Network management platforms assist organizations to implement infrastructure effectively, look up user details rapidly, track network health, troubleshoot problems, defend against and react to threats, and optimize responsiveness. Network management tools can spot inefficient or inappropriate uses of network services like streaming multimedia or peer-to-peer file sharing that can waste bandwidth, reduce worker output or allow data leaks. A prudently planned network management solution can also help organizations to make smart network enhancement moves by surfacing trends in network demand for different periods or types of activities.

Cisco Meraki Dashboard Consultants

The Meraki Dashboard allows unified cloud management for Cisco network appliances

Cisco offers a diverse and growing portfolio of network management platforms that allow unified management for local, cloud-based, or hybrid network architectures. With Cisco's newer security, switching, and Wi-Fi networking products, you can choose among Meraki, DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network management. For instance, you can connect the latest Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki Wi-Fi APs to the Meraki dashboard to manage vital layers of your IT infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Cisco Catalyst Wi-Fi access point consultants, Meraki WiFi AP consulting experts, Catalyst switches integration experts, and Meraki switches experts can help your organization to plan, implement and optimize a modern environment for network monitoring and management.

Traditional Network Management Tools from Cisco and Others
Network Management Solutions ConsultantsAn abundance of network management utilities from Cisco and other vendors highlights the importance and complexity of supporting IT infrastructure. Progent's seasoned network management engineers are experienced at assisting companies develop network management strategies based on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Syslog, and Cisco NetFlow to build effective mechanisms for network bandwidth usage and latency, monitoring key router and switch performance characteristics, and identifying traffic patterns, applications, and devices that use network resources. Progent can assist businesses to deploy a rich range of open source and proprietary monitoring and management utilities to maintain Cisco infrastructure. Utilities familiar to Progent's engineers include Cacti, Nagios, Paessler Router Traffic Grapher, Cisco Cisco ASDM, Cisco Monitor Manager, Cisco Network Assistant, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Concord E-Health, Adventnet Netflow and Firewall Analyzer, Big Brother, Solarwinds Orion, and Necordia NetMRI. Network management platforms can help organizations to understand current network usage and intelligently prepare for downstream capacity expansion. Management tools can also be used to identify inefficient or improper utilization of network resources, such as streaming audio and video, peer-to-peer file exchange, etc. that can waste valuable and limited network bandwidth. A carefully planned network management plan can also aid organizations to arrive at informed choices on WAN and LAN upgrades once they understand how much system bandwidth historically needed at various times. Putting an effective network management solution in place beforehand is critical to avoid severe disruptions that can be caused by Denial Of Service attacks and malicious viruses. Such assaults can leave the network unstable and in the absence of appropriate tools it can be difficult, if not practically impossible, to find the location of the trouble. Network Management Tools from Cisco
Cisco has developed a selection of powerful tools that should be the foundation for any management strategy. Utilized in combination with the top outside vendor tools, Cisco's network management software can enhance the competitive value of networks for organizations of all sizes by dealing with key areas such as system utilization, throughput, availability, protection, troubleshooting, and scalability. Cisco's most popular network management tools include: Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) is a browser-based Java applet that permits you configure and monitor the software built into network appliances. ASDM is installed by the network device, and enables you to set up, track, and control the unit. Monitor Manager is a management solution designed to address the needs of small and midsize businesses (SMBs). Monitor Manager continuously scans important appliance parameters on voice/data networks serving five to 250 users and with up to 250 VoIP phones. Monitor Manager offers:

  • Up-to-date tracking of key device parameters on SMB-class network appliances, Cisco Communications Manager Express, Unity Express, security devices, WAPs, and VoIP phones
  • Ability to manage the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for organizations with up to 50 workers
Monitor Manager scans the network on a 24x7 basis and frequently touches and gathers identification and operations-tracking information from the managed devices in the network. Cisco Monitor Manager is a Microsoft Windows-based application and is entirely nondisruptive to IT processes and does not deploy any agent software on target appliances. The application provides a rich set of useful features including:
  • Network discovery and topology
  • Physical and process looks at Unified Communications implementation
  • Networkwide device identification collection and documentation
  • Advanced security and dependable communication
  • Cisco device operations monitoring
  • Cisco Unified IP Telephony tracking
  • Interface status and data traffic monitoring
  • Real-time alerts and event notification
  • Reports
  • Configuration log
Network Assistant is a desktop-hosted management tool designed for for LANs and WLANS for growing companies that have up to 40 Cisco switches and routers. By running Cisco's Smartports mechanism, Cisco Network Assistant simplifies setup, installation, and ongoing management and maintenance of Cisco networks. Network Assistant provides a unified network view and allows network managers to deploy its functions among switches, routers, and WAPs. Security Manager is a feature-rich but simple to operate application for managing all aspects of device set up and policies for Cisco PIX and ASA security appliances, virtual private networks, and IPS. The solution effectively manages even small environments consisting of fewer than ten devices, but also expands to manage large-scale networks with thousands of appliances. Expansion is achieved via smart policy-based management techniques that can simplify administration. Highlights of Security Manager include:
  • Supports control of Cisco router platforms running a Cisco IOS security software image, Cisco ASA 5500 family firewalls, PIX security appliances, IPS 4200 inline security appliances, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 security modules
  • Reacts faster. more rapidly to threats: specify and assign new security policies to thousands of appliances in a few simple steps
  • Rich graphical user interface offers superior ease-of-use
  • A variety of looks that provide flexible ways to control appliances and policies such as the option to manage the security environment visually on a topology map
  • Comprehensive animated training for the novice operator to speed up training time
  • Centrally specify which policies are shared and automatically inherited by new devices to ensure corporate policies are configured consistently, at the same time offering optional flexibility to customize policies at the individual appliance level
  • Ability to build a common firewall rule table for all Cisco firewalls with smart evaluation of firewall policies to detect anomalies in the rule table
  • Easily set up site-to-site, hub-spoke, full-mesh IPsec, or extranet Virtual Private Network connections by means of a VPN wizard
  • Compatibility with Cisco Access Control Server (ACS) for low-level role based access management to devices and administration functions
  • Operation with security MARS system to correlate events against related firewall rules to support quicker decision making and enhanced network up time
  • Ability to assign specific tasks to every manager during the deployment of a rule, with formal change management and logging; allows the security and network operations team to work cooperatively as a cohesive group with efficient teamwork
How Progent Can Assist You with Network Management Solutions
Progent's Cisco-Premier network engineers can show you how to utilize Cisco's network management tools in combination with a variety of powerful open source and proprietary programs to create a comprehensive management toolkit to keep your network running smoothly, conserve valuable resources, protect your information, recover quickly from equipment breakdowns or deliberates attacks, and enable you to scale or repurpose system hardware effectively and economically as your organization evolves. Progent can also help you to utilize network management utilities to monitor and classify network data to enable traffic shaping, which allows you to set up Cisco routers to impose a variety of throughput restrictions on certain types of activity based on the importance you specify. By storing and queuing excess packets above your committed volume, and by assigning preference to critical processes, traffic shaping can prevent Internet Service Provider excess usage charges from spiraling out of reach and/or avoid lost worker productivity resulting from indiscriminate policing of your network bandwidth restrictions during periods of heavy demand. Progent's CISM, CISSP, and ISSAP security specialists can help you to develop an end-to-end security strategy that encompasses your network management solution, and Progent's remote and on-site network specialists and Cisco CCIE-certified consultants can use advanced network monitoring and analysis tools to isolate and fix trouble quickly to keep your IT system productive. To find out additional details about Progent's engineering expertise for Cisco technology, pick a subject:

To contact Progent about engineering help for Cisco networking, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.

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