes through the basic principles of creating a WPA2 compliant network. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

High-gain antennas and the near field effect

In this response, Lisa Phifer explains the use of a high-gain antenna and what the near field effect is. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

Wireless connection in the wilderness

Lisa Phifer explains how to connect office buildings wirelessly where laying cable is not an option due to trees and rocky terrain. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

Flaw found in Toshiba wireless device driver

Attackers could exploit a flaw in the Toshiba Bluetooth wireless device driver to cause a denial of service or launch malicious code on victims' machines. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Does Spanning Tree Protocol have an adverse effect on VoIP?

Do you know if Spanning Tree has an adverse effect upon VoIP? If so, what is the best way to provide LAN-based switch redundancy to VoIP gateways? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

Briefs: VoIP management; mobile E911; and Windows 2003 support

Qovia releases its new VoIP management system; 911 Enable made E911 mobile and Codima announced support for Windows 2003 server. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Writer

Minimum and maximum Ethernet frame sizes

In this Q&A, Lindi Horton answers the question "What is the minimum and maximum size of an Ethernet frame that carries an IP packet which in turn carries an ICMP packet?" Continue Reading

By

• Lindi Horton, ServiceMesh

Tiered storage becoming tried and true

Tiered storage matches the value of data with the performance (and expense) of storage. Ideally, tiered storage can save money, while easing the access demands to any single storage tier. While tiered storage has clearly brought storage costs and performance into focus, it has yet to reach its full potential in the enterprise. Continue Reading

Link and port aggregation information

Need some clarification on link and port aggregation? Here, our expert, Lindi Horton, provides us with just that in this Q&A. Continue Reading

By

• Lindi Horton, ServiceMesh

Troubleshooting your network

In this Q&A, our expert, Lindi Horton, helps with troubleshooting a network that has problems staying up in the evening. Continue Reading

By

• Lindi Horton, ServiceMesh

Cisco, Cognio team up on Wi-Fi interference detection

Cisco and Cognio have partnered to troubleshoot and diagnose problems on the Wi-Fi network. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

The most commonly used network operating system

In this Q&A, Lindi Horton answers the question "What network operating system is more currently and commonly used?" Continue Reading

By

• Lindi Horton, ServiceMesh

3Com rolls out unified SMB switch

3Com hit the market today with an all-in-one unified switch for SMBs. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Cisco, Cognio team up on Wi-Fi interference detection

Cisco and Cognio have partnered to troubleshoot and diagnose problems on the Wi-Fi network. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

How to prevent former employees and administrators from accessing your server

What do you do if you have ex-employees or even ex-administrators accessing your server remotely? How do you prevent them from doing this? Our expert, Lindi Horton, can tell you how. Continue Reading

By

• Lindi Horton, ServiceMesh

Column: The myths and realities of VoIP security

Security is often cited as one of the primary reasons organizations have not deployed VoIP. The biggest VoIP security threat is not making headlines. Zeus Kerravala, Yankee Group analyst, cuts through the hype so network managers can maximize the reliability of their voice network. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Voice over IP Fundamentals: Chapter 9, 'Billing and Mediation Services'

Voice over IP Fundamentals: Chapter 9, 'Billing and Mediation Services' Continue Reading

Open source router on par with Cisco, users say

To avoid paying top dollar for Cisco routers, two users say Vyatta's Open Flexible Router is a viable alternative to the proprietary norm, with pluses and minuses, of course. Continue Reading

By

• Jack Loftus

IP telephony unites New Orleans nonprofit after Katrina

Hurricane Katrina nearly disbanded the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, until the nonprofit rolled out a hosted voice solution Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Writer

Cisco bulks up data center switching

Cisco Systems Inc. today made significant announcements in its data center switching line: an 8-port, 10 GigE module; a blade switch for Fujitsu Siemens; and a Web-based script-sharing community. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Cisco bulks up data center switching

Cisco Systems Inc. today made significant announcements in its data center switching line: an 8-port, 10 GigE module; a blade switch for Fujitsu Siemens; and a Web-based script-sharing community. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Reporter's notebook: Hidden gems of Interop

The Interop conference in New York this week featured the usual suspects talking about their newest offerings and the industry at large. Continue Reading

By

• Susan Fogarty

NAC, VPNs and behavior analysis in the Interop spotlight

Security for the enterprise network was emphasised at Interop New York as vendors rolled out and upgraded NAC, VPN, network behavior analysis, and other threat protection products. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell

VoIP user experience tested

Most VoIP monitoring is focused on quality of service, but one new company is taking a different tack and looking at the quality of experience. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Three ways to create clustered storage, page 2

Clustered storage systems run on storage servers, NAS gateways and hosts. Here's how to determine which clustered file-system architecture is best for your needs and storage environment. Continue Reading

Set up an ad hoc WiFi network

What if you wanted to do pretty much everything you can do on a network, but didn't have a router? You can set up an ad hoc network, in which you can connect on a peer-to-peer basis with other computers and PDAs. You don't need any extra software; the capability to do this is built right in XP. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Shah

Calling network management vendors: It's time to get on board with VoIP

Despite the hype, full-scale VoIP deployments are hard to find. According to our research at Yankee Group, over 80% of U.S. enterprises have VoIP deployed somewhere in their organization in some shape or form. This includes departmental trials and development environments. These kinds of statistics combined with a frenzy of media and vendor hype would leave one with the impression that we're right around the corner from ubiquitous VoIP and if you haven't deployed it yet, you're a luddite and you're putting your business at risk. However, digging a little deeper into our research we discover that a mere 6% of U.S. enterprises have VoIP running throughout their organization and caution is more the norm than the exception Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Dell and EMC: Five more years

Dell leans on EMC for support in the face of an SEC investigation and possible delisting from NASDAQ. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Barrett, News Director, Datacenter Media Group

Is there a generic blueprint for an IP-based call center?

Is there a generic blueprint for an IP-based call center? Where could I find one? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

VoIP still a confusing area for SMBs

A study released at today's VON conference in Boston suggests that SMBs -- despite their growing use of VoIP -- are still confused about VoIP technology. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Writer

Fast Guide: VoIP encryption

A guide to encryption within VoIP networks Continue Reading

VoIP startup untethers would-be mobile workers from wireline office phones

VoIP startup DiVitas Networks has voice-over-WiFi-to-cellular technology in the works that gives endusers access to enterprise apps and puts dual-mode handset management in the hands of network administrators. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell, News Editor

VoIP startup untethers would-be mobile workers from wireline office phones

VoIP startup DiVitas Networks has voice-over-WiFi-to-cellular technology in the works that gives endusers access to enterprise apps and puts dual-mode handset management in the hands of network administrators. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell

ControlGuard targets rogue devices

ControlGuard Access Manager is an effective tool for controlling what devices users can add to their workstations and how they are used. Continue Reading

By

• Harris Weisman, Contributing Writer

VoIP outsourcing: Save money and gain flexibility

VoIP outsourcing is the way to go for organisations looking to deploy voice services quickly and flexibly without a major investment in skills and upkeep. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell, News Editor

VoIP outsourcing: Save money and gain flexibility

VoIP outsourcing is the way to go for organizations looking to deploy voice services quickly and flexibly without a major investment in skills and upkeep. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell

Cisco accelerates the branch

Cisco rolls WAN optimization, application acceleration and Wide Area File Services (WAFS) in a single branch box to complement its Application Control Engine (ACE) data center optimization product. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell

Instant messaging boom brings security concerns

Instant messaging (IM) has made significant inroads to the enterprise, but using public IM applications may open up security holes in the network Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Hickey

Revamped Cisco WAFS worth the wait, users say

Months late, Cisco has finally released a combined Wan optimisation and WAFS product, while startups like Riverbed have been snapping up the customers. But some Cisco beta testers say it has been worth the wait. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Protecting wireless networks: Step 3

Security testing expert Kevin Beaver covers the tools and techniques needed to find and exploit insecure wireless networks. Continue Reading

Protecting wireless networks: Step 2

Security testing expert Kevin Beaver covers the tools and techniques you'll need to find and exploit insecure wireless networks. Continue Reading

Wireless network security testing

Attack your own wireless networks to find vulnerabilities before malicious hackers do. Continue Reading

Migrating to MPLS

As more organizations begin to take advantage of MPLS' offerings, network engineers must learn how to prepare their current networks for transition. This tip explains basic MPLS implementations and shows you some common configurations for MPLS VPNs. It also provides a sample configuration and routing considerations to keep in mind. Continue Reading

By

• Doug Downer

Instant messaging boom brings security concerns

Instant messaging (IM) has made significant inroads to the enterprise, but using public IM applications may open up security holes in the network. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Interoperability issues for a 6500 Cisco switch and a 3Comm 7700

In this response, Sudhanshu Gupta talks about the interoperability issues that go along with a 6500 Cisco switch and a 3Comm 7700. Continue Reading

By

• Sudhanshu Gupta

Connecting ISDN PRI to a VPN via a Cisco AS5350

Sudhanshu Gupta examines how to connect an ISDN PRI to a VPN using a Cisco AS5350. Continue Reading

By

• Sudhanshu Gupta

Routing phone calls to a POTS

Sudhanshu Gupta explains how to route all phone calls to a POTS, in this Q&A. Continue Reading

By

• Sudhanshu Gupta

Configuring managed and unmanaged switches

In this Q&A, Sudhanshu Gupta answers which cable to use with managed and unmanaged switches. Continue Reading

By

• Sudhanshu Gupta

VoIP outsourcing: Save money while gaining flexibility

VoIP outsourcing is the way to go for firms looking to deploy voice services quickly and flexibly without a major investment in skills and upkeep. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell, News Editor

AT&T breach affects 19,000 customers

Online outlaws hacked into an AT&T computer system and stole credit card data on thousands of customers. AT&T has offered to pay for credit monitoring services for those affected. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Riverbed update offers users more bandwidth, better reporting

Riverbed announced a package of hardware and software updates, which some customers say they've been waiting for. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

ProCurve rolls out three new switch series

ProCurve Networking by HP has added three new series of switches to its lineup. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

3PAR adds midrange array for secondary sites

3PAR has introduced a smaller version of its InServ Storage Server, which it describes as a product-line extension into its existing customer base. Continue Reading

By

• Jo Maitland, TechTarget

Duplex mismatch

This article helps networking engineers understand the issues behind duplex mismatch, one of the most troublesome problems in today's Ethernet networks. Learn why duplex mismatch occurs and how you can prevent it with autonegotiation and hard coding. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking ANZ Staff

Column: VoIP applications fuel the next wave of VoIP innovation

The first phase of VoIP is nearing the end and corporations will soon find a variety of third-party desktop applications that run on VoIP. Has VoIP improved the day-to-day for end users? Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Briefs: VoiceCon in the news

This week at VoiceCon we saw everything from managed VoIP services to IP phones made to make mobile workers right at home, wherever they are. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell, News Editor

Secure network against illegal users

Lisa Phifer gives advice on how to handle illegal users on a network. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

Cisco struggles with SIP firewall flaw

Cisco admits it can't reproduce a SIP security flaw in its PIX firewall that was first identified by a researcher at Black Hat. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Briefs: VoIP in the news

Asterisk maker Digium gets major funding; Quintum's VoIP switch offers backup option for branch office; The Cisco Store makes the case for unified communications. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell

Wireless security push fueled by paranoia

Wireless security became a necessity for Intermagnetics, but when the company used its access points to monitor the spectrum, performance suffered. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Cisco says it can't reproduce PIX flaw

Ever since a researcher at Black Hat outlined a flaw in the PIX firewall, Cisco has been trying to reproduce the security hole. So far, the company has been unsuccessful. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Cisco boosts VoIP certification

The upgraded CCNP midlevel Cisco certification now incorporates VoIP, security and wireless to boost converged network skills among enterprise professionals. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell, News Editor

Wireless security boost for laptops outside the office

>Most companies do a pretty good job with wireless security within the office walls, but what happens when end users take their laptops home -- or to Starbucks? Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

VoIP call quality on the decline

Advances in technology have made VoIP more common, but that hasn't stopped VoIP call quality from dropping steadily over the last 18 months, according to a recent study by Brix Networks. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Writer

Vendors reject preferential knowledge sharing

While Cisco continues to investigate a potential PIX firewall flaw, it and other vendors say sharing security information quickly and indiscriminately is always the best policy. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Mimoso, TechTarget

Thwarting IM management challenges

Product review: Information Security magazine's Sandra Kay Miller says Symantec's IM Manager 8.0 has limited public network features, but offers excellent reporting Continue Reading

By

• Sandra Kay Miller

RFID security issues are cause for corporate concern

Although small in nature, RFID tags could be used to attack databases and corrupt critical information. It's a growing concern as corporate RFID use skyrockets, yet experts say there are reasonable ways to mitigate the risks and gain the business benefits. Continue Reading

By

• Tim Scannell, TechTarget

Possible Cisco zero-day exploit revealed at Black Hat

Details of an alleged flaw related to SIP and PIX appliances, briefly mentioned in a Wednesday Black Hat presentation, are being kept under wraps as Cisco and US-CERT investigate. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Mimoso, TechTarget

Blue Cross bears burden of 'no wireless' policy

Blue Cross of Idaho had a "no wireless" policy on paper but never really enforced it. That is, until a team of auditors said the company had better do something. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Writer

Case study: A valuable solution

A new telephony and call centre solution from Inter-Tel has transformed the way that e.surv Chartered Surveyors is able to work. Continue Reading

BlueCat appliance offers rock-solid security

Hot Pick: The Adonis 1000 appliance bundles DNS and DHCP into an enterprise-class appliance for the centralized secure operation of network addressing. Continue Reading

By

• Sandra Kay Miller, Contributing Writer

Be careful you don't get more than you pay for with VoIP

Implementing VoIP is attractive for all companies in particular SMBs. However, there are issues to address that may cost you more than what you save Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

MEF drives up quality standards in carrier Ethernet

The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) has expanded its certification program to include quality of service parameters in network kit, to ensure service providers can give their customers the service they demand. Continue Reading

By

• Antony Savvas

Voicing concerns on Skype

Skype has blazed a trail in the Voice over IP arena; its popularity hasn’t gone unnoticed by the hacker community however Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Step 6: Configuring wireless clients

With wireless networks proliferating it is a good idea to understand what it takes to build a VPN for a wireless gateway. Contributor and Microsoft MVP Brien Posey details the necessary steps in this step-by-step guide. Continue Reading

Influential survey says security 'set back by 6 years'

Update: The SANS Top 20 vulnerability list for 2005 shows the bad guys attacking flawed apps and paying more attention to network holes. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Wireless security: Public Wi-Fi could open security holes

A Michigan county is working to give everyone within its borders wireless Internet access. But when it comes to security, users are on their own. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Wireless security crucial to railway safety

A transportation firm uses wireless technology to keep the trains running on time. But securing mobile devices isn't easy when they're spread across the globe. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Wireless security: Companies deal with software updates

A health care provider found it could use wireless technology to dramatically boost patient care. But first it had to figure out how to deploy security updates over a wireless network. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Quiz: What's your infosec IQ?

We've collected our toughest questions to see how well you stand up to a challenge. Put your knowledge to the test and let us know how you do. Continue Reading

Don't discount software distribution sites as attack vectors

There's a potential downside to update sites, which offer virtually untapped riches to bad guys wanting to compromise your network. Just ask the author. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Skoudis, Contributor

NHS trust creates wireless record

University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Trust has created the UK's largest single wireless network to support 7,000 users across eight hospitals. Continue Reading

By

• Antony Savvas

SAS drives product roundup

Serial-attached SCSI (or SAS) drives offer significant storage capacity at a much lower cost, while maintaining reasonable performance. Find out who the vendors are in this market. Continue Reading

By

• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

Ethernet users given greater product interoperability

A new network hardware testing standard will encourage enterprises, service providers and telcos to adopt cheaper and more flexible Ethernet technology for data, voice and video connectivity. Continue Reading

By

• Antony Savvas

VoIP turns up the heat on firewalls

New research shows that many organizations are increasingly concerned about VoIP security and plan to augment their firewalls within the next year, changing the landscape of the firewall market. Continue Reading

By

• Eric Parizo, Senior Analyst

Extending perimeters

The news that, up until 2006, 70% of successful wireless local area network (WLAN) attacks will be because of the misconfiguration of WLAN access points and client software is disquieting on a number of levels. Continue Reading

Myfip's Titan Rain connection

LURHQ researchers say the Myfip worm is a good example of the malcode Chinese hackers are using in the so-called Titan Rain attacks against U.S. government networks. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Passive fingerprinting: Applications and prevention

In this excerpt from the book Silence on the Wire, author Michal Zalewski discusses both malicious and beneficial uses for passive fingerprinting, and how to prevent successful passive fingerprinting on your network. Continue Reading

Storage area network quiz

It's all about the storage area network (SAN) -- man. The more you know, the easier it is. Take our SAN quiz and find out where you stand as a SAN guru. Continue Reading

VoIP and IPT are hot tickets for the IT industry

Voice over IP (VoIP) and IP telephony (IPT) are the hot tickets in the current IT industry. In the space of two weeks in late May and June 2005, two major European trade shows — VON 2005 and VoIP for Business —have each exhibited a welter of products and services that seem wonderfully compelling. Continue Reading

By

• David Bicknell

VoIP encryption to have 'Pretty Good Privacy

 Continue Reading

By

• Shawna McAlearney, News Editor

Tony Asaro: Blogs and more

Read what Tony Asaro is talking about in this month's blog, and listen to him speak in a number of webcasts. Continue Reading

Gartner underscores five overblown threats

Two Gartner analysts debunk five overhyped security risks they claim are causing companies to miss out on some key emerging technologies. Continue Reading

By

• Amy Storer, News Writer