Networking and communication

VoIP rush heats up cooling debate

Increased VoIP adoption is putting pressure on data centres' power and cooling requirements Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

It's cool to think about heat

If you're not thinking about power and cooling, you're behind the curve. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

Cisco, Nortel frontrunners in Avaya acquisition rumors

Cisco and Nortel are said to be amongst those circling the still-live body of VoIP vendor Avaya, but analysts disagree on which, and why. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Brocade gets into the HBA business

Experts say the move, based on a partnership with LSI, could lower HBA pricing across the board and be the first step toward a Brocade-developed storage virtualization product. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

SAN School: Table of contents

What is a storage area network? What are the benefits and pitfalls of installation? How can a SAN fit into your organization? These questions and more are answered SAN School. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com editors

The wireless future offers plenty of voice possibilities

Farpoint Group's Craig Mathias surveys the future of wireless networks and their ability to carry voice traffic. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Mathias

Bridging VoIP islands

WAN optimisation makes it possible to connect campus VoIP connections Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Hickey

VoIP advice from the trenches

ITKE, or ITKnowledge Exchange, is simply a cool (and quick) way to get a response to your VoIP-related questions. Continue Reading

By

• Leigha Cardwell, TechTarget

Network access control learning guide

From PDAs to insecure wireless modems, users have myriad options for connecting to -- and infecting -- the network. Created in partnership with our sister site SearchSecurity.com, this guide offers tips and expert advice on network access control. Learn how unauthorized users gain network access, how to block and secure untrusted endpoints, and get Windows-specific and universal access control policies and procedures. Continue Reading

McAfee launches IPS for 10g networks, but is IT ready?

McAfee unveiled a new IPS offering for 10-gigabit Ethernet networks and announced the upgrade and integration of several other products. One analyst offers a mixed assessment. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Mitel acquires Inter-Tel, signaling more consolidation to come

Mitel acquired Inter-Tel last week, signaling a trend toward vendor consolidation in the VoIP market and creating stronger options for SMBs. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Mobile instant messaging enhances company's business processes

A mobile IM service acquired by a hosted VoIP provider encourages more companies to enhance their business processes. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

Microsoft, TCG partner on network access control; Cisco takes own route

Microsoft and the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) have joined forces to create better interoperability between network access control solutions with the announcement of a new specification which ensures that Microsoft's Network Access Protection (NAP) and TCG's Trusted Network Connect (TNC) architecture can work together. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Hickey

Manipulating VoIP Security

This tip provides an extensive list of sites that track and document VoIP attack tools. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

VoIP security fundamentals

VoIP security is a challenge for IT staff because IP telephony brings with it not only the security problems of data networks but also new threats specific to VoIP. In this fundamentals guide, learn about network security threats and emerging IP telephony threats, and how to secure your VoIP systems and endpoints from them. Continue Reading

Choosing WAN providers: Key questions to ask

When evaluating carrier services for the WAN, it's imperative to ask some key questions regarding customer service, service-level agreements, global coverage, management and monitoring capabilities, and underlying technologies. Make sure these questions are on your checklist. Continue Reading

By

• Robin Gareiss, Metrigy

VoIP, unified communications adoption continue to rise

VoIP and unified communications adoption continue to rise steadily in the enterprise, according to Infonetics Research's latest report. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

ISCSI TCP/IP TOE card specifications

Key specifications for a cross-section of popular iSCSI TOE cards. Continue Reading

4 Gbit Fibre Channel switch purchase considerations

As SANs scale up, data centres often upgrade and expand the SAN switch infrastructure. Here's what to look for when scaling Continue Reading

VoIP security -- Free IP telephony fuzzing tools

Protect your organization's VoIP security with free VoIP security tools designed to test IP telephony vulnerability. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

Network waste to reach $100 billion

Network overspending will cost enterprises more than $100 billion over the next five years, according to recent predictions by Gartner Inc. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

OSI: Securing the Stack, Layer 8 -- Social engineering and security policy

Network security is essential at every layer of the OSI model, including the mythical eighth layer, where users interact with technology. Since hackers can use social engineering to exploit people, it is important to train your users and implement good security policy. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Gregg, Superior Solutions, Inc.

WEP: Wireless security's broken skeleton in the closet

WEP for wireless security was cracked again recently. Though many will say WEP is obsolete, many companies still use it. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Scaling storage networks demands careful consideration

In the Fibre Channel world, scaling often means adding more and faster switch ports to extend the fabric's bandwidth and connectivity. But IP storage (mainly iSCSI) is a growing area of SAN expansion, using ubiquitous Ethernet network technology to pass storage data between storage devices. This requires the use of IP switches and routers, and can involve the deployment of iSCSI TOE host adapters to offload iSCSI traffic from the local server's CPU. This Buying Guide is intended to help clarify the principle considerations involved scaling storage networks and each chapter offers a set of buying points and product specifications that can help readers identify prospective new scaling products. Continue Reading

Storage consolidation: WAN acceleration and WAFS technology overview

One important avenue of storage consolidation is the consolidation of remote office storage; this is where WAN acceleration and WAFS technology comes into play. Continue Reading

Storage consolidation: SRM tools overview

SRM tools are an important part of storage consolidation. They allow admins to monitor the storage environment, allocate and organise available storage, and offer insights into future trends. Continue Reading

IP storage switch and router purchase considerations

The choice of an IP switch or router demands careful consideration of issues including port speed, segmentation, interoperability and security Continue Reading

What can we do to connect our wireless router to our wireless client?

Experiencing a persistent inability to connect a wireless router from your wireless client? Lisa Phifer details how to fix this problem. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

Weekly compilation of storage news:Dell LTO-4 drive, new Sun array

Dell is first out of the gate with the new LTO-4 drive, which offers native encryption; Sun unveils new array and deepens its relationship with FalconStor. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

Convergence certification provides evaluation standard

CompTIA has developed a convergence certification, designed to validate qualified convergence professionals. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

VLANs -- Controlling wired and wireless traffic

Today, most business networks rely on virtual LANs (VLANs) to partition Ethernets and control the destinations reached by each worker. As users begin to shift between Ethernet and Wi-Fi throughout the work day, it makes sense to apply VLANs to both wired and wireless network access. This tip describes common methods for mapping Wi-Fi stations onto corporate VLANs and suggests when you might want to do so. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

Skype to the desk phone saves company a bundle

Skype on the desk phone has helped a Chicago-based furniture maker save a considerable amount of money on long-distance voice charges. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

How do I calculate the time taken for a file to be transferred over a WAN link?

Calculate the time it will take for a file to transfer over a WAN link with the help of Dr. Hughes in this expert response. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking Staff

Convergence certification provides evaluation standard

Voice and data convergence are more prevalent and enterprises are looking for certified professionals to administer the combined networks -- leading CompTIA to develop its Convergence+ certification, designed to validate qualified convergence professionals. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart

Storage consolidation: Disks and disk subsystems overview

Any storage consolidation effort must involve a serious consideration of disk subsystems and the specific disk types that those systems will contain Continue Reading

How is SIP winning favor over H.323?

What are the similarities, differences and major reasons between SIP and H.323. And why is one winning? Continue Reading

By

• Christian Stegh

Capacity planning software specifications

Gauging storage needs over time is one of the biggest challenges faced by IT administrators, and a new generation of capacity planning tools is emerging to help forecast growth and utilisation of storage resources. Continue Reading

HP renews SMB storage campaign

With the launch of the new All-in-One 1200 and the shifting of executives to a new SMB business unit, HP is focused on its low-end products in an effort to boost growth. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Goldman Sachs: Interest in NetApp SAN products wanes

A survey by the investment firm shows enterprise storage buyers had a declining interest in NetApp SAN products over the last year. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Wireless VoIP market to grow rapidly

VoIP and Voice over Wi-Fi markets are expected to be strong in 2007 and remain so through 2012. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

Storage vendors propose FC over Ethernet standard

A group of nine storage vendors led by Emulex is proposing a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) standard . Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

News Wrap 2.0

TechTarget ANZ's slightly skewed look at this weeks news. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

Network security, content security markets to grow in 2007

The network security appliance and software markets are expected to continue growing steadily in 2007, while content security sales will begin to affect most enterprises' networking budgets. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart

VoIP network monitoring improves VoIP deployment

VoIP network monitoring and pre-deployment analysis are becoming more important as VoIP application overlay becomes denser Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

How do I get my LAN computers to reach the Internet?

Get your LAN computers to reach the Internet in this response from wireless expert Lisa Phifer. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

What are the criteria for evaluating an indoor wireless network?

In this Q&A., learn how to evaluate an indoor wireless network with criteria provided by expert Lisa Phifer. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

VoIP's inherited data security problems

VoIP security problems present a challenge for voice and network staff. This article explains how to secure both your call servers and endpoints, and how best to divide this work between voice and data personnel. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

Basic VoIP network setup

Basic VoIP network setup advice. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

Why is VoIP authentication essential?

VoIP authentication advice. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

VoIP protocols

VoIP protocols -- the strengths and weaknesses of each. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

VoiceCon Spring: A transition show for the VoIP industry

VoiceCon Spring was all about unified communications. Zeus Kerravala provides highlights of the more interesting points from the show. Continue Reading

Midrange storage array specifications

Product snapshots highlighting key specifications for a cross section of midrange storage array products. Continue Reading

11n will boost speed, prompt upgrades

802.11n's speed will be a welcome boost for end-users, but will create headaches as admins face network upgrades to deal with the demand for bandwidth it unleashes. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

NAC panel says technology may not add up

A panel discussing the potential of using network access control (NAC) says the technology may not be worth the price of deploying and maintaining it. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Network summarization -- Supernetting and wildcard masks

Supernetting allows one routing table entry to represent an aggregation of networks. Network engineers need to understand supernetting, how to read routes received from other providers and how to create an access list that references these multiple networks in a single summarized statement. In this tip, you'll learn more about the IP addressing-related topics of network summarization, supernetting and wildcard masks. Continue Reading

By

• David Davis

Power over Ethernet power consumption: The hidden costs

Power over Ethernet (PoE) has many advantages in a VoIP migration, but some companies overlook the amount of power needed to run PoE for VoIP and the costs and cooling requirements that come with it. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Mobile data services development trends in 2007

Darrell Jordan-Smith takes a look at new data services architectures and development tools emerging in 2007 and the ongoing development efforts of the Java Community and others. Continue Reading

By

• Darrell Jordan-Smith

Cisco stamps on Brocade in Q4, Dell'Oro says

For the second quarter in a row Cisco is gaining SAN switch market share on Brocade, according to the latest report by the Dell'Oro Group. But the numbers are causing a firestorm. Continue Reading

By

• Jo Maitland, TechTarget

VoIP security worries are plentiful, potent

VoIP creates a new set of security issues for your network, as expert Ed Skoudis explains. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Skoudis, SANS Technology Institute

New gigabit standard: How fast is fast enough?

Last June, the 10GBASE-T standard was published promising 10 Gbit operations on copper cabling. This standard was originally targeted toward data centers, but the Ethernet Alliance and IEEE are working on increasing this standard to potentially 40 or 100 more gigabits -- so what speed is fast enough? Continue Reading

By

• TechTarget Staff

Open source IP telephony on hold?

Is open source telephony ready for your business? Read on to learn if it's the real deal. Continue Reading

By

• Amy Kucharik, TechTarget

Carrier MPLS support for VoIP

Achieving QoS for reliable voice transmissions can be the biggest challenge of deploying VoIP. Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) might be the answer! Continue Reading

By

• Robbie Harrell

Wi-Fi interference

In this research report, undertook the challenge to quantify the problem of interference in wireless LANs and defined a methodology for evaluating the effects of interference on WLANs. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Mathias

Microsoft outlines software-centric VoIP, UC

Microsoft unveils its vision of a software-based VoIP system to enable unified communications. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

Cisco, IBM announce new unified communications platform

Cisco and IBM today announced a new unified communications platform that will allow users to access collaboration applications and tie together the capabilities of both companies' solutions. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Nortel switch release focuses on unified communications

Nortel today released two new switch series aimed at unified communications deployments. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

VoIP security - problems inherited from data networking

VoIP security problems present a challenge for voice and network staff because IP telephony brings with it not only the security problems of data networks but also new, added threats specific to VoIP. In this tip, learn about the data network security threats that your voice staff must confront, how to secure both your call servers and endpoints, and how best to divide this work between voice and data personnel. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

NetApp stokes midrange fires with new array

The FAS 3040 is a scaled down version of the 64-bit 3070 architecture; NetApp officials say more moves downmarket will follow. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Unified Communications to dominate VoiceCon

Unified Communications will again be a major focus of VoiceCon Spring. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

Buzz builds around data reduction for primary storage

Analysts predict that in-band compression offerings from StoreWiz, newly updated this week, are the first step toward a new wave of primary storage deduplication products. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Expert: NAC not a network security cure-all

According to an expert at Black Hat DC, NAC success demands careful planning and a good understanding of the company network; otherwise, implementations can quickly go awry. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Black Hat RFID controversy has bloggers up in arms

This week in Security Blog Log: Infosec pros slam HID Corp., the firm that tried to quash a Black Hat presentation on flaws in its RFID technology, calling HID the latest champion of security through obscurity. Continue Reading

RFID cloning presentation moves forward despite legal threats

Chris Paget, director of research and development at IOActive spoke mainly about the science behind RFID tags and readers and the inherent security issues of the technology. Continue Reading

By

• Dennis Fisher

RFID dispute: Vendors still hostile toward full disclosure

Many vendors still believe that security by obscurity is still the best policy and make it a priority to silence vulnerability researchers. Continue Reading

Can setting up a VPN help you get around blocked VoIP ports?

Can setting up a VPN help you get around blocked VoIP ports? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

Black Hat presenter nixes RFID cloning demo under pressure

A demonstration of a device that could easily clone radio frequency identification (RFID) badges, was pulled from a conference presentation under pressure from a chip maker. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Outsourced VoIP helps devastated company recover

Outsourced VoIP helped a Berkeley company keep up business as usual after a fire destroyed its offices. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

HP announces iSCSI VTL for SMBs

HP's new iSCSI VTL devices include automated backup capabilities for users with fewer than four servers. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Top 10 VoIP search terms

The top ten VoIP search terms and definitions. Keep tabs on the most popular VoIP terms – updated regularly. Continue Reading

By

• Leigha Cardwell, TechTarget

IP PBX: Ten reasons to switch

Should you throw out the old PBX and replace it with a new IP PBX? This tip from WindowsNetworking.com provides ten compelling reasons to do so. Continue Reading

By

• Nick Galea

Gartner: Quad-core slowed 2006 server sales

New Gartner data suggests that quad-core servers are not exciting users. Continue Reading

By

• Bridget Botelho, Editorial Director, News

Cisco routers threatened by drive-by pharming

Millions of Cisco routers in circulation could be compromised by a newly-discovered attack technique Symantec calls drive-by pharming, the networking giant warned in an advisory. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

All about automation

Automating your IT operations is a trick that creates obvious benefits. In this article, we explain how data center automation can help an entire enterprise. Continue Reading

By

• Audrey Rasmussen

What is presence?

Presence technology makes it possible to locate and identify a computing device wherever it might be, as soon as the user connects to the network. Continue Reading

By

• TechTarget ANZ staff

News Wrap 2.0

We've just discovered a great new application for technology that can save you an incredible amount of time, money and heartache. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

VoIP complexities stall implementation for SMBs

VoIP sales in the SMB market are predicted to lead revenue in the next several years, but most SMBs are confused by the number of different solutions. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

Cisco VoIP managment guide: Required management tasks

Comprehensive VoIP management includes the basic network management tasks, but also includes monitoring services such as dial tone delivery, call success rates, telephony delays and impairments, as well as call quality. VoIP telephony management is categorized here. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking Staff

Download SAN Guide Chapter 3: Switches (PDF)

You asked for it, so here it is -- a printable version of our SAN All-In-One Guide. Download Chapter 3: Switches in .pdf format now. Continue Reading

Skype makes more enterprise inroads

Skype has teamed with FaceTime Communications to give companies more control over Skype use within the enterprise. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

VoIP helps ensure disaster recovery

VoIP bolsters your disaster recovery plans and should be at the core of any well-planned disaster recovery strategy. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

VoIP helps ensure disaster recovery

VoIP bolsters your disaster recovery plans and should be at the core of any well-planned disaster recovery strategy. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Cisco VoIP management guide: VoIP management lifecycle

VoIP lifecycle management enables enterprises to safely pursue large production deployments. The management lifecycle includes the following four elements. Continue Reading

Cisco VoIP management guide: Enterprise VoIP management solutions

Enterprise VoIP management solutions require two considerations: the scale of production environment and the need to extend support resources with a systems integrator or service provider. Continue Reading

Cisco VoIP management guide: Cisco requires proactive management

Managing Cisco VoIP solutions means network managers must rely on credible, experienced vendors to some extent. Fortunately, many vendors have emerged as trusted, viable partners that can offer an end-to-end management solution for Cisco VoIP environments. With the selection of vendors provided network managers should feel confident in successfully deploying and experiencing the value and benefits of IP telephony. Continue Reading

Cisco VoIP managment guide: Required management tasks

Comprehensive VoIP management includes the basic network management tasks, but also includes monitoring services such as dial tone delivery, call success rates, telephony delays and impairments, as well as call quality. VoIP telephony management is categorized here. Continue Reading

Cisco management guide: Selecting a VoIP solution

Selecting a VoIP solution means deciding on independent VoIP tools or a VoIP solution suite of integrated products. Continue Reading

Cisco VoIP management guide: Recommendations and summary

Enterprises now have solid choices of management solutions for their Cisco VoIP deployment. The short list for any enterprise should include Prognosis, Infovista, or Cisco. Continue Reading

Cisco management guide: Selecting a VoIP solution

Selecting a VoIP solution means deciding on independent VoIP tools or a VoIP solution suite of integrated products. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

Cisco VoIP management guide: Recommendations and summary

Enterprises now have solid choices of management solutions for their Cisco VoIP deployment. The short list for any enterprise should include Prognosis, Infovista, or Cisco. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

Download SAN Guide Chapter 1: Management (PDF)

You asked for it, so here it is -- a printable version of our SAN All-In-One Guide. Download Chapter 1: Management in .pdf format now. Continue Reading