Network management tools assist companies to implement infrastructure efficiently, access user information quickly, monitor network health, debug problems, protect against and react to cyber attacks, and optimize performance. Network management systems can spot inefficient or improper uses of network services such as streaming media or peer-to-peer file sharing that can waste bandwidth, reduce employee productivity or allow data leakage. A well crafted network management solution can also assist organizations to make smart capacity planning decisions by exposing tendencies in network demand for different periods or tasks.

Cisco Meraki Dashboard Consulting Experts

The Meraki Dashboard offers simplified cloud management for Cisco infrastructure appliances

Cisco offers a rich and growing portfolio of infrastructure management platforms that allow unified management for on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid network models. With Cisco's later security, switching, and wireless infrastructure devices, you can run Meraki, Cisco DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network management. For example, you can interface the latest Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki WiFi 6/6E access points to the Meraki dashboard to monitor and manage critical components of your IT infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Cisco Catalyst WiFi access point consultants, Meraki WiFi access point consultants, Catalyst switches experts, and Cisco Meraki switches consultants can help your organization to plan, implement and tune an up-to-date environment for network infrastructure monitoring and management.

Legacy Network Management Tools from Cisco and Others
Cisco Network Management Solutions Consulting FirmA wealth of network management tools from Cisco and other vendors highlights the importance and difficulty of supporting IT infrastructure. Progent's seasoned network management engineers are experienced at helping companies develop network management strategies based on Simple Network Management Protocol, SYSLOG services, and Cisco NetFlow to create effective mechanisms for tracking network bandwidth usage and latency, viewing key router and switch performance metrics, and identifying traffic profiles, processes, and appliances that use available services. Progent can assist businesses to deploy a broad selection of free and proprietary monitoring and management products to manage Cisco infrastructure. Utilities used by Progent's engineers include MRTG, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Cisco ASDM, Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Wireshark/Ethereal, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow, Solarwinds Orion, and NetMRI. Network management platforms can enable organizations to be aware of existing network utilization and effectively prepare for downstream capacity increases. Management utilities can also be used to highlight poor or improper utilization of system services, such as streaming audio and video, peer-to-peer file sharing, etc. that can eat up expensive and limited network bandwidth. An efficiently crafted network management plan can also aid companies to arrive at intelligent decisions on system improvements after they appreciate the amount of network bandwidth actually needed at any one time. Having an efficient network management platform in place ahead of time is critical to prevent major disruptions that can follow Denial Of Service (DoS) attacks and malicious viruses. These assaults can render the network unstable and without proper utilities it can be difficult, if not practically impossible, to identify the location of the problem. Network Management Solutions from Cisco
Cisco provides an assortment of powerful tools that should be the basis for any network management strategy. Utilized in conjunction with appropriate third-party tools, Cisco's network management software can enhance the competitive value of network infrastructures for companies of all sizes by dealing with important areas such as system utilization, throughput, availability, protection, troubleshooting, and capacity planning. Cisco's top network management products include: Cisco ASDM is a web Java applet that permits you configure and monitor the software on security appliances. Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager is loaded by the network device, and enables you to set up, monitor, and control the unit. Monitor Manager is a management and monitoring solution designed to meet the requirements of small and medium-sized organizations. Cisco Monitor Manager continuously scans important appliance processes on voice/data environments serving five to 250 workers and equipped with as many as 250 Cisco Unified IP phones. The application offers:

  • Up-to-date monitoring of important appliance parameters on SMB-class routers and switches, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express, Cisco Unity Express, security devices, WAPs, and VoIP phones
  • Compatibility with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 appliance for organizations with up to 50 workers
Monitor Manager scans the network on a 24x7 cycle and periodically polls and gathers identification and performance-tracking data from the managed appliances in the system. Cisco Monitor Manager is a Windows-based application and is entirely nondisruptive to IT processes and does not use any agent software on managed appliances. The application offers a variety of valuable features such as:
  • Voice and data network discovery and topology
  • Device and service level views of Cisco Unified Communications deployment
  • System wide device identification collection and documentation
  • Advanced security and dependable communication
  • Device performance tracking
  • VoIP Telephony monitoring
  • Connection status and traffic monitoring
  • Immediate alerts and notifications
  • Documentation
  • Configuration log
Cisco Network Assistant is a PC-based network management tool optimized for LANs and WLANS for expanding companies that have up to 40 Cisco switches and routers. By running Cisco's Smartports technology, the application simplifies setup, deployment, and continuing management and maintenance of Cisco networks. Network Assistant offers a unified system view and allows IT administrators to employ its features among switches, routers, and WAPs. Cisco Security Manager is a feature-rich but simple to operate application for managing all aspects of appliance set up and policies for firewalls, virtual private networks, and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). Cisco Security Manager effectively handles even small environments consisting of no more than than ten appliances, but also expands to control enterprise systems with thousands of Cisco routers, security appliances, and switch services modules. Expansion is enabled via intelligent policy-based control procedures that can simplify administrative overhead. Highlights of Cisco Security Manager include:
  • Allows control of Cisco router platforms running a Cisco IOS security image, ASA 5500 firewalls, PIX firewalls, IPS 4200 Series inline security appliances, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 family security services modules
  • Reacts faster. more rapidly to threats: specify and apply updated policies to thousands of appliances in just a few steps
  • Rich GUI offers superior ease-of-use
  • A variety of looks that offer flexible ways to manage devices and policies including the option to administer the security environment visually on a topology map
  • Extensive animated help for the novice operator to speed up learning time
  • Globally call out which policies are shared and inherited by new appliances to ensure company-wide policies are implemented regularly, while providing optional versatility to customize policies at the local appliance level
  • Ability to create a common rule table for all Cisco firewalls with intelligent evaluation of firewall policies to detect conflicts in the rule base
  • Easily configure location-to-location, hub-spoke, full mesh, or extranet VPN connections with a few mouse clicks
  • Integration with Cisco ACS for granular role based connection control to appliances and administration functions
  • Integration with security MARS system to associate monitored data against corresponding firewall rules to enable quicker decision making and enhanced system up time
  • Ability to allocate specific tasks to every administrator in the course of the implementation of a rule, with formal change control and logging; permits the security and network operations staff to act together as a cohesive group with effective teamwork
How Progent's Consultants Can Assist You with Network Management
Progent's Cisco-Certified network management engineers can assist you to use Cisco's network management tools alongside an array of powerful third-party applications to develop a comprehensive network management toolkit to keep your infrastructure operating smoothly, consolidate valuable resources, secure your data, recover rapidly from equipment failure or deliberates attacks, and enable you to expand or reassign system resources intelligently and economically as your business evolves. Progent can also show you how to utilize network management applications to monitor and classify system data to enable traffic shaping, which permits you to set up Cisco routers to enforce different throughput constraints on designated classes of processes based on the priorities you assign. By buffering and queuing excess packets above your contracted volume, and by assigning priority to business-critical processes, traffic shaping can prevent service provider excess usage charges from spinning out of control and/or eliminate gaps in worker productivity resulting from indiscriminate enforcement of your network traffic volume limits during peak demand. Progent's CISM and CISSP security professionals can help you to develop an end-to-end security strategy that incorporates your network management processes, and Progent's remote and on-site network specialists and Cisco CCIE and CNA qualified consultants can utilize advanced network management tools to identify and repair problems quickly to keep your IT system running smoothly. To see more details about Progent's consulting expertise for Cisco networking products, select a topic:

To get in touch with Progent about engineering assistance for Cisco products, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.

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