MSP technology services
Tips on IT service delivery approaches and features on building lines of business to meet customers' digital transformation needs.
Top Stories
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Feature
11 Oct 2024
For Sharp HealthCare, cloud technology comes with autonomy
Sharp HealthCare's cloud strategy spans public, private and SaaS platforms to reduce vendor dependency and emphasizes knowledge transfer with its deployment partner. Continue Reading
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Feature
20 Sep 2024
FinOps consulting grows as IT cost management efforts expand
IT service providers pursue advisory, training and automation opportunities as customers adopt FinOps and apply its cost optimization principles across more IT resources. Continue Reading
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Tip
23 Jun 2008
Troubleshooting 802.1x missing supplicant problems, part 1
Learn how to diagnose and solve 802.1x missing supplicant problems. Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Jun 2008
Cisco Unified Communications Manager review quiz
This section provides review questions on the material covered in the previous sections of the chapter excerpt. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jun 2008
Cisco Unified Communications Manager licensing
This section of the chapter excerpt focuses on the certification and licensing opportunities of Cisco Unified Communications Manager. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jun 2008
Cisco Unified Communications Manager - Hardware, Software and Clustering
This chapter excerpt covers the compatible hardware and software for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, as well as its clustering capabilities. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 May 2008
Five questions to ask in a data deduplication project
When scoping out a customer's data deduplication project, there are five key questions to explore with your customers to determine the best approach to take. Learn what questions you should ask and why they're important. Continue Reading
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Feature
02 May 2008
Predicting data storage growth
If your customers have deep pockets, predicting data storage growth is a relatively easy chore using storage resource management (SRM) tools. But for smaller companies with equally small budgets, you'll need to be more creative. Learn the techniques for assessing historical growth to help customers get optimum use out of their storage resources. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Apr 2008
How to extend your client's wireless access point range
Some WLAN installations require multiple access points. But before you go that route and install more WLAN access points, use these steps to determine how you can extend the wireless access point range of the current devices. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Apr 2008
How to configure wireless access points
A crucial part of any WLAN installation is configuring wireless access points. Learn which configuration options -- such as IP address, transmit power and beacon interval -- are best for your customers. Continue Reading
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Answer
16 Apr 2008
What are the top reasons for network upgrades?
Learn why performance, reliability and security are the three most important reasons for recommending a network upgrade to your clients. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Apr 2008
The benefits of storage capacity planning
Storage capacity planning services can save your customers money and bring other benefits by balancing their storage utilization and growth rates with their tolerance for upgrade interruptions and storage architecture. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Apr 2008
The best networking products as chosen by customers
Choosing networking products for your line card can be a challenge. We recommend you begin by considering the hardware and software businesses like best. Here you'll find the top three networking products as chosen by SearchNetworking.com readers in 12 categories, including network firewalls, applications and network management and network monitoring. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Apr 2008
The benefits of application virtualization
Application virtualization can bring benefits to your customers such as ease of maintenance and greater portability. It comes after server virtualization and can be the right solution when desktop virtualization is overkill. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 Apr 2008
Network session data analysis with Snort and Argus
This edition of Snort Report departs from the standard format to introduce Argus, a session data collecting tool that can work alongside Snort. Learn how session data can complement Snort's alert data for network session analysis Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Feb 2008
What is the client's IT budget for the network design project?
While all clients have expectations for their network design projects, not all have allocated the money needed to accomplish their objectives. Learn why asking about IT budget will help you and your customers get more clarity about what can and can't be accomplished in terms of a network design project. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Feb 2008
Introduction to network centralization and decentralization
Network centralization is an attempt to improve efficiency by taking advantage of potential economies of scale. Decentralization is an attempt to improve speed and flexibility by reorganizing networks to increase local control and execution of a service. Neither is always better, and neither is always possible in the purest sense. Learn when to opt for decentralized networks and when to choose centralized networks. Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Feb 2008
Conclusions about network centralization and decentralization
Network centralization and network decentralization are about making changes. When making such pervasive changes, experts recommend that you consider these guiding principles: know what specific problem you are solving; understand your motivation for making the change; centralize as much as makes sense for today; recognize that as in rolling out any new service, it requires careful planning; and, most important, listen to the customers. Test your knowledge with several questions about what you've read. Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Feb 2008
Becoming familiar with the Hyper-V administrative console
This excerpt from "Windows Server 2008 Unleashed" provides a quick guide on navigating the Hyper-V administrative console and the virtual server settings available to be configured. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Jan 2008
Business impact analysis for business continuity: Preparing the BIA report
This excerpt from "Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery for IT Professionals" outlines some crucial features to be included in a BIA report. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Jan 2008
Business impact analysis for business continuity: BIA for small business
Read this example of business impact analysis (BIA) for a small business from "Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery for IT Professionals" to make the process more tangible. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Jan 2008
Business impact analysis for business continuity: Determining the impact
This excerpt from "Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery for IT Professionals" lists some specific impacts disasters have on business. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Jan 2008
Business impact analysis for business continuity: Data collection methodologies
For business impact analysis (BIA) collect data through interviews and questionnaires. This excerpt from "Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery for IT Professionals" discusses various data collection methodologies and how to carry them out. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jan 2008
Business impact analysis for business continuity: Identifying business functions
This excerpt from "Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery for IT Professionals" walks you through common business functions and encourages you to assess those functionalities that are not covered and include them in your BIA. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jan 2008
Business impact analysis for business continuity: Upstream and downstream losses
Learn to mitigate indirect impacts that disasters can have on businesses. In this excerpt from "Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery for IT Professionals," the author discusses upstream and downstream losses. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jan 2008
Business impact analysis for business continuity: Recovery time requirements
Use business impact analysis (BIA) to define recovery time requirement terms and looks at how those elements interact. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jan 2008
Business impact analysis for business continuity: Understanding impact criticality
When it comes to business functions, develop a rating scale to identify your customers' mission-critical functions. This excerpt from "Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery for IT Professionals" outlines a business function rating system with four criticality categories: critical, essential, necessary and desirable. Continue Reading
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Tip
15 Jan 2008
Channel Checklist: Top five tools for troubleshooting a WLAN
Customers with WLAN connectivity problems are quick to place blame on airwaves. Service providers know the problem may run deeper. These five WLAN tools will help you investigate the problem and find the real culprit. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Jan 2008
Snort frequently asked questions
Snort users are asking about its capabilities. These frequently asked questions about Snort discuss what the open source security tool can do and the right ways to use Snort. Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Jan 2008
Limitations of server virtualization
Server virtualization has many perks but keep its limitations in mind. This excerpt from "Advanced Server Virtualization" gives examples of when server virtualization is not the best practice. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Nov 2007
When should orgnizations use ASIC-based network firewalls?
Even though ASIC-based network firewalls are often much faster than their software-only counterparts, learn why deploying them within some network environments is a bad idea. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Nov 2007
What are the disadvantages of iSCSI?
Deploying iSCSI in mission-critical situations isn't a risk-free proposition. Customers may have to cope with higher latency and performance issues in mixed networks after an iSCSI implementation. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Oct 2007
Use Netstat to determine which ports to open on a Windows firewall
When troubleshooting a Windows XP firewall, the solution is often simply opening the right firewall port. But what port should you open? This tip walks you through using Netstat to identify which firewall port an application uses. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
27 Sep 2007
Choosing a processor: Multi-core and 64-bit considerations
Multi-core, 64-bit or 32-bit processor -- what's best for your client's shop? This guide gives channel professionals the information they need to help clients choose a processor. Continue Reading
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Answer
13 Sep 2007
What are the network security risks of streaming video?
Streaming video and audio sites are frequently visited on both home computers and work computers. Learn about streaming video security risks and what to do to protect your client's network. Continue Reading
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Answer
10 Sep 2007
SSID and wireless connection problems
Discover why changing your SSID number might be the answer to resolving wireless connection problems when your client's wireless network seems to be properly configured. Continue Reading
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Tip
14 Aug 2007
How to troubleshoot five common routing errors
Troubleshooting router errors is made easier with this tip, which covers the five major routing errors -- filtering redistribution, mismatched neighbor parameters in OSPF, subnets, metrics and tweaking EIGRP metrics. Continue Reading
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Definition
25 Jul 2007
MSP platform (managed service provider platform)
A managed service provider (MSP) platform is a computing framework used to deliver network-based services, applications, and equipment to enterprises, residences, or other service providers. A MSP platform allows an organization, IT consultant or VAR to remotely monitor servers, firewalls, Exchange servers, Active Directory Servers, routers or switches from a central location. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Jul 2007
Verify the CEF Forwarding Information Base table
Learn how to take a stepwise approach to troubleshooting the Cisco Express Forwarding FIB table, a critical part of any methodology for resolving Cisco IP connectivity issues. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Jul 2007
Verify the IP routing table
Verifying the Cisco IP routing table is a key part of troubleshooting Cisco Express Forwarding's network switching. Learn the necessary steps for identifying and remediating problems. Continue Reading
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Answer
23 May 2007
CDMA and gold code
Gold code sequences used in CDMA allow callers to better use available bandwidth with less interference. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 May 2007
Snort.conf output options
Snort offers functional equivalents for FAST, FULL and SYSLOG command line output modes, as shown here. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 May 2007
Snort command line output modes
Snort command line output modes, as described here, are usually selected for testing purposes or demonstrations. Continue Reading
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Tip
08 May 2007
ILM vs. DLM: The importance of data management
Knowing the differences between information lifecycle management (ILM) and data lifecycle management (DLM) will ultimately determine which storage offerings you bring to a client's table. Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Apr 2007
Storage area network (SAN) risks
Storage area network (SAN) security risks manifest as easily infiltrated gaps in your customers' storage; learn where weaknesses lie in a SAN architecture as outlined in this book excerpt from "Securing Storage:A Practical Guide to SAN and NAS Security." Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Apr 2007
IDS Snort rules: False positives
In this portion of the Snort Report on IDS Snort rules, Richard Bejtlich discusses how to identify and deal with false positives. Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2007
Technology trends in processors and servers
Quad-core pushes, virtualization advances and licensing turmoils are just a few of the trends to consider in today's competitive server processor landscape. Blade Servers and Virtualization author Barb Goldworm presents channel considerations in servers and processors. Continue Reading
- Answer 21 Feb 2007
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Feature
13 Feb 2007
Scripting creation of virtual machines in ESX shell
Scripting the creation of virtual machines using VMware power tools is simpler that you might think. This book excerpt tells you how. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Feb 2007
Securing wireless access points: WLAN vulnerabilities, SSID issues, WEP weakness
This portion of the Vines penetration testing tip on securing wireless access points describes WLAN vulnerabilities, SSID issues, and WEP weakness. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Feb 2007
Securing wireless access points: War driving and war walking
This portion of the Vines penetration testing tip on securing wireless access points describes war driving and war walking. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Feb 2007
Creation of virtual machines utilizing command-line tools
Creating virtual machines for your customers is useful for them and lucrative for you. This excerpt outlines VMware ESX Server's creation and cloning tools. Continue Reading
- Answer 31 Jan 2007
- Tutorial 29 Jan 2007
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Feature
25 Jan 2007
Snort configuration -- snort.conf file
This portion of Snort Report helps channel professionals understand the snort.conf file. Continue Reading
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Tip
15 Jan 2007
Formulating a scalable IP addressing plan
A scalable IP addressing plan will support your customer's network as it grows. This tip explains how to use variable-length subnet masking and route summarization to create a scalable IP addressing plan. Continue Reading