Network management systems help companies to deploy infrastructure effectively, access client information rapidly, track system health, troubleshoot problems, defend against and respond to threats, and optimize responsiveness. Network management systems can spot inefficient or inappropriate uses of network resources such as streaming media or peer-to-peer file sharing that can waste bandwidth, reduce worker productivity or allow data leakage. A well planned network management solution can also assist organizations to make smart network enhancement moves by exposing trends in network demand for different times or jos.

Meraki Dashboard Experts

The Meraki Dashboard allows unified cloud management for Cisco infrastructure appliances

Cisco offers a diverse and growing catalog of infrastructure management solutions that allow unified management for on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid network architectures. With Cisco's newer generation of security, switching, and wireless infrastructure products, you can run Meraki, DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network monitoring and management. For example, you can connect the latest Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki Wi-Fi access points to the Meraki dashboard to manage vital layers of your network infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Catalyst Wi-Fi access point experts, Meraki Wi-Fi AP consultants, Catalyst switches consultants, and Meraki switches consultants can help your organization to plan, deploy and optimize an up-to-date solution for network monitoring and management.

Traditional Network Management Platforms from Cisco and Others
Network Management Solutions ExpertiseAn abundance of network management products from Cisco and third-party suppliers highlights the importance and difficulty of maintaining networks. Progent's Cisco qualified network management engineers are experienced at helping companies develop network management solutions utilizing on SNMP, Syslog, and Cisco Netflow protocols to build effective mechanisms for tracking network bandwidth usage and network latency, monitoring key router and switch operational metrics, and recognizing traffic patterns, processes, and appliances that use available resources. Progent can assist businesses to utilize a broad range of open source and license-based management utilities to maintain a Cisco network. Utilities familiar to Progent's engineers include MRTG, Cacti, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager, Cisco Network Assistant, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Concord E-Health, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow and Firewall Analyzer, Big Brother, Solarwinds Orion, and Necordia NetMRI. Network management platforms can help IT administrators to understand existing network usage and intelligently prepare for downstream traffic increases. Network management tools can also be used to detect inefficient or inappropriate uses of system resources, for example streaming video, peer-to-peer file exchange, etc. that can eat up valuable or limited network bandwidth. An efficiently designed network management plan can also help companies to make informed decisions on system upgrades once they recognize the amount of network bandwidth really required at various times. Having an efficient network management solution in operation ahead of time is vital to prevent major problems that can result from Denial Of Service (DoS) attacks and dangerous viruses. These events can render the network unusable and in the absence of appropriate utilities it can be time consuming, if not virtually impossible, to find the location of the trouble. Network Management Solutions from Cisco
Cisco has created an assortment of effective utilities that should be the foundation for any management strategy. Utilized in conjunction with the top outside vendor tools, Cisco's network management software can improve the business value of network infrastructures for organizations of any size by dealing with important areas such as system utilization, performance, resilience, security, troubleshooting, and scalability. Cisco's most popular network management tools include: Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager is a web Java applet that lets you configure and operate the management utilities built into network devices. Cisco ASDM is loaded by the Cisco appliance, and enables you to configure, track, and manage the device. Monitor Manager is a management and monitoring application designed for the needs of small and medium-sized companies. Cisco Monitor Manager continuously tracks key appliance processes on voice and data environments serving 5 to 250 users and equipped with up to 250 VoIP phones. Monitor Manager offers:

  • Up-to-date scanning of important appliance processes on Cisco SMB-class routers, switches, and voice gateways, Unified Communications Manager Express, Cisco Unity Express, security devices, access points, and Cisco Unified IP Phones
  • Support for the Cisco Unified Communications 500 communications appliance for companies with as many as 50 users
Monitor Manager tracks the network on a 24x7 cycle and frequently touches and collects identification and performance-monitoring information from the monitored appliances in the system. Cisco Monitor Manager is a Microsoft Windows-based utility and is entirely transparent to system processes and does not deploy any agent software on target devices. Monitor Manager provides a rich set of useful features such as:
  • Network discovery and topology
  • Physical and process views of Cisco Unified Communications implementation
  • System wide device identification collection and documentation
  • Advanced security and reliable operation
  • Device operations tracking
  • IP Telephony monitoring
  • Interface status and data traffic tracking
  • Real-time alerts and event notification
  • Reports
  • Configuration log
Cisco Network Assistant is a PC-based management tool optimized for LANs and WLANS for growing companies that have up to 40 Cisco switches and routers. By using Smartports, Network Assistant streamlines setup, installation, and continuing management and support of Cisco-based networks. The application offers a unified system view and allows network administrators to employ its features among Cisco switches, routers, and access points. Security Manager is a powerful but simple to operate solution for centrally provisioning all aspects of device set up and security policies for Cisco PIX and ASA security appliances, VPNs, and Intrusion Prevention Systems. Security Manager efficiently manages even small environments with no more than than ten devices, but also scales to manage large-scale systems composed of thousands of devices. Scalability is achieved via intelligent policy-based management procedures that can streamline administrative overhead. Highlights of Cisco Security Manager include:
  • Allows control of Cisco routers configured with an IOS security image, ASA 5500 Series firewalls, PIX security appliances, IPS 4200 sensors, and Catalyst 6500 Series security services modules
  • Reacts more quickly to attacks: specify and assign updated policies to thousands of devices in a few easy steps
  • Intuitive GUI provides exceptional ease-of-use
  • Multiple views that offer versatile methods to manage devices and policies including the ability to manage the security environment graphically on a topology map
  • Extensive video training for the novice operator to speed up training period
  • Centrally call out which policies are common and inherited by additional appliances to make sure corporate policies are configured regularly, while offering optional versatility to modify policies at the individual device level
  • Capability to create a single rule database for Cisco firewalls with smart analysis of firewall policies to determine anomalies in the rule table
  • Easily set up site-to-site, hub-spoke, full mesh, or extranet VPN links by means of a few mouse clicks
  • Integration with Cisco ACS for low-level role based access management to appliances and administration functions
  • Integration with security MARS to associate events with corresponding security appliance rules to help with quicker management decisions and enhanced network availability
  • Ability to allocate specific tasks to each manager in the course of the implementation of a rule, with formal change control and tracking; allows the security and systems operations staff to act in sync as a single unit with efficient teamwork
How Progent Can Assist Your Business with Network Management Solutions
Progent's Cisco-Certified network engineers can assist you to use Cisco's network management tools in combination with a variety of effective third-party applications to develop a comprehensive network management strategy to keep your infrastructure operating smoothly, consolidate expensive resources, guard your data, recover quickly from equipment failure or malicious attacks, and allow you to expand or repurpose network resources intelligently and affordably as your organization evolves. Progent can also help you to utilize network management tools to monitor and categorize system data to enable traffic shaping, which permits you to configure Cisco routers to enforce different throughput constraints on certain classes of processes according to the priorities you assign. By storing and sorting data packets above your committed volume, and by assigning priority to the most important processes, traffic shaping can keep Internet Service Provider excess usage penalties from spinning out of reach and/or avoid lost productivity resulting from brute force policing of your network bandwidth limits during peak demand. Progent's CISA and ISSAP security specialists can assist you to create a comprehensive security plan that incorporates your network management processes, and Progent's remote and on-premises network experts and Cisco CCIE and CNA qualified consultants can utilize the latest network monitoring and analysis technology to isolate and remediate trouble rapidly to keep your IT system productive. To learn more information concerning Progent's consulting help for Cisco solutions, choose a topic:

If you wish to ask Progent about professional assistance for Cisco networking, phone 1-800-993-9400 or see Contact Progent.

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