Tag Archives: ZyXEL Communications Corporation

About 1755 days ago Hardware

Plug in and Forget: Network Appliances

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In today’s innovative small businesses, the backbone of the computing infrastructure is the local area network (LAN). The true value of modern computing is, in fact, centered on the sharing of information within the business, accessing common resources, and collaborating to improve decision making, streamline processes, reduce overhead, and allow the effective participation of employees in the everyday digital life of the business. Until recently, though, LANs were a lot less common among smaller businesses — in most cases, their value was limited to sharing files across individual desktop computers, sharing printers locally connected, and sharing broadband Internet access. To achieve most of the advantages that come with collaboration, networks had to be outfitted with often very expensive and difficult to manage servers, imposing quite a leap in terms of IT support requirements. Things have though changed quite a bit in the last few years and because of these three main thrusts, the popularity of LANs among small businesses has skyrocketed: Increased availability of business grade online, multi-user software applications provided as a service and not requiring the installation of servers or local software; Increased performance and lower cost of wireless networking hardware, allowing for the flexible deployment of wired and wireless network users at low cost and with high flexibility; Growing availability of networked appliances, providing simple to use, task-oriented functionality to multiple network users. The impact of networked appliances The third of these factors is probably the least recognized, yet it has the most impact, primarily among operations with five to 25 employees. These are, in fact, the businesses most pressed to adopt servers, but often too reluctant to increase their IT overhead. Many of the important functions that traditional servers could provide via dedicated software can today be found in individual, easy to setup, configure, and use appliances that in most cases are designed to be deployed with no or very limited use of specialized IT personnel. A simple example to illustrate the case is storage: up to a few years ago if you wanted secure, permission based access to a reliable shared data storage resource you had to deploy at the cost of a few thousand dollars a small server with multiple hard disk drives and its own operating system. Today you can buy for a few hundred dollars a network attached storage (NAS) device that plugs directly into the network, and offers the same features with very simple setup and management interface. Most of the functionalities important to small businesses that were available only through servers are now available through appliances. Common, secure file storage and sharing As mentioned, NAS devices are the simplest and most effective way to centrally store your company data in a safe, reliable, quickly accessible common resource. Look for devices that contain multiple disks and support Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). RAID allows to you to radically increase the reliability of your storage and in many cases increase the speed at which information is written and read from and to the device, improving the overall performance. It is also very important for the device to support individual user authentication to keep data private. And if your network supports gigabit Ethernet, make sure that your appliance does as well, in orderto maximize performance. NetgearReadyNAS, EMC AX150, Iomega StorCenter, and HP StorageWorks Media Vault Pro are good examples of these type of devices. Automated backup NAS devices also represent excellent destinations for your automated backup. If this is the primary reason you are interested in a NAS device, make sure it comes with good backup software and backup client licenses. Desktop independent print sharing Your printer has just become a lot smarter. Many printers today can be connected to your network — some of them even wirelessly — and become accessible from any networked computer. If considering a networkable multifunction device, make sure that all its functions (printing, scanning, faxing) are supported across the network. Some only allow for the printing functionality to be shared and require the device to be connected locally via USB in order to provide scanning and faxing.  Anti-virus, spam filtering, firewalling, etc. Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances effectively replace servers in protecting your network and computers connected to it from intrusion, malware, and spam. UTM appliances often come with software to be installed on your networked computers and provide hands-off protection. The leader in the market is SonicWALL, although there are some other interesting vendors with particularly appealing small business solutions such as TrustEli, ZyXEL, and SOHOware’s BroadScan. Virtual private networking (VPN) VPN is a technology that allows users outside the physical premises of a network to securely connect to it via the Internet and have access to all shared resources and network privileges. VPN can also be used to connect two or more physically distinct network into one. This allows businesses with mobile workforce or telecommuters to provide the full benefits f a common digital work environment. VPN functionality is often provided as an extra feature of UTM appliances or Internet routers. Examples are the Netgear FVS318orthe Linksys RV042 or HotBrick 401 VPN. Remember to verify how many concurrent VPN connection your device will allow and how many VPN client licenses are included in the price. Voice over IP (VoIP) services VoIP allows for incredible flexibility and often cost saving. You can create a sophisticated phone system within your office with a VoIP appliance and network phones, or software on your computer to emulate a phone (softphone). The system will allow your call to reach you seamlessly when travelling anywhere in the world, have your voicemail forwarded to you as e-mail attachments, and much, much more.  To learn about VoIP for small businesses you can read this column I wrote for IncTechnology. Good examples of appliance-based VoIP systems are: Fonality PBxtra, Microsoft ResponsePoint, and Digium Asterisk Appliance. While it is true that modern, powerful servers can do a lot more, such as hosting e-mail services,  applications sharing, database hosting, it is important to realize that the core functions mentioned above represent the bulk of what small business have been wanting to use local networks for. The concept of dedicated appliance is making incredible progress and every day new devices come to market at lower prices to fulfill more and more specialized needs: job attendance tracking, point of sales support, network search and more. Now you know that your network can become a true secure collaborative environment without piercing a hole through you finances or requiring a full time IT support person. It’s time to share. Andrea Peiro is a recognized authority, author, analyst and speaker on high-tech marketing and use of information technology in small and mid-sized businesses. He has been frequently interviewed and featured in such media outlets as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Inc. You can reach him at us.andreap@gmail.com.            

About 1755 days ago Wireless Networks

Plug in and Forget: Network Appliances

our beautiful site

In today’s innovative small businesses, the backbone of the computing infrastructure is the local area network (LAN). The true value of modern computing is, in fact, centered on the sharing of information within the business, accessing common resources, and collaborating to improve decision making, streamline processes, reduce overhead, and allow the effective participation of employees in the everyday digital life of the business. Until recently, though, LANs were a lot less common among smaller businesses — in most cases, their value was limited to sharing files across individual desktop computers, sharing printers locally connected, and sharing broadband Internet access. To achieve most of the advantages that come with collaboration, networks had to be outfitted with often very expensive and difficult to manage servers, imposing quite a leap in terms of IT support requirements. Things have though changed quite a bit in the last few years and because of these three main thrusts, the popularity of LANs among small businesses has skyrocketed: Increased availability of business grade online, multi-user software applications provided as a service and not requiring the installation of servers or local software; Increased performance and lower cost of wireless networking hardware, allowing for the flexible deployment of wired and wireless network users at low cost and with high flexibility; Growing availability of networked appliances, providing simple to use, task-oriented functionality to multiple network users. The impact of networked appliances The third of these factors is probably the least recognized, yet it has the most impact, primarily among operations with five to 25 employees. These are, in fact, the businesses most pressed to adopt servers, but often too reluctant to increase their IT overhead. Many of the important functions that traditional servers could provide via dedicated software can today be found in individual, easy to setup, configure, and use appliances that in most cases are designed to be deployed with no or very limited use of specialized IT personnel. A simple example to illustrate the case is storage: up to a few years ago if you wanted secure, permission based access to a reliable shared data storage resource you had to deploy at the cost of a few thousand dollars a small server with multiple hard disk drives and its own operating system. Today you can buy for a few hundred dollars a network attached storage (NAS) device that plugs directly into the network, and offers the same features with very simple setup and management interface. Most of the functionalities important to small businesses that were available only through servers are now available through appliances. Common, secure file storage and sharing As mentioned, NAS devices are the simplest and most effective way to centrally store your company data in a safe, reliable, quickly accessible common resource. Look for devices that contain multiple disks and support Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). RAID allows to you to radically increase the reliability of your storage and in many cases increase the speed at which information is written and read from and to the device, improving the overall performance. It is also very important for the device to support individual user authentication to keep data private. And if your network supports gigabit Ethernet, make sure that your appliance does as well, in orderto maximize performance. NetgearReadyNAS, EMC AX150, Iomega StorCenter, and HP StorageWorks Media Vault Pro are good examples of these type of devices. Automated backup NAS devices also represent excellent destinations for your automated backup. If this is the primary reason you are interested in a NAS device, make sure it comes with good backup software and backup client licenses. Desktop independent print sharing Your printer has just become a lot smarter. Many printers today can be connected to your network — some of them even wirelessly — and become accessible from any networked computer. If considering a networkable multifunction device, make sure that all its functions (printing, scanning, faxing) are supported across the network. Some only allow for the printing functionality to be shared and require the device to be connected locally via USB in order to provide scanning and faxing.  Anti-virus, spam filtering, firewalling, etc. Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances effectively replace servers in protecting your network and computers connected to it from intrusion, malware, and spam. UTM appliances often come with software to be installed on your networked computers and provide hands-off protection. The leader in the market is SonicWALL, although there are some other interesting vendors with particularly appealing small business solutions such as TrustEli, ZyXEL, and SOHOware’s BroadScan. Virtual private networking (VPN) VPN is a technology that allows users outside the physical premises of a network to securely connect to it via the Internet and have access to all shared resources and network privileges. VPN can also be used to connect two or more physically distinct network into one. This allows businesses with mobile workforce or telecommuters to provide the full benefits f a common digital work environment. VPN functionality is often provided as an extra feature of UTM appliances or Internet routers. Examples are the Netgear FVS318orthe Linksys RV042 or HotBrick 401 VPN. Remember to verify how many concurrent VPN connection your device will allow and how many VPN client licenses are included in the price. Voice over IP (VoIP) services VoIP allows for incredible flexibility and often cost saving. You can create a sophisticated phone system within your office with a VoIP appliance and network phones, or software on your computer to emulate a phone (softphone). The system will allow your call to reach you seamlessly when travelling anywhere in the world, have your voicemail forwarded to you as e-mail attachments, and much, much more.  To learn about VoIP for small businesses you can read this column I wrote for IncTechnology. Good examples of appliance-based VoIP systems are: Fonality PBxtra, Microsoft ResponsePoint, and Digium Asterisk Appliance. While it is true that modern, powerful servers can do a lot more, such as hosting e-mail services,  applications sharing, database hosting, it is important to realize that the core functions mentioned above represent the bulk of what small business have been wanting to use local networks for. The concept of dedicated appliance is making incredible progress and every day new devices come to market at lower prices to fulfill more and more specialized needs: job attendance tracking, point of sales support, network search and more. Now you know that your network can become a true secure collaborative environment without piercing a hole through you finances or requiring a full time IT support person. It’s time to share. Andrea Peiro is a recognized authority, author, analyst and speaker on high-tech marketing and use of information technology in small and mid-sized businesses. He has been frequently interviewed and featured in such media outlets as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Inc. You can reach him at us.andreap@gmail.com.            

About 1786 days ago Data Security

Is Security Software Choking Your System?

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Are your desktop systems feeling sluggish? There might be more than slow hardware or spyware at fault — it may just be your security software. “Generally, users will experience a twenty percent decrease in performance, just from having Norton or McAfee Antivirus installed on their desktops,” says Perri Naccarato, owner of The Computer Guys, a computer service and repair shop in Saugerties, N.Y. “And that’s not taking into account any other security software you may also be running.” Naccarato believes that for all but the smallest businesses, it makes more sense to take a unified threat management (UTM) approach, placing the security on the network, and off the individual desktops. The constantly increasing need for more and better security on all workstations is a problem in any company. The trick is how can you keep a computer safe from intrusion without loading the system down to the point of non-functionality? What a UTM solution is UTM solutions are primarily hardware gateways, routers with hardened operating systems that contain centrally maintained firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-spam functions, as well as assorted other monitoring and blocking capabilities for the highest levels of security. This relieves the need for each workstation to provide these services, thereby freeing their resources so they can better do the work needed. According to Jon Kuhn, director of product management at SonicWALL, Inc., a secure network infrastructure company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the security problems don’t come just from outside threats, but maintaining control over just what your employees are doing as well. The rapid growth of innovations that provide services through the Internet, and the accompanying increase in network traffic, can pose real problems for IT to manage. “The Web 2.0 approach makes for a loss of control,” says Kuhn. “Internet applications like Google Documents, Scribd, and Zoho are quite useful, but a potential security problem for IT.” UTM solutions also allow IT to control all incoming and outgoing data. This gives IT one place to manage all maintenance, and gives far more control over what Internet sites workers can access, and what they can’t. Plus, not only can you control threats of intrusion, but with some of the more sophisticated UTM solutions being offered now, you can control the content itself sent out by employees, safeguarding confidential content, like medical or legal documents, from accidental release or insider espionage.  “It’s so important for admins to have access to tools to control and monitor all throughput,” says Kuhn. “The UTM solution protects your bandwidth and secures all your sensitive data.” Prices have come down UTM systems used to be more costly, too high for small and mid-sized businesses to handle. But Moore’s Law continues to apply across the tech spectrum, bringing everything within reach, and now even the smallest company can protect its network investment.  “If you have just 10 employees or more, then investing in security hardware becomes cost effective,” Naccarato says. “Those aren’t cheap items for small businesses, but take into account all the money spent on multiple licenses for security software installed at each desktop, as well as all the man-hours reclaimed that used to be spent updating and patching individual computer boxes, and it suddenly looks like a bargain.” Though UTM devices and network-based software provide great protection for in-house desktops, they obviously can’t protect users’ laptops while they’re off the network, using a home Internet connection or surfing the Web from a café, airport, or hotel room. But they can use UTM to free up processing power by simply plugging it into a USB port. The Yoggie Pico, an award-winning miniature personal security server that resembles a USB flash memory, provides the mobile worker with security software solutions that include a firewall, VPN, IDS/IPS, anti-virus, anti-spam, and more. The little thumb-sized unit contains a 520 MHz Intel Processor running a hardened Linux-based OS. All data coming in and going out is seamlessly passed through the unit, keeping your data safe. And at under $200, it’s affordable for every business — even if you’re the entire company. “My customers are usually amazed at how much faster their system runs when I take all the security software off the desktop,” says Naccarato. “It can make the difference between a slow, frustrating working experience and a smooth, responsive one.” SIDEBAR: Some Companies Offering UTM Services and Products Fortinet is a provider of Unified Threat Management (UTM) security systems that enable secure business communications and deliver excellent security. Their security systems and subscription services protect more than 20,000 customers worldwide — including telecommunications carriers, service providers and enterprises of all sizes. IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS) offers a large portfolio of IT security products and services for organizations of all sizes. Their UTM solutions protect against a wide variety of attacks and Internet nuisances, and provide data security solutions to safeguard valuable information. 3Com Unified Security Platforms offer threat protection for organizations of all sizes, as well as those with multiple sites, branch offices or numerous teleworkers, including services like virtual private network (VPN), packet inspection firewall, application bandwidth management, and IP multicast routing support. Astaro Security Gateway provides protection for networks, Web access and e-mail traffic, and offer a complete range of hardware appliances. Cisco Systems provides security products that combine firewall, virtual private networking (VPN), and intrusion prevention system (IPS) technologies, and incorporate content inspection and control over applications like e-mail, Web access, instant messaging, and others. The SonicWALL network security appliances provide UTM security services with deep packet inspection to provide small, mid-size and enterprise-class organizations excellent protection. SonicWALL appliances integrate automated and dynamic security capabilities for protection and performance. ZyXEL solutions offer networking features such as quality of service (QoS), network security, and network management. Serving both corporate and home users, the companies UTM Series combine firewall, content filtering, anti-virus, anti-spam, and intrusion detection and prevention. It also supports virtual private network, load balancing, and bandwidth management features. Yoggie’s range of USB key-sized and ExpressCard-sized security mini-computers connect to any PC or laptop at home, in the office or on the road, blocking Internet threats outside the host computer and boosting computer performance by off-loading installed security software. 

About 1786 days ago Antivirus Software

Is Security Software Choking Your System?

our beautiful site

Are your desktop systems feeling sluggish? There might be more than slow hardware or spyware at fault — it may just be your security software. “Generally, users will experience a twenty percent decrease in performance, just from having Norton or McAfee Antivirus installed on their desktops,” says Perri Naccarato, owner of The Computer Guys, a computer service and repair shop in Saugerties, N.Y. “And that’s not taking into account any other security software you may also be running.” Naccarato believes that for all but the smallest businesses, it makes more sense to take a unified threat management (UTM) approach, placing the security on the network, and off the individual desktops. The constantly increasing need for more and better security on all workstations is a problem in any company. The trick is how can you keep a computer safe from intrusion without loading the system down to the point of non-functionality? What a UTM solution is UTM solutions are primarily hardware gateways, routers with hardened operating systems that contain centrally maintained firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-spam functions, as well as assorted other monitoring and blocking capabilities for the highest levels of security. This relieves the need for each workstation to provide these services, thereby freeing their resources so they can better do the work needed. According to Jon Kuhn, director of product management at SonicWALL, Inc., a secure network infrastructure company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the security problems don’t come just from outside threats, but maintaining control over just what your employees are doing as well. The rapid growth of innovations that provide services through the Internet, and the accompanying increase in network traffic, can pose real problems for IT to manage. “The Web 2.0 approach makes for a loss of control,” says Kuhn. “Internet applications like Google Documents, Scribd, and Zoho are quite useful, but a potential security problem for IT.” UTM solutions also allow IT to control all incoming and outgoing data. This gives IT one place to manage all maintenance, and gives far more control over what Internet sites workers can access, and what they can’t. Plus, not only can you control threats of intrusion, but with some of the more sophisticated UTM solutions being offered now, you can control the content itself sent out by employees, safeguarding confidential content, like medical or legal documents, from accidental release or insider espionage.  “It’s so important for admins to have access to tools to control and monitor all throughput,” says Kuhn. “The UTM solution protects your bandwidth and secures all your sensitive data.” Prices have come down UTM systems used to be more costly, too high for small and mid-sized businesses to handle. But Moore’s Law continues to apply across the tech spectrum, bringing everything within reach, and now even the smallest company can protect its network investment.  “If you have just 10 employees or more, then investing in security hardware becomes cost effective,” Naccarato says. “Those aren’t cheap items for small businesses, but take into account all the money spent on multiple licenses for security software installed at each desktop, as well as all the man-hours reclaimed that used to be spent updating and patching individual computer boxes, and it suddenly looks like a bargain.” Though UTM devices and network-based software provide great protection for in-house desktops, they obviously can’t protect users’ laptops while they’re off the network, using a home Internet connection or surfing the Web from a café, airport, or hotel room. But they can use UTM to free up processing power by simply plugging it into a USB port. The Yoggie Pico, an award-winning miniature personal security server that resembles a USB flash memory, provides the mobile worker with security software solutions that include a firewall, VPN, IDS/IPS, anti-virus, anti-spam, and more. The little thumb-sized unit contains a 520 MHz Intel Processor running a hardened Linux-based OS. All data coming in and going out is seamlessly passed through the unit, keeping your data safe. And at under $200, it’s affordable for every business — even if you’re the entire company. “My customers are usually amazed at how much faster their system runs when I take all the security software off the desktop,” says Naccarato. “It can make the difference between a slow, frustrating working experience and a smooth, responsive one.” SIDEBAR: Some Companies Offering UTM Services and Products Fortinet is a provider of Unified Threat Management (UTM) security systems that enable secure business communications and deliver excellent security. Their security systems and subscription services protect more than 20,000 customers worldwide — including telecommunications carriers, service providers and enterprises of all sizes. IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS) offers a large portfolio of IT security products and services for organizations of all sizes. Their UTM solutions protect against a wide variety of attacks and Internet nuisances, and provide data security solutions to safeguard valuable information. 3Com Unified Security Platforms offer threat protection for organizations of all sizes, as well as those with multiple sites, branch offices or numerous teleworkers, including services like virtual private network (VPN), packet inspection firewall, application bandwidth management, and IP multicast routing support. Astaro Security Gateway provides protection for networks, Web access and e-mail traffic, and offer a complete range of hardware appliances. Cisco Systems provides security products that combine firewall, virtual private networking (VPN), and intrusion prevention system (IPS) technologies, and incorporate content inspection and control over applications like e-mail, Web access, instant messaging, and others. The SonicWALL network security appliances provide UTM security services with deep packet inspection to provide small, mid-size and enterprise-class organizations excellent protection. SonicWALL appliances integrate automated and dynamic security capabilities for protection and performance. ZyXEL solutions offer networking features such as quality of service (QoS), network security, and network management. Serving both corporate and home users, the companies UTM Series combine firewall, content filtering, anti-virus, anti-spam, and intrusion detection and prevention. It also supports virtual private network, load balancing, and bandwidth management features. Yoggie’s range of USB key-sized and ExpressCard-sized security mini-computers connect to any PC or laptop at home, in the office or on the road, blocking Internet threats outside the host computer and boosting computer performance by off-loading installed security software.