Networking and communication

VoIP capabilities save hotel money, keep guests connected

"Rip and replace" were three words the Seaport Hotel in Boston didn't want to hear when considering VoIP capabilities. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

EMC plans array-based encryption via PowerPath

EMC's next security move will be array-based encryption through PowerPath by 2008, according to internal documents obtained by SearchStorage. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

VoIP security, unified communications need questioned

VoIP security issues and questions about the business need for unified communications have stalled adoption of both technologies. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart

Will all storage systems be unified storage in the future?

I don't think that "all" storage systems will be unified... Continue Reading

What is the advantage of having unified storage?

There is debate about that. Many customers may prefer to have just one storage system, avoiding specialized storage systems, like NAS for file-based access or a complicated block-based storage system... Continue Reading

Gates to outline Microsoft's new strategy for secure computing

Bill Gates is back at RSA. At this year's conference, Gates plans to speak about the evolution of authentication, network policies and data protection, signaling a change in his vision of a "Digital Decade." Continue Reading

By

• Dennis Fisher

VoIP security, unified communications need questioned

VoIP security issues and questions about the business need for unified communications have stalled adoption of both technologies, according to CompTIA's recent survey. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

HP fills in gaps with product updates

HP announced updates to several of its products, but analysts are wondering what its ultimate strategy will be for storage virtualisation. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Open source - What voice managers need to know

Open source technology can make sense for VoIP deployments, and can be used in a hybrid approach with existing proprietary hardware or software. Learn more in this tip. Continue Reading

By

• Tom Lancaster

What is an E&M line? What is the difference between a 2 wire and 4 wire E&M?

What is an E&M line? What is the difference between a 2 wire and 4 wire E&M? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

Hybrid drives hit NAS boxes

DNF will be making hybrid drives available in all of its storage products, but it doesn't recommend them for IP SANs. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Managed VoIP -- 10 tips for a smooth migration

Migrating to managed VoIP doesn't have to be a headache. Here, Verizon Business offers 10 top tips to ensure you get what you need. Continue Reading

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• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

VoIP call features give users more bang for their buck

2006 saw an increase in the popularity of VoIP and encouraged many competing service providers to offer features such as voicemail and Caller ID as standard in their best-selling service plans. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

Managed VoIP -- 10 tips for a smooth migration

Migrating to managed VoIP doesn't have to be a headache. Here, Verizon Business offers 10 top tips to ensure you get what you need. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

VoIP case studies: What you need to know

Case studies are the next best thing to being there. Learn how others overcame the expected and the unexpected challenges of a VoIP migration in our case studies series. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP.com editors

Brocade unveils McData integration roadmap

McData's directors and FICON routers will remain separate product lines for now; McData's SAN management software will replace Brocade's Fabric Manager. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Network visualization, automation: At odds?

Visualization is a powerful tool. But in the context of network management, the prevalence of graphs may indicate that your network management system (NMS) is not ready to meet the requirements of autonomic network performance. Why so? Loki Jorgenson explains in this tip. Continue Reading

By

• Loki Jorgenson

Network-based attacks

The second tip in our series, "How to assess and mitigate information security threats." Continue Reading

iSCSI SANs grow in midmarket, enterprise

Because transporting "SCSI over IP" leverages ubiquitous Ethernet networks, that translates to lower cost, easier maintenance and simpler management, which makes SAN deployment more attractive for SMEs. Continue Reading

VoIP security monitoring gets proactive

VoIP security and traffic monitoring have become imperatives, but it can still be tricky on a converged VoIP and data network. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

RSVP ready to manage VoIP, video traffic

Though its 10 year past was riddled with failures, RSVP is fast returning as one of the best tools for managing QoS for VoIP and video. Continue Reading

By

• Subha Dhesikan

Cisco fixes IOS flaws

Attackers could exploit three Cisco IOS flaws to cause a denial of service or launch malicious code. The networking giant has released fixes. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Can Caller ID on VoIP calls be customized?

Can I create the CID, name, area code and phone number that will display when I place a call via VoIP? Who do you like for VoIP service? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

What considerations do I need to make when setting up a VoIP system to our remote office?

What considerations do I need to make when setting up a VoIP system to our remote office? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

WAN/WAFS platform specifications

Product snapshots highlighting key specifications for a cross section of WAFS and WAN optimisation products intended for small, medium, and large organisations. Continue Reading

Reasons why enterprise networking and security roles must stay separate

Enterprise network managers are responsible for configuring and managing network devices, but should they be accountable for tasks that are typically handled by the information security team? Contributor Shon Harris examines why networking and information security tasks should not be shared. Continue Reading

By

• Shon Harris , Logical Security

VoIP security testing fundamentals

VoIP security testing fundamentals are discussed in this guide -- how to test a VoIP system, what tools to use, how to use fuzzing to test VoIP security. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP ANZ Staff

EqualLogic CEO says IPO on the way

EqualLogic's CEO talks about the company's plans to go public, its intent to add 10 GigE to its products and why he thinks not all iSCSI products are created equal. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Routing: Five common, easily avoided errors

Router configuration errors don''t have to take down your network. Learn five common routing mistakes -- and how to avoid them -- in this tip. Continue Reading

By

• Tom Lancaster

Core Security offers powerful testing tool

We highly recommend Core Impact 6.0 to security engineers to verify the vulnerability of their networks. Continue Reading

By

• Mike Poor, Contributing Writer

WiMax clearing path to mainstream

A number of industry moves have made WiMax almost ready for the mainstream. But there's good news and bad news to consider before making the move. Continue Reading

Network configuration management key to VoIP success

While companies spend millions on upgrading infrastructure for VoIP, little attention is given to solving the largest source of downtime – configuration-related outages due to human error. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president, Yankee Group

Network configuration management key to VoIP success

While companies spend millions on upgrading infrastructure for VoIP, little attention is given to solving the largest source of downtime – configuration-related outages due to human error. A well-defined change management process built around a configuration management system can virtually eliminate the "self-inflicted" errors, which currently account for about 60% of all network outages. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

What is the difference between virtualization switches and virtual SANs?

The word "virtualization" is thrown around so much that it's hard to always know what it means... Continue Reading

What is the difference between InfiniBand, SAS and iSCSI and where does each technology fit?

InfiniBand is an interface; just like Fibre Channel (FC) or Ethernet. As an interface, InfiniBand carries different protocols... Continue Reading

Convergence, interoperability key in disaster planning

Convergence and interoperability are major factors in ensuring communications continuity in a disaster. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

How are switches changing the way SANs are designed and managed?

There is more granularity in the device options today, allowing for more versatile device configuration... Continue Reading

Storage area network FAQ audiocast

Don't have time to dig into the FAQ text now? Download the storage area network audiocast in MP3 format and listen in the car, at the gym -- wherever you want. Continue Reading

Why don't we have clustered FC block storage?

Is it odd that the industry has made such serious strides toward incorporating clustering concepts in both file-based storage and IP -based storage, but not Fibre Channel storage? Continue Reading

Top 10 mobile tips of 2006

Review of the popular mobile technical tips of 2006 from our stable of mobile experts; Lisa Phifer, Craig Mathias, Daniel Taylor, Kevin Beaver and Robbie Harrell. Continue Reading

Skype Trojan: Much ado about nothing?

This week in Security Blog Log: A Trojan horse has captured headlines by targeting Skype users. But some believe the threat is being blown out of proportion. Continue Reading

Top client security tips of 2006

A network user without the proper know-how is a ticking time bomb when it comes to security. Check out our top five client hardening tips of 2006 to get a head start on protecting yourself from potentially dangerous users. Continue Reading

Top network security tips of 2006

The top Windows networking security tips of 2006 cover a range of topics, including network isolation, open source Windows security tools, VPN security and more. Continue Reading

VoIP hacking exposed in new book

VoIP hacking is a reality, and in a new book, two VoIP security experts outline the tools and tricks to avoid a system-crushing hack. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

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 considerations, controller architecture and access point placement Continue Reading

By

• Robbie Harrell

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. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

What are the fundamentals of ATM and ISDN?

Lisa Phifer explains the fundamentals of ATM and ISDN and why they are used. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

Enterprises are open to Asterisk

Organisations have become so comfortable with VoIP and standards that open-source technologies like Asterisk are being given serious consideration over big iron PBX platforms. Learn all about Asterisk here. Continue Reading

By

• Leigha Cardwell-Bloss

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. Continue Reading

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. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

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 for VoIP management tools. Continue Reading

By

• Gary Audin, Delphi Inc.

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. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart

Swindon is broadband capital

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

By

• Tash Shifrin

Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Engineering Track (LV 2006)

Managers need to engineer the most flexible and complete storage network. This track looks at SAN and NAS issues, distance demands, remote offices and how to build out systems. Continue Reading

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. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

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. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Storage Decisions in the wild, wild west

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

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

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. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Access your ISA and Exchange Server from outside the office

Learn how to configure your Linksys router so that you can access your ISA and Exchange Server from outside the office in this expert response by Lisa Phifer. Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Phifer, Core Competence

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. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Editors

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. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

Slow response times from client/server PC's running IFS applications

How do you find out the culprit of a network delays when you see little bandwidth being used? Read this Q&A to see what our network administrating expert, Lindi Horton, has to say. Continue Reading

By

• Lindi Horton, ServiceMesh

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. Continue Reading

By

• Krissi Danielsson, Contributor

Managed and hosted VoIP: muddling through

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 ask the right questions to get the managed or hosted service your firm needs. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

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. Continue Reading

By

• SearchNetworking Staff

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 ask the right questions to get the managed or hosted service your organization needs. Continue Reading

By

• Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research

Wireless connections with ad hoc networks

Ad hoc wireless networking in Windows Vista with the IPv6 protocol has its risks, but it also has several built-in security mechanisms. In this tip, Brien Posey explains how these security features help counteract some risks of wireless networks. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

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. Continue Reading

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? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

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? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

Why is UDP used more in VoIP than TCP?

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

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

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

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

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

Can VoIP work on a GPRS-enabled mobile phone?

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

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

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. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

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. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

Is the SANS Top 20 still useful?

This week in Security Blog Log: Some experts ponder whether the SANS Institute's Top 20 vulnerability list is as valuable than it once was. Others weigh in on the VoIP threat. Continue Reading

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? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

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. Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

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. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

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. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

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. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey, Senior News Writer

Review: Arbor Networks' Peakflow X 3.6

Hot Pick: Peakflow isn't cheap and requires an intimate understanding of data flows, applications and network infrastructure. But the investment will pay dividends. Continue Reading

By

• Sandra K. Miller, Contributing Writer

Review: Network Intelligence's enVision

enVision offers excellent value and is highly configurable, though typically that means you have to put a lot into it to get the most out of it. Continue Reading

By

• Brent Huston, Contributing Writer

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. Continue Reading

By

• Amy Kucharik, TechTarget

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. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell, News Editor

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. Continue Reading

By

• Amy Kucharik, TechTarget

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'?" Continue Reading

By

• Sudhanshu Gupta

Production databases find a home on IP SANs

Dow Chemical will be cutting costs with a NetApp system; AirClic goes with EqualLogic's newest SAS array after evaluating both NetApp and EMC. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

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 SMBs/SMEs using third-party services. This article examines e-vaulting, highlights the major considerations and roadblocks in implementation, examines the impact of e-vaulting on real-life users and looks ahead at future e-vaulting trends. Continue Reading

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. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

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. Continue Reading

By

• Voice&Data Staff

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. Continue Reading

By

• Leigha Cardwell-Bloss, Site Editor

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 tools and techniques you'll need to find and exploit insecure wireless networks. Continue Reading

By

• Kevin Beaver, Principle Logic, LLC

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. Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Mitchell

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. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

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 understand it, with VoIP, everything becomes data. So, is it cheaper for the user if they use VoIP? How will operators handle this from a business model perspective? Will they expand the data amount packages or will they need to differentiate between 'regular' data and VoIP data? And a technical question: how much VoIP data am I consuming if I have a one minute voice conversation? Continue Reading

By

• SearchVoIP Staff

What storage managers are buying and why, page 5

What storage managers are buying and why Continue Reading

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