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Problem solve

Get help with specific problems with your technologies, process and projects.

• White box switches: Understanding the basics

  White box switches are finally emerging, offering a choice in network OS as well as flexibility. Are they poised to take over your network? Continue Reading

• SDN essentials: Why network orchestration and virtualization?

  The goal of SDN is dynamic networks, so it's crucial to understand the concepts of network orchestration and virtualization -- the keys to flexibility. Continue Reading

• SDN basics: Understanding centralized control and programmability

  Network engineers who want to learn about SDN basics must begin with the concepts of centralized control and network programmability. Continue Reading

• Remote access security: What is ABAC and can it protect my network?

  Expert Joerg Hirschmann illustrates the need to supplement role-based access control with attribute-based access control to boost enterprise security. Continue Reading

• How SDN and NFV simplify network service chain provisioning

  SDN and NFV simplify service chain provisioning, making it easier and cheaper to spin up applications in enterprise and service provider networks. Continue Reading

• What you need to know about duplicate IP address detection

  Read valuable expert advice about what causes IP address conflicts, and learn how to detect duplicate IP addresses in this tip.Continue Reading

• Securing from anywhere: Your mobile device VPN strategy

  Virtual private networks have long secured remote users. Learn how a mobile device VPN factors into your security strategy.Continue Reading

• Network programming languages Frenetic and Pyretic simplify OpenFlow

  OpenFlow can simplify networks, yet the protocol itself is complex. Network programming languages Frenetic and Pyretic streamline OpenFlow SDN.Continue Reading

• Wireless security options don't have to break the bank

  Security expert Michele Chubirka shares low-cost and free options available to help your company guard its wireless LANs against threats.Continue Reading

• How many devices can one 802.11n standard access point control?

  Expert Mike Jude reveals the technical and theoretical limitations of 802.11n access points as more enterprises upgrade to the new standard.Continue Reading

• WAN aggregation: Why you should consider this application delivery optimization technique

  What is WAN aggregation, and how does it work? Our expert explains why all companies should consider this type of application delivery optimization.Continue Reading

• Subnet basics: Must you set up Wi-Fi subnets in a single building?

  Expert Mike Jude discusses the rationale of creating distinct Wi-Fi subnets in a single building.Continue Reading

• Take steps to defend your network using DHCP snooping

  Learn how to enable DHCP snooping to secure your network against common breaches including man in the middle attacks and ARP poisoning.Continue Reading

• Getting cloud capacity planning right in the face of oncoming growth

  Cloud capacity planning requires accurate knowledge of a cloud provider's existing infrastructure, future plans and the growth plans of its customers.Continue Reading

• What is protocol spoofing as it relates to WAN optimization?

  Learn in this expert response what protocol spoofing is and how it can be used as a WAN optimization technique.Continue Reading

• Identifying and mitigating cloud computing vulnerabilities

  How successful a cloud provider is in growing its business depends on its ability to dispel customer concerns about data security and privacy.Continue Reading

• Five key issues admins face when configuring Cisco routers and switches

  Two Cisco-certified experts detail the five biggest challenges admins face when configuring Cisco routers and switches.Continue Reading

• Will the cloud exchange be the next big ecosystem player?

  An emerging branch of the cloud ecosystem, the cloud exchange, has the potential to address many concerns about the cloud broker model.Continue Reading

• Six ways hackers try to break Secure Sockets Layer-encrypted data

  Security expert Michael Gregg discusses steps enterprises should take to ensure their SSL-encrypted data remains secure.Continue Reading

• Overcoming network functions virtualization implementation challenges

  Carriers need network functions virtualization implementation prespecification, so they'll look to TM Forum and cloud management models for help.Continue Reading

• Selling SaaS: Operational requirements for consumers vs. businesses

  The key to successfully selling SaaS across all market segments is addressing the different operational requirements among various buyer groups.Continue Reading

• Where SDN and DPI technology meet: Centralized control and automation

  When SDN and DPI technology meet, network engineers can apply monitoring and management policy to the whole network instead of individual components.Continue Reading

• SDN and the enterprise campus network

  SDN campus solutions have the potential to impact current LAN architecture, changing the enterprise campus network.Continue Reading

• Are there alternatives to the OpenFlow protocol?

  Jason Edelman explains OpenFlow protocol alternatives and what's important in determining which southbound protocol will work for you.Continue Reading

• IETF SDN: I2RS uses traditional routing protocols in software networks

  The IETF SDN strategy relies on centralized management and distributed decision making with traditional network protocols -- departing from OpenFlow.Continue Reading

• How to choose the right SDN controller platform

  When choosing the best SDN controller platform for your company, look at the problem you need to solve, the end goal and various end-to-end solutions.Continue Reading

• Selling government cloud services: FedRAMP vs. FISMA

  Even if a cloud provider isn't planning to sell government cloud services, it's still important to have a basic understanding of FedRAMP and FISMA.Continue Reading

• Cloud bursting: How will it affect your billing requirements?

  Cloud bursting attracts many customers to public cloud services, but tracking these dynamic resources for billing becomes problematic for providers.Continue Reading

• Virtual overlay networks: Tunneling protocols enable multi-tenancy

  Virtual overlay networks use tunneling protocols to extend isolated network segments between servers for multi-tenant data center networks.Continue Reading

• Wide area network resiliency best practices

  Learn about network resiliency best practices to keep your wide area network (WAN) services running during technical difficulties and outages.Continue Reading

• Business continuation and disaster recovery tips for your WAN services

  Understand the tools, technologies and strategies used to ensure business continuance (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) for your WAN services.Continue Reading

• IT service-level agreements and SDN: Assuring virtualization performance

  With SDN with network virtualization, service providers can improve server virtualization performance and offer improved service-level agreements.Continue Reading

• When it comes to BYOD security risks, which VPN is best, IPsec or SSL?

  By 2016, 40% of the workforce will be mobile. IPsec VPNs are being widely discussed for BYOD security. But should we also be talking about SSL VPNs?Continue Reading

• SDN network interoperability: Integrating with existing networks

  Derick Winkworth outlines whether it's possible to reach SDN network interoperability.Continue Reading

• Building cloud-ready applications: What changes?

  To maximize profits, providers must understand cloud-ready applications, learn how to meet their unique requirements and offer facilitating services.Continue Reading

• IPv6 benefits: Making the IPv6 business case

  Depleted IPv4 addresses are not enough for many enterprises to deploy IPv6. Use these IPv6 benefits to make a business case for your IPv6 migration.Continue Reading

• IPv6 cost considerations

  Before you make the switch to the new Internet Protcol, it's important to understand these IPv6 cost considerations.Continue Reading

• SDN security strategies for network attack prevention

  With a deeper level of visibility and granular control, SDN security strategies can better prevent a wide range of network attacks.Continue Reading

• IPv6 addressing requires special attention to ensure security

  IPv6 auto-configured addresses raise concern about privacy and the protocol's vulnerability to host tracking attacks, and more.Continue Reading

• In the SDN WAN: Network programmability, provisioning and high availability

  The SDN WAN's network programmability and automated provisioning addresses the demands placed on the wide area network by the cloud, SaaS and BYOD.Continue Reading

• Understanding the relationship between SDN and NFV

  SDN and NFV are not part and parcel to each other, but when the two sets of technology meet they advance each other's capabilities.Continue Reading

• Is it time to consider FCoE adoption in your storage network plan?

  Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) adoption is growing. But is it right for your organization?Continue Reading

• In mobile networks, SDN and NFV mean service orchestration

  In mobile networks today, it can take months to deploy infrastructure and services, but SDN and NFV allow for orchestration and dynamic provisioning.Continue Reading

• Unlocking the potential of SDN controller applications

  Three broad sources for route information could drive SDN controller applications: provisioning instructions, "route sniffing" and path computation.Continue Reading

• SDN's missing links: Five barriers blocking SDN adoption by providers

  As more providers move to deploy SDN, adoption is being hindered by crucial gaps in device standards and tools for network control.Continue Reading

• Using big data analysis to harness your network operations

  Big data is all the craze, but analyzing big data intelligently can help network administrators pinpoint potential problems.Continue Reading

• How network functions virtualization will revolutionize architecture

  Using NFV, engineers can virtualize devices and services in large networks to make their architectures cost efficient and flexible.Continue Reading

• Easier ways to troubleshoot network routing issues

  Expert Patrick Hubbard shares how you can make your life easier by alleviating some annoying network routing issues.Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud networks face challenges, but SDN may be the answer

  Customers have misgivings about hybrid cloud, but enhancing cloud networks with software-defined networking may help allay many concerns.Continue Reading

• Enterprise wireless standards: The basics

  Glen Kemp discusses the standards and protocols that support enterprise-class wireless deployments and how they differ from consumer configurations.Continue Reading

• FISMA compliance through continuous monitoring: Tips for cloud providers

  Continuous monitoring for FISMA compliance must shift from its static approach to a cyclical, more dynamic strategy for near real-time risk awareness.Continue Reading

• How to make Network as a Service a real option

  Networking as a Service may be the future of networking, but virtual network overlay and device-based NaaS has challenges to solve first.Continue Reading

• Virtualization management: What you need to know about the Nexus 1000v

  Cisco's Nexus 1000v platform gives network administrators some familiar tools to oversee virtual networks.Continue Reading

• Three models of SDN explained

  In this tip, networking expert Tom Nolle outlines the three models of SDN, explaining the basic goals, mechanisms, benefits and drawbacks of each.Continue Reading

• OpenFlow configuration protocols: Understanding OF-Config and OVSDB

  OpenFlow directs network packet flows, but OpenFlow configuration protocols, OF-Config and OVSDB, form relationships between controllers and switches.Continue Reading

• Network security assessment: Test firewalls, IDS in multiple ways

  Network administrators need to test internal systems such as firewalls and IPS/IDS devices to ensure their networks are safe.Continue Reading

• What are the best use cases for public cloud services?

  Enterprises increasingly see public cloud services as secure and stable enough for specific non-core applications if they have effective SLAs.Continue Reading

• Network security assessment: 10 tools you can't live without

  The top 10 tools to protect your network against security breaches.Continue Reading

• SSL certificate management: A practical guide

  Certificate management is faced by many but understood by few. This guide provides a refresher of the basics and covers common tasks.Continue Reading

• How data center network fabric and SDN intersect

  SDN and data center network fabrics both enable converged networking and the ability to manage many switches as one. Where do the two intersect?Continue Reading

• OpenStack vs. CloudStack: What's the best approach?

  When it comes to OpenStack vs. CloudStack, IT managers need to understand the difference between the open source cloud-computing management architectures.Continue Reading

• Five ways applications benefit from enterprise WAN optimization

  These are five ways enterprise WAN optimization technology helps overcome productivity and application issues organizations face in today's workforce.Continue Reading

• Application performance monitoring tools: Three vendor strategies

  Application performance monitoring tools match user transaction time to network flow information to identify problems. But APM tools differ widely.Continue Reading

• Should I use the OpenFlow protocol in software-defined networks?

  The OpenFlow protocol isn't required for SDN, although the Open Network Foundation recommends it, which means networking vendors have options.Continue Reading

• Why do I need SDN technology?

  SDN is valuable, but uses extend to other parts of the network for increased network flexibility, dynamic traffic flow, decreased latency and QoS.Continue Reading

• Centralized vs. decentralized SDN architecture: Which works for you?

  Two SDN architecture models -- centralized and decentralized -- have much in common, but key differences center on the use of the OpenFlow protocol.Continue Reading

• Is SDN a centralized or distributed network architecture?

  A software-defined network can have a centralized or distributed network architecture in the data center, LAN and WAN, depending on business needs.Continue Reading

• What is the difference between an overlay network and SDN?

  A software-defined network can be deployed as an overlay network to a physical network or natively as the primary network to improve flexibility.Continue Reading

• Does software-defined networking require special SDN switches?

  Software-defined networks do not require special SDN switches; instead, vendors offer a variety of SDN controllers, network fabrics and hardware.Continue Reading

• Where do network fabric and SDN technologies intersect?

  Networks can use a network fabric and SDN technologies together, and vendors' SDN architectures integrate them in a variety different ways.Continue Reading

• The role of northbound APIs in an SDN environment

  Northbound APIs on SDN controllers enable applications and orchestration systems to program the network and request services from it.Continue Reading

• SDN, network virtualization: Are they the same?

  Despite differences, SDN and network virtualization share common elements to direct network resources to VMs and segment or consolidate networks.Continue Reading

• Network functions virtualization primer: Software devices take over

  With network functions virtualization (NFV), engineers replace network devices with software on basic servers for flexibility and cost reduction.Continue Reading

• Do I need to use an SDN controller for software-defined networking?

  An SDN controller, with or without OpenFlow, is not required for a software-defined network, and SDN architecture vendors take different approaches.Continue Reading

• Software defined networking security enables granular policy control

  Software defined networking introduces network programmability and granular traffic management, which could contribute to enhanced SDN security.Continue Reading

• Promote cloud adoption with extensible, policy-driven cloud governance

  Providers can help enterprises tackle cloud governance by providing them the tools to create application-specific policies for dynamic environments.Continue Reading

• Basic wide area network optimization techniques

  Adding bandwidth to your network does not always fix slow applications problems. Consider these WAN optimization techniques first.Continue Reading

• Balancing wireless LAN troubleshooting strategies for BYOD

  Security is only half the challenge when it comes to supporting a BYOD WLAN. The rest depends on WLAN troubleshooting to handle personal device drain.Continue Reading

• Evaluating business and technology needs for a robust enterprise WLAN

  It is crucial to assess business and technology issues driving the need for a robust and capable enterprise WLAN to support a new mobile workforce.Continue Reading

• Evaluating wireless LAN requirements: What to consider before buying

  When considering a WLAN solution for your enterprise, you'll have to start by assessing the wireless LAN requirements necessary.Continue Reading

• Ten questions to ask WLAN vendors when evaluating WLAN solutions

  Once IT professionals have developed a mobility plan, it is crucial to address particular questions with WLAN vendors when assessing WLAN solutions.Continue Reading

• RFP process steps for selecting network carriers and equipment vendors

  These RFP process steps detail everything organizations need to include in a request for proposal to new network carriers and equipment vendors.Continue Reading

• Benefits of WLAN infrastructure as the primary access network

  Many companies see the benefits of WLAN infrastructure as primary access network, but some need it more than others. Understanding the gains is key.Continue Reading

• Top 5 skills SDN vendors will be looking for

  One of SDN's pioneers, Nick McKeown, offers his advice about the top skills for a job in software-defined networking.Continue Reading

• Got IP address management problems? Think DNS, DHCP, IPAM trifecta

  If your network has gotten too complicated for basic IP address management, it may be time to consider a DNS, DHCP, IPAM tool combination.Continue Reading

• What are the benefits of IPv6 in SDN and network virtualization?

  One of the benefits of IPv6 is that it makes software defined networking and network virtualization scale easily, IPv6 expert Ciprian Popoviciu says.Continue Reading

• How to manage service providers on your own

  IT professionals who handle global networks need to know how to manage service provider relationships. This article explains how to be your own MSP.Continue Reading

• WAN file protocol optimization: Three ways to accelerate CIFS and NFS

  View these three tips for accelerating file protocols CIFS and NFS over WAN.Continue Reading

• Floodlight primer: An OpenFlow controller

  In software-defined networks, engineers use Floodlight controllers to manage physical and virtual devices -- and each traffic flow running between them.Continue Reading

• QFX3500 vs. EX4550: Juniper's two top-of-rack switches

  Juniper's QFX3500 and EX4550 are both capable 10 Gigabit Ethernet, top-of-rack switches. Deciding which to buy may mean choosing between traditional and fabric architectures.Continue Reading

• Pros and cons of mobile optimization and cloud optimization

  IT research analyst John Burke discusses the pros and cons of mobile optimization clients and cloud optimization services.Continue Reading

• Three SSL acceleration questions answered

  SSL acceleration requires making changes to traditional WAN optimization tools so that they can read through encryption.Continue Reading

• VXLAN monitoring: How to gain virtual network overlay visibility

  Network pros need VXLAN monitoring tools for new network overlays. Until these tools arrive, they'll have to adapt existing monitoring strategies.Continue Reading

• IPv6-ready cloud providers have edge over competitors stuck in IPv4

  IPv6-ready cloud providers offer technology advantages to enterprises planning to deploy public or hybrid cloud services, according to an IPv6/cloud analysis.Continue Reading

• Four ways providers can improve cloud computing energy efficiency

  Although environmental issues might not be a priority for some providers, improving cloud computing energy efficiency is a great operational strategy.Continue Reading

• Ensuring wireless network optimization for application performance

  Wireless LANs are faster than ever, but engineers must still ensure wireless network optimization for maximum application performance.Continue Reading

• Hardware vs. software WAN optimizers: Advantages and disadvantages of each form factor

  What are the advantages and disadvantages of hardware vs. software WAN optimizers? Find out in this tip.Continue Reading

• Tools to improve wireless video performance

  Seeking to improve wireless video delivery? The answer could be in proprietary network enhancements and WLAN performance measurement tools.Continue Reading

• WLAN design for optimized Wi-Fi video delivery

  Wi-Fi video can tax networks, so engineers should use a number of WLAN design tactics to optimize wireless video delivery for enterprise users.Continue Reading

• Cloud monitoring tools: Troubleshooting with Wireshark in the cloud

  As traditional network monitoring tools slowly evolve into cloud monitoring tools, Wireshark moves gingerly into network troubleshooting in the cloud.Continue Reading