Technology World

  There are several tools that MSPs and IT administrators can use to protect the wireless networks they manage, including: Encryption. Encryption protects the confidentiality of data transmitted via the Internet or a computer network by scrambling the original message with a large digital number (also known as a key). Wireless networks support two types of encryption: Wi-Fi protected Access (WPA) and Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). Web filtering. Web filtering restricts which websites a user can visit from his or her computer, minimizing the risks associated with visiting malicious sites that can contain malware, spyware, spam, adware and phishing. Antivirus. An antivirus helps prevent, detect and remove malicious software on a computer or device. Remote management. Being able to remotely monitor and manage networks is a must for most MSPs, especially those who oversee several customer networks. A remote management solution gives complete visibility into every device on every network a

  Gone are the days when we have to wait for the days together to recover the Windows account password. Thanks to the rainbow crack technology, now we can crack the passwords in few seconds with 100% success rate. This Rainbow cracking technology works on simple concept. Instead of computing the hashes for each password dynamically and comparing with the correct one during cracking, password hashes are computed in advance for all character sets. These hashes are then stored in datasets called rainbow tables. So cracking involves just comparing the current password hash with the pre computed hashes within the rainbow tables and get the associated plain text password. Hence it takes very less time compared to the traditional method of brute force cracking. Setting up the rainbow table for various character sets is just one time activity and may take days or months based on the character set and speed of the machine. Once the rainbow tables are ready, you can feed the password hash to it

If you look under the hood of an intent-based networking system (IBNS), you’d be crazy not to see it as the future. It’s really smart, really safe, and hardware agnostic — basically fixing most of the annoying little problems while satisfying the big requirements for the largest data centers. Luckily, it’s just the future. It’s here now (albeit in a limited capacity). But that’s about to change. Intent-based networking systems (IBNS) will inspire a major shift in how networks are managed. Here are things you should know about intent-based networking. Automating Processes and Keeping Data Secure…Naturally First off, what are we talking about? What exactly is intent-based networking? A common analogy used to explain the technology is a self-driving car. You put in the destination, and instead of manually driving, the car makes all the turns, lane changes, starts at green lights, and stops to avoid collisions for you. All the decisions and granular moment-by-moment adjustments are control

    A LAN (local area network) interconnects several computers using Ethernet technology. As technology advances, networking capabilities have begun shipping as a standard feature on most motherboards. Onboard LAN is a specialized chipset on the motherboard designed to handle networking responsibilities for the computer, such as home networking and Internet connectivity. Local Area Networking Local area networks connect several computers within a limited physical proximity via Ethernet cables or wireless Ethernet, such as in homes, schools or businesses. In early computers, this capability was not a standard feature and required the installation of a network interface card (NIC). NIC installation was necessary until LANs became more common, requiring more efficient and less expensive networking capabilities. Onboard LAN controllers support numerous built-in hardware and software enhancements for networking, such as power management and input/output (I/O) scalability. Onboard LAN As tra

  Managing a corporate network is becoming harder as it becomes larger and more complex. ii. Network management, it includes not only components that transport information in the network, but also systems that generate traffic in the network. iii. The systems could be hosts, database servers, file servers, or mail servers. In the client-server environment, network control is no longer centralized, but distributed. iv. Computer and telecommunication networks are merging fast into converged network with common modes and media of transportation and distribution. As in the case of broadband networks, the IT manager needs to maintain both types of networks. v. Thus, the data communications manager functions and telecommunication manager functions have been merged to that of the IT manager. vi. With the explosion of information storage and transfer in the modern information era, management of information is also the responsibility of the IT manager, with the title of CIO, Chief Information O

  If you look under the hood of an intent-based networking system (IBNS), you’d be crazy not to see it as the future. It’s really smart, really safe, and hardware agnostic — basically fixing most of the annoying little problems while satisfying the big requirements for the largest data centers. Luckily, it’s just the future. It’s here now (albeit in a limited capacity). But that’s about to change. Intent-based networking systems (IBNS) will inspire a major shift in how networks are managed. Here are things you should know about intent-based networking. Automating Processes and Keeping Data Secure…Naturally First off, what are we talking about? What exactly is intent-based networking? A common analogy used to explain the technology is a self-driving car. You put in the destination, and instead of manually driving, the car makes all the turns, lane changes, starts at green lights, and stops to avoid collisions for you. All the decisions and granular moment-by-moment adjustments are contr

  Fileserving in Windows environments is usually of critical importance. After all, if you can't reach your files or have to wait five minutes every time you browse a share, the heat starts to build up in the IT department. File serving is more than just saving a file to your home directory. I wrote a two-part article on MSTerminalServices.org on file serving and Terminal server environments. I suggest you read that article (Part 1 and Part 2 ) first to get a feel for the proper context of this article. One of the main reasons I wrote that article is that fileserving can easily become a bottleneck if not configured properly, especially in Terminal Server environments. To solve these performance problems, you sometimes have to tune the fileserver (lanmanserver) and the “fileserver-client” (lanmanworkstation). However, this isn’t for the faint of heart and can cause huge problems if you do it wrong. Unfortunately, documentation on these tuning parameters is rather scarce. So in this

  Managing a corporate network is becoming harder as it becomes larger and more complex. ii. Network management, it includes not only components that transport information in the network, but also systems that generate traffic in the network. iii. The systems could be hosts, database servers, file servers, or mail servers. In the client-server environment, network control is no longer centralized, but distributed. iv. Computer and telecommunication networks are merging fast into converged network with common modes and media of transportation and distribution. As in the case of broadband networks, the IT manager needs to maintain both types of networks. v. Thus, the data communications manager functions and telecommunication manager functions have been merged to that of the IT manager. vi. With the explosion of information storage and transfer in the modern information era, management of information is also the responsibility of the IT manager, with the title of CIO, Chief Information O

  Effective information security program management should achieve the outcomes defined in ISG. The necessary goals must be defined in specific, objective and measurable terms. Appropriate metrics should also be put in place to measure whether or not the goals were achieved. If not, it should be known by how much the objectives were missed, and discussion done to improve on performance. Candidates should focus on the following six outcomes, and they should be considered as the basis for developing the objectives of an effective information security program: Strategic alignment: The emphasis here is on organizational information risk, selection of appropriate control objectives and standards, agreement on acceptable risk and risk tolerance and definitions of financial, operational and other constraints. Risk management: Candidates must show a comprehensive understanding of threats the organization faces, its vulnerabilities and risk profile. Candidates must know how to evaluate the pote

  As small businesses and enterprises find their closets and server rooms filling up with Windows and Linux servers, a crucial concern has surfaced: how to handle multiple logon accounts for users. Small businesses or departments that have just a few servers rarely encounter this problem. After all, it takes a systems administrator only a minute or two to reset the passwords on a few accounts spread across two or three servers. As the number of servers increases, however, this chore becomes a growing burden for systems administrators and a hassle for users. When businesses approach vendors for a fix to this problem, vendors typically offer a single sign-on (SSO) solution. (For a detailed explanation of SSO and centralized authentication, see the sidebar "SSO vs. Centralized Authentication.") Unfortunately, implementing SSO can be difficult and expensive. An alternative solution within a heterogeneous network—a solution that works well in many environments—is to centralize use

  Networks are networks. Despite best efforts to keep things smooth all the time every day, things happen. Here’s a look at some common network issues, some tips for quickly resolving them, and even better, how to prevent them from occurring again. 1. Duplicate IP Addresses When two devices attempt to share a single IP, you see the dreaded “Address Already in Use” error — with no ability to access the network. The Quick Fix: The blame for this often rests with your router’s default DHCP configuration. DHCP is probably trying to assign your new device an address at the beginning of your subnet, and another device may already occupy these low-numbered addresses with static IPs. If you’ve just introduced a new device or server to your network, it may have its own DHCP server. Simply disable the DHCP server on that device to restore sanity to your network. The Preventive Measure: You can take one simple step to avoid IP conflicts by modifying your router’s configuration to begin assigning

  A network operating system is a software application that provides a platform for both the functionality of an individual computer and for multiple computers within an interconnected network. Basically, a network operating system controls other software and computer hardware to run applications, share resources, protect data and establish communication. Individual computers run client operating systems, while network systems create the software infrastructure for wireless, local and wide area networks to function. Basic Operating Features Network operating systems support the basic underlying operating features of networks. These include support for processors and the various protocols that allow computers to share data. Many network operating systems can detect hardware within the system to allow for asset discovery within the network. Also, network operating systems support the processing of other software applications that run on both individual computers and within the network. S