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Network Installation and Administration

  • Network budgets to grow in 2010, but VARs must deliver solutions

    In a recent purchasing intentions survey, SearchNetworking.com's readers said overwhelmingly that they will increase their spending on networking products in 2010. If channel partners want to get a share of this spending, they must position themselves as solution providers. Networking professionals still need to know they're solving problems and delivering value with each dollar they spend.Article | 19 Aug 2009

  • Router and switch upgrades: Five reasons your customer should invest

    Mid recession, customers are avoiding investment in even basic router and switch upgrades, but one surefire way to convince them is long-term savings that will outweigh investment.Tip

  • Nortel dumps WiMax (News Roundup)

    Additional headlines: Growing Gray market threatens VARs; Dell ponders smartphones -- again; HP urges partners to go ProCurve -- not Cisco.Article | 04 Feb 2009

  • Switch and router upgrades without the downtime

    Network upgrades don't have to mean network downtime and lost revenues. Check out solution provider tips on avoiding network downtime even during switch and router upgrades.Article | 19 Jan 2009

  • Network hardware for high-availability applications

    High-availability applications are only highly available if your client has the network capacity to support them without any hiccups. Learn how to make the right network upgrades -- from cabling to switches to servers to WAN connections -- to ensure that your client's high-availability applications remain true to their name. In the process you'll understand the tradeoffs involved when making specific network upgrades for high-availability apps.Feature

  • Understanding the impact of high-availability applications on the network

    Applications and their data must be available in order to be useful. Value-added resellers and solution providers must ensure application availability any time new software is added or updated, or any time that changes are made to the client's network. This tutorial explains the fundamental importance of application availability and highlights related network considerations.Feature

  • Network upgrades for high-availability apps

    In this Hot Spot Tutorial, learn how to upgrade your client's network to support the applications they need most, like voice and email.Guide

  • What are the top reasons for network upgrades?

    Learn why performance, reliability and security are the three most important reasons for recommending a network upgrade to your clients.Ask the Expert

  • When to recommend a PBX replacement vs. adding VoIP to PBX?

    VoIP phone systems offer a wide range of features that can enhance productivity, reach-ability and efficiency for a business. Some of these features, such as unified communications and sophisticated call routing, work a lot better when directly built in rather than integrated with an existing PBX. Therefore it is important to first know what features work better in a pure VoIP environment versus a hybrid one. After that, you must find which features yield the most benefit to a particular business operation and rank them accordingly.Ask the Expert

  • Checklist: How to configure a PIX firewall

    Help protect customer networks by installing and configuring the PIX firewalls you sell. This checklist walks you through the configuration to help ensure a smooth process.Tip

  • VIEW MORE ON : Network Upgrading

  • Network design documentation

    Inadequate network documentation can lead to a multitude of problems for solution providers. Learn the importance of network documentation and what network design documentation a solution provider needs from customers.Feature

  • Channel Checklist: 10 steps for network documentation

    Network documentation can provide valuable information to service providers as well as providing backup in the event of a catastrophic network failure. Learn how to ensure a smooth network documentation process with these 10 steps.Channel Checklist

  • Network infrastructure design FAQ podcast: Part one

    Don't have time to dig into part one of the network infrastructure design FAQ guide now? Now you can download part one of the podcast in MP3 format.Podcast

  • Network documentation: Top five tips for resellers and consultants

    These top five tips are the most popular for network documentation. VARs can consult these tips for advice on topics from hardware and software inventories to network topology.Tip

  • Network inventory management: A method to the madness

    Creating a network inventory report is a daunting task, in the face of massive amounts of data to be collected and incorrectly reported information to be cropped or corrected. In order to make sense of the madness, VARs and consultants need a sensible and efficient method. The ends, however, justify the means, as a successful inventory will provide a complete picture and assist the discovery of issues in need of resolution.Tip

  • Network documentation and cable management

    VARs and networking consultants are often asked to make decisions for their customers that will have consequences down the line. Good documentation on these decisions, including the reasons behind them, can not only protect a channel pro's relationship with the customer, but also their reputation in the industry. However, keeping that documentation can be a difficult and time-consuming chore. Cable management software can make the process quicker and with fewer errors.Tip

  • Network documentation: How to realize its benefits

    A thorough network documentation has several payoffs. Learn what to include in the documentation of your customers' networks to reap these benefits.Tip

  • Compiling a hardware and software inventory

    Performing a network inventory is not a one-size-fits-all task. This tip helps value-added resellers and networking consultants identify scope and choose a method (automated vs. manual) when performing an inventory.Tip

  • Freeware for easy network adapter data retrieval

    This tip introduces network consultants and value-added resellers (VARs) to freeware AdapterWatch, which easily retrieves network adapter data.Tip

  • View system configuration in seconds with freeware

    Get a handle on your customer's server configuration with this fast, freeware reporting tool.Tip

  • VIEW MORE ON : Network Documentation

  • Using network assessments to understand your customer's network environment

    Your customers need to have network assessments done, whether they think so or not, before you can provide networking services. In this edition of Channel Chat, we sit down with networking solution provider Atrion Networking to discuss why it uses a network assessment services requirement to understand a customer's network environment before offering any other networking services.Podcast

  • Using Wireshark and Tshark display filters for troubleshooting

    Display filters can be used to analyze different types of network traffic. In this Traffic Talk tip, Richard Bejtlich explains how to use Wireshark and Tshark display filters for security and network troubleshooting.Tip

  • DNS troubleshooting and analysis

    This first edition of Traffic Talk takes a look at the Domain Name System (DNS), the mechanism that translates IP addresses to hostnames and back, plus a slew of other functions. Learn how to identify problems with DNS records and learn more about DNS servers themselves to ensure the protection and secure operation of your clients' websites.Tip

  • Troubleshooting 802.1x missing supplicant problems, part 1

    Learn how to diagnose and solve 802.1x missing supplicant problems.Tip

  • Troubleshooting 802.1x missing supplicant problems, part 2

    Learn how to deal with peripheral devices and hubs that don't have 802.1x supplicants in this chapter excerpt of Implementing 802.1x Security Solutions by Jim Geier.Tip

  • How to troubleshoot five common routing errors

    Troubleshooting router errors is made easier with this tip, which covers the five major routing errors -- filtering redistribution, mismatched neighbor parameters in OSPF, subnets, metrics and tweaking EIGRP metrics.Tip

  • Conduct hardware-specific troubleshooting

    If you are troubleshooting a Cisco Express Forwarding platform that supports dCEF or hardware switching, the final step is looking for potential hardware-specific problems.Book Excerpt

  • Accurately describe the problem

    Learn how to identify and describe IP connectivity problems with Cisco Express Forwarding. This tutorial is based on Cisco IOS Release 12.3.Book Excerpt

  • Scope the network topology

    Learn how to scope a network's topology to troubleshooting IP connectivity problems involving Cisco Express Forwarding. A sample physical topology is included to illustrate the discussion.Book Excerpt

  • Verify the adjacency table

    Once the FIB table has been checked, the next step in troubleshooting Cisco Express Forwarding lies with the rewrite information in the adjacency table.Book Excerpt

  • VIEW MORE ON : Network Testing and Network Troubleshooting

  • Cisco Partner Summit 2012: Support services, cloud and mobility reign

    At Cisco Partner Summit 2012, Cisco continues its attempt to improve business by refocusing its channel partner strategy with support services, mobility and cloud announcements.Channel Chat | 30 Apr 2012

  • IT asset disposal services offer secure data removal and piece of mind

    Channel partners can offer Ingram Micro’s IT asset disposal services to provide customers with secure data removal while remaining environmentally friendly by recycling devices.Channel Chat | 23 Jan 2012

  • Will TRILL replace spanning tree protocol in data center networks?

    The Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) protocol is a pending IETF standard that could eliminate spanning tree protocol from standard data center network design. Vendors like Brocade are already staking their future on it.Article | 17 Jun 2010

  • Study guide: Offering MPLS services

    Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) technology is being requested more and more by enterprises and companies that need their networks to work more efficiently. In this study guide, we'll test your knowledge of MPLS services, including the security of MPLS VPNs, MPLS when working with VoIP, and even the history of MPLS.Study Guide

  • 10 gigabit Ethernet offers opportunities for VARs and integrators

    The current economic climate has limited customer spending to projects that demonstrate measureable savings. 10 GbE makes possible reducing the number of ports and switches required, thereby simplifying the task of combining multiple small data centers into large data centers. Building effective consolidated data centers requires a careful analysis of requirements and a detailed understanding of network interface, switch and cabling technology. Working with customers as they plan and implement a combined data center provides multiple opportunities for VARs and integrators to provide services and sell equipment. This guide provides an overview of the issues involved in selecting equipment and upgrading customer network infrastructure to support the use of 10 GbE in a consolidated data center.Guide

  • Upgrading customer network fabric for 10 gigabit Ethernet

    Upgrading customer network fabric to support 10 gigabit Ethernet, combined with data center consolidation, is a complex process. Learn how as a VAR or solution provider you can assist customers in the network upgrade process, beginning with analysis, through cabling and equipment selection and purchase, installation, configuration and testing.Tip

  • Upgrade customer data centers with 10 gigabit Ethernet

    10 gigabit Ethernet helps enable data center consolidation and server virtualization, with benefits of performance increases and cost reduction. But upgrading to 10 GbE is no simple task and presents an opportunity for VARs and integrators to assist customers in making the right decisions.Tip

  • Designing an optimal Layer 3 for Cisco network service architectures

    This chapter from 'Authorized Self-Study Guide: Designing Cisco Network Service Architectures, 2nd ed.' examines a select number of topics on both advanced IP addressing and select design issues with Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). Advanced IP addressing and routing protocol design encompasses a large amount of detail that has already filled a number of books on routing protocols and networking best practices. Learn how to design addressing solutions to support summarization, design routing solutions to support summarization, route filtering, and redistribution, and design scalable EIGRP, OSPF and BGP routing solutions for the enterprise.Book Excerpt

  • Prepping customers for IPv6 transition: Step by step

    VARs that prepare their customers for the IPv6 transition now will become trusted advisors and be in a better position to sell them applications and technology later.Tip

  • Is there a way to save network bandwidth by improving the efficiency of TCP connections?

    TCP maintains a constant connection between a client and server. Learn about moving data by using TCP or EDP and find out if there's a way to save network bandwidth.Ask the Expert

  • VIEW MORE ON : Network Protocols and Standards