Networking and communication

How to subnet: Subnetting calculations and shortcuts

Learn how subnetting works in this tip and quiz on how to calculate a subnet mask. IP address classes and bit values of octets are explained in detail. Continue Reading

By

• Mimi Shaw

DNS monitoring: If it's slow, everything is slow

Techniques for monitoring DNS performance, and the impact on applications when it is not performing properly, are explored in this tip. Continue Reading

By

• Mike Pennacchi

Application delivery controllers: Moving toward the application-centric network

Application delivery controllers (ADCs) have evolved from server load balancers (SLBs) to deal with growth of networked application delivery. Continue Reading

By

• Robin Layland, Layland Consulting

Cisco Certified Voice Professional lab updates mimic live networks

The new Cisco CCVP certification updates training courses to fall in line with the latest Unified Communications Manager platform. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

Upgrade your network: Network evolution and roadmap

Network upgrades are essential to provide availability, reliability and security when you run voice and video on your data network. Continue Reading

By

• David Greenfield

Wireless security protocols -- How WPA and WPA2 work

WPA and WPA2 improve upon WEP's encryption methods for better 802.11 wireless security. Continue Reading

By

• David B. Jacobs

Green networking: Energy efficient upgrades can cut costs

Using green networking products, like more efficient gigabit Ethernet switches, to replace aging networking equipment can cut runaway energy costs. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

Social connectivity as part of your unified communications strategy

Unified communications provides remote employees the ability to work from a home office, and use social networking sites and IM to collaborate with co-workers. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Virtual servers' impact on the network

When several servers combine as one, what does it do to the network? Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

Google offers beta of free unified messaging service

Google has opened up GrandCentral, a free unified messaging and phone management service, to a limited beta. Continue Reading

By

• Shamus McGillicuddy, Enterprise Management Associates

Security considerations for unified communications

A successful UC deployment requires a solid understanding of potential security risks and how to avoid various attacks. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

Evaluating messaging and email platforms

Messaging and email systems are incorporating more capabilities than ever. Learn what to think about when upgrading your messaging platform. Continue Reading

By

• Carol Hildebrand

VoIP bandwidth: Calculate consumption

The bandwidth needed for VoIP depends on compression technology, packet overhead and the protocol used. Learn how to figure out what bandwidth you'll need. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

Cisco hooks up WAAS with Windows Server 2008

Cisco and Microsoft divulge a deal to sell Windows Server 2008 installed on Cisco Wide Area Applications Services (WAAS) appliances for remote offices. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

Springer Handbook of Speech Processing

The Springer Handbook of Speech Processing provides the reader vital information needed to implement and understand VoIP. Continue Reading

By

• Jacob Benesty, M. Mohan Sondhi, Yiteng Huang

Six steps to create a wireless LAN

Wireless LANs are deceptively simple to create. Follow our guide to ensure your WLAN has perfect coverage, can handle your applications and is easy to manage. Continue Reading

By

• Yuval Shavit

Introduction to wireless networks - from "The book of wireless"

Learn about the standards and specifications that control wireless networks and explains how data moves through the network from one computer to another. Continue Reading

By

• No Starch Press

Intelligent network switches on the rise as more is expected of the network

With businesses expecting their networks to provide more services, vendors are building more intelligence into their switches. Continue Reading

By

• Shamus McGillicuddy, Enterprise Management Associates

With EX Series, Juniper aims to be a switch hitter

With the unveiling of its new line of switches, the EX Series, router giant Juniper hopes to break into the lucrative market currently dominated by Cisco. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

Early adopters of unified communications need to ask about security

Unified Communications complicates security, which means special care is needed to extract value from the technology. Continue Reading

By

• Shamus McGillicuddy, Enterprise Management Associates

Enabling Windows Vista's Network Mapping feature on domain networks

Learn how to enabling Windows Vista's Network Mapping feature on domain networks. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

Network managers: master project management to get better salaries

Network technicians will need to learn project manager skills if corporate rollouts of wider and more advanced networks are to be successful, according to attendees at the Cisco Networkers 2008 this week. Continue Reading

By

• John-Paul Kamath

When fighting peer-to-peer, packet shaping can be more effective than cat-and-mouse

Crimping access to P2P applications may be a more effective approach than trying to ban them. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

8Gb/sec Fibre Channel widens lane for SAN traffic

Faster Fibre Channel is upon us ... but do we need it just yet? Continue Reading

By

• Jerome Wendt

When fighting peer-to-peer, packet shaping can be more effective than cat-and-mouse

Some network managers are finding that slowing peer-to-peer protocols discourages piracy better than blocking it, which users invariably find a way around. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

Understanding 802.11n wireless antennas

Learn how 802.11n wireless antennas increase network footprint, available bandwidth and resilience to problems that crippled older 802.11a/b/g access points. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

Network monitoring vendors sell SMBs on usability

Ease-of-use is the key to SMB hearts when it comes to network monitoring. A new release from SolarWinds might give market leader Ipswitch some competition. Continue Reading

By

• Shamus McGillicuddy, Enterprise Management Associates

Open source network monitoring: Monitor your routers with Cacti

Learn how to configure the open source network monitoring tool Cacti to poll your routers, gather network data and provide graphs based on what you configured. Continue Reading

By

• David Davis

Unified communications market predictions for 2008

Analyst Zeus Kerravala gives his UC market predictions for 2008 so you can get a head start on implementation within your organisation. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Kris Kringle's guide to Mobility

Many see mobility as the next step from VoIP. It was hot in 2007, and it will remain so in 2008. So get some reading done before the new year comes in. Continue Reading

By

• TechTarget ANZ staff

Santa's great storage grudge-match: Fibre Channel vs. iSCSI

Attaching storage to a network used to be so simple - now you have a number of options and no way to decide! We've got your back. Continue Reading

By

• TechTarget ANZ staff

Holiday IPv6 reading guide

IPv6 was a controversial topic in 2007, and for good reason. Learn more in our holiday guide to IPv6. Continue Reading

By

• TechTarget ANZ staff

Best practices for instant messaging security

In this tip, Brien Posey details the steps you can take to protect your organisation from security problems when implementing an instant messaging system. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

IMS: Moving from legacy to convergence

This chapter download discusses migration plans to move service providers to IMS in well-planned, business-savvy phases. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP ANZ Staff

Server power consumption rises unabated

A new AMD-sponsored study paints a grim picture of worldwide data centre power use, but there are simple ways to decrease consumption. Continue Reading

By

• Bridget Botelho, Editorial Director, News

VoIP sales up; Cisco admits security hole; Sipera releases top five vulnerabilities list

This week's news featured VoIP sales increasing, Cisco admitting a serious security hole, and the year's top five VoIP security holes. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

How to be future-ready for IP telephony

IP telephony confidence comes from being future-ready and having a scalable network that can adapt to new market trends. Continue Reading

By

• Gurmeet S. Lamba

Building a UC strategy

To create a UC strategy, you must first understand your current business processes and incorporate your business partners into the strategy. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Trussell

Voice over wireless LAN deployment requires constant maintenance

Learn how to monitor, troubleshoot and maintain your voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) deployment. Continue Reading

By

• David B. Jacobs

Confused about unified communications?

Can you define unified communications, or are you still trying to find a common vendor definition? Gary Audin sheds some light on the vendor meaning of UC. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

Enterprise collaboration tools from consumer market

Consumer-based collaboration tools are finding their way into the enterprise. IT departments can fight the trend, give up and ignore it, or embrace it. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Making the case for FCIP and FCoE

FC over IP and FC over Ethernet let companies begin consolidating on one network platform as opposed to maintaining separate FC and Ethernet networks. Continue Reading

By

• Jerome Wendt
• Joshua Konkle, DCIG Inc.

Making the case for FCIP and FCoE

FC over IP and FC over Ethernet let companies begin consolidating on one network platform as opposed to maintaining separate FC and Ethernet networks. Continue Reading

By

• Jerome Wendt
• Joshua Konkle, DCIG Inc.

Voice quality and MOS

Defining the nine elements of voice quality and Mean Opinion Score (MOS), the standard numeric value used to measure and report on voice quality. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

ITIL -- What network managers need to know

This tip helps network managers about implement IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and explains how it can be beneficial to networking. Continue Reading

By

• Ronald Potter

Wi-Fi linked to childhood autism

A study published this week in the Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine warns that wireless communication technology may be responsible for accelerating the rise in autism among children. Continue Reading

By

• John-Paul Kamath

IMS Report Card: IMS Forum issues first IMS reality check

The first IMS Report Card from the IMS Forum offers a reality check on the hype and myths surrounding IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) deployment. Continue Reading

By

• TechTarget ANZ staff

Wireless LAN performance

Benchmarking your wireless LAN performance is tricky. This tip examines key issues and offers advice for effectively measuring your WLAN performance. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Mathias

Defining unified communications

Read how industry pundits are defining unified communications. Continue Reading

By

• Leigha Cardwell, TechTarget

Network access control server eases guest access

Cisco Network Admission Control Guest Server was released today to help ease guest access and prepare for a larger network access control (NAC) rollout. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

More ICT scholarships inbound

Scholarships for the IT industry totalling a value of $250,000 will be available at the beginning of the coming academic year, it was announced last week. Continue Reading

By

• Voice&Data Staff

Integrating edge assets into networks can cut costs

Proper management of edge assets in a network saves money and time while avoiding headaches. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

IPTV Crash Course: Chapter 3: The Technology of IP Networks

IPTV service utilises basic IP network technology to broadcast television using the internet. Continue Reading

By

• Joseph Weber

Configuring VLANs

Learn how to configure a virtual LAN (VLAN) in this step-by-step, automated, 15-minute demo. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking ANZ Staff

Managed VoIP keeps regatta's communications afloat

The world's largest rowing regatta utilises managed VoIP to ease its year-round communications needs -- and for a temporary system during its celebrated two-day event. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

Users leaving Fibre Channel for iSCSI Sans find pros, cons

Users who recently updated aging Fibre Channel equipment with new iSCSI San products have found ease of use can be a double-edged sword. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Adaptec reports losses

Adaptec's revenue was down year over year, as well as sequentially; DataDirect says the InfiniBand business is booming. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

Google announces open source operating system for smartphones

After months of speculation, Google has officially announced Android, an mobile devices OS it's developing in partnership with a wide variety of companies. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Hardy

Broaden broadband debate: Comms Alliance

The Communications Alliance has joined the chorus of voices calling for election candidates to broaden the scope of their broadband plans. Continue Reading

By

• Voice&Data Staff

ISCSI storage gets performance makeover

Suppliers, including Ibrix, Mellanox, Alacritech and EqualLogic, are offering juiced-up new iSCSI configurations, while 3PAR, CipherMax and NeoScale boost data security products. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

Network design: Five ways to lower your costs

Learn how to lower network operating costs without sacrificing utility in this tip on designing a low-cost network. Continue Reading

By

• Tom Lancaster

MPLS implementation gotchas

Eliminate network latency, without locking into an SLA with a bad service provider, by controlling and implementing multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). Continue Reading

By

• Tessa Parmenter, Contributor

EMC's Tucci vows to keep up with new features

EMC CEO says storage giant is widening its technology net to match innovations of smaller competitors. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

Microsoft's OCS is finally here, for better or for worse

Zeus Kerravala reports on the long-awaited Microsoft OCS launch. Find out the pros and cons of OCS. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Non-unified communications can cost millions

Fragmented communications are costing companies millions of dollars by disrupting workflow and business processes, a new study has revealed. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Unified communications platform gets SMB twist

While unified communications has eluded the SMB market, Siemens has released an all-in-one UC appliance specifically for the SMB. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Editor

As network configuration management matures, documentation woes linger

Documentation of networks is a tertiary consideration. Is this hurting your business? Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

Asterisk creator: Consider open source VoIP, think twice about hybrid-hosted

Asterisk creator Mark Spencer clarifies his position on hybrid-hosted VoIP, and discusses open source VoIP and what it means for business users. Continue Reading

By

• Amy Kucharik, TechTarget

How to manage mobility

Planning a new mobility deployment? This tip and podcast offer eight strategies to make sure you get it right. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Forge

Bringing QoS to end-user standards

The phone call setup experience and perception of voice quality are the biggest factors contributing to the user's satisfaction. However, while the dialing experience can be objectively measured, the caller's judgment of voice quality is subjective. Find out which four factors end users expect and how to meet those specifications. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

Using VMware to test open source network analysis tools

Open source network analysis tools can help network monitoring. Try out the open source network protocol analyser Wireshark inside a VMware Player Guest OS. Continue Reading

By

• David Davis

VoIP certification credentials

Many certifications touch on voice over IP topics tangentially, but numerous credentials now focus a fairly substantial portion of their coverage on this subject matter. In this certification survey, we take a look at available certifications, distinguishing between those credentials for which VoIP is a primary topic and those for which it is secondary. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Tittel

VoIP certification credentials

Looking for VoIP skills? Want to know how to hire a VoIP specialist? This list of VoIP certifications and the skills they impart should be useful reading! Continue Reading

By

• Ed Tittel

Checklist for purchasing hardware-based encryption

Encryption appliances sit inline on a network and use specially designed electronics to encrypt data at line speeds, essentially eliminating the performance penalty imposed by encryption software running on a general server. While software-based encryption is typically handled as a specific event or process (e.g., encrypting data during a backup process), appliance-based encryption normally can handle any quantity of data in flight. Continue Reading

Unified communications new priority for HP

Unified communications is a confusing area with a number of vendors in the mix. HP has launched new services to help ease companies into unified communications and help them determine which integrated tools will best fit their business goals. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Editor

Securing VoIP Networks Chapter 7: Key Management Mechanisms

Key management is a fundamental part of protecting Internet multimedia applications like VoIP, but the protocols can be difficult to design. Continue Reading

By

• Peter Thermos and Ari Takanen

Unified communications new priority for HP

HP has launched unified communications (UC) services to help companies find and design a UC deployment that is right for their business. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

The Tao of automated network management

Read or podcast this article about taking the first step toward an automated future by integrating network management tools. Continue Reading

By

• Richard L. Ptak

Happy Birthday to TechTarget ANZ

It's our birthday, so gift us with your presence and join us in recollection of our most read articles of recent times. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

IP telephony adoption rising, quality sagging

IP telephony adoption continues to grow, but service quality is lagging behind, according to a user survey from Psytechnics. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Editor

IP PBX eases VoIP transition for gas company

An IP PBX with Sip helped one gas company upgrade to a new phone system while also jumping into VoIP. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Editor

Tool suites for identifying the problem -- from 'Network troubleshooting and diagnostics'

Learn network troubleshooting tool suites and their feature sets to support your technical troubleshooting activities. Continue Reading

By

• Greg Shields, Concentrated Technology

IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) lags mobile application delivery

IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) was supposed to provide convergence between fixed and mobile services, but new mobile applications have bypassed it. Continue Reading

By

• Tom Nolle, Andover Intel

Network engineering applications -- from 'Network troubleshooting and diagnostics'

Network analysis applications, including protocol analysers, traffic generators, and simulation tools, can be used to understand how networks operate. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking ANZ Staff

IP address management -- from 'Network troubleshooting and diagnostics'

Learn how IP address management and maintenance tools can help manage the scope of IP addresses on your network. Continue Reading

By

• Greg Shields, Concentrated Technology

How to select the right IP PBX

Selecting the right IP PBX system for your company can be complicated. Here are some important things to consider when purchasing an IP PBX. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

How to select the right IP PBX

Selecting the right IP PBX system for your company can be complicated. Here are some important things to consider when purchasing an IP PBX. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

Developing good troubleshooting technique -- from 'Network troubleshooting and diagnostics'

The most important part of troubleshooting is technique. This excerpt examines several approaches such as Bottom-Up, Top-Down, and Divide-and-Conquer methods Continue Reading

By

• Realtimepublishers.com

3Com to be acquired by equity firm

3Com has announced it will be acquired by private equity firm Bain Capital Partners for US$2.2 billion. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Morisy, TechTarget

Australians more tech-aware

Telecommunications and the internet are becoming increasingly embedded in the lives of Australians, says an ACMA survey. Continue Reading

By

• Voice&Data Staff

Unified communications an 'uphill battle' for Microsoft

Unified communications is going to be a tough sell for Microsoft, which is looking to eliminate the PBX and go all software. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Wireless troubleshooting

Wireless network troubleshooting basics are discussed in this guide. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking ANZ Staff

End-to-end network management enables reliable VoIP, unified communications

Monitoring voice quality, service availability, and security conditions are discussed in this Q & A with Gurmeet Lamba of Clarus Systems. Continue Reading

By

• Amy Kucharik, TechTarget

802.11 protocols

802.11 wireless protocols and deployment basics are discussed in this guide. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking ANZ Staff

Cisco to acquire Cognio

Cisco will acquire wireless spectrum analysis and management vendor Cognio in a deal that will give Cisco a leg-up on wireless and mobility. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Nokia to acquire mobile advertiser

Nokia has announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire mobile advertising and marketing company Enpocket for an undisclosed amount. Continue Reading

By

• Voice&Data Staff

Wireless security

Wireless security and polices are covered in this guide. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking ANZ Staff

Wireless network deployment and management

Wireless network deployment and management are discussed in this guide. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking ANZ Staff

Wireless access points

The basics of wireless access point (AP) as well as configuration and placement are covered in this guide. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking ANZ Staff

Communications-as-a-service taking hold

Communications-as-a-service is taking hold worldwide as a viable hosted IP telephony system. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, News Editor