Tips

  • MOS: A love-hate relationship

    Defining an appropriate performance metric for a particular class of application is not simple but it is very important. Discover why we have a love-hate relationship with MOS.

  • Making the triple play

    Triple play is the hype – and yet there is a serious advantage to be gained that is more than just voice and video mixed with data.

  • Assessing pre-deployment assessment

    Discover the key to effective pre-deployment planning.

  • Network retardation: Will IP networks ever grow up?

    Networks and the systems that support them are slow maturing and the heavy lifting and regular maintenance of networks must be attended by humans. The consequence is that networks are slow to adapt...

  • Invisible traffic that steals bandwidth

    If you network is busy though you know it is empty you may be experiencing "phantom traffic." Here Loki Jorgeson takes the mystery out of of the sources of traffic-like behavior.

  • Circuits: Return of the living dead?

    It seems that the instant something is declared outdated, it is immediately recycled as the 'Next Big Thing.' The latest technology to rise from the dead is circuit-based networks. Learn more about...

  • Network intelligence, Part 1

    This article will help you grasp the concept of network intelligence and understand how 'awareness' reflects a critical step forward in network infrastructures. Loki Jorgenson describes two views o...

  • Network management in 3-D: Experience the terror

    Forget about the people in Plato's cave -- in network management, seeing is knowing. Loki Jorgenson explains why you don't have to rely on shadows and guesswork to tell how your network is performi...

  • Network intelligence for dumb applications, Part 2

    Part two of this two-part series introduced us to the concept of "network awareness" and "application awareness." In this column, Loki examines the indications of a trend towards a unified "intelli...

  • Fix before breaking

    The tried-and-true standard of TCP/IP isn't able to meet today's high performance demands and we must turn to new schemes for network transport. Here we look at some alternatives.

  • Checking for high-network utilization

    Learn the general approaches means for checking for high-network utilization on switched networks.

  • Bandwidth scam: Sticky fingers at faul

    Throwing bandwidth at a network performance problem rarely solves anything. But why did we think it would? This column guides you to think 'outside the box.'

  • Sharpening your security skills

    Unique skills and abilities can make a real difference in your marketability in today's challenging workplace, particularly where security is concerned. Kicking off his series, "Defending your netw...

  • Managing processes and tasks in Windows Vista

    This article looks at new capabilities in Windows Vista for managing processes and scheduling tasks and how administrators can use these capabilities for maintaining and troubleshooting systems.

  • How to (really) harden Windows clients

    Hardening Windows clients with a long checklist or an auditor's suggestions might be overkill according to contributor Kevin Beaver. Take a look at his bare-minimum checklist and his recommendation...

  • Nmap: A valuable open source tool for network security

    Open source tool Nmap is a popular choice amongst hackers and security pros alike for network mapping and testing for network vulnerabilities.

  • Using IDS as a hack detection tool

    Intrusion-detection systems (IDS) play a critical role in protecting the IT infrastructure. In this tip, security expert Michael Gregg discusses the types of IDS, how they work and how to get start...

  • IEEE 802.3at: Power over Ethernet plus

    802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) has been widely adopted for powering VoIP phones, wireless access points and a number of other network-connected products. But it provides a limited amount of powe...

  • Troubleshooting WLAN connectivity on the network

    This tip looks at potentially troublesome areas an admin will want to consider when troubleshooting WLAN connectivity on the network: the access point (AP), the LAN, the authentication server and r...

  • Defining adequate security controls

    Because of the changing nature of technology, the language in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is purposefully vague. This article explores the meaning of adequate security controls and what is required for ...