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August 20, 2008

Use a Proxy Site for Anonymous Browsing

Filed under: Networks — bennyzebra12 @ 12:00 am

What is a free proxy? A free proxy is basically a piece of hardware or software that sits in between your computer and the Internet. It handles all communications on your behalf, allowing you to remain anonymous to the outside world. You can easily find a proxy online by using Google or another search engine.

If you can, use a secure proxy that is hosted outside of the US and EU. This is because both jurisdictions have seriously compromised your privacy and can easily compel ISPs to release information about your surfing habits. This would defeat the whole object of anonymous surfing. Proxies that are hosted in places like Panama, Costa Rica, are a good bet. These countries tend to have tight privacy laws making it more difficult to get at Internet records.

Using a secure proxy website also allows you to have an extra layer of protection against hackers. Because you are surfing behind a third party website, the hacker would only see the proxy details, not yours. As you can see, using free proxies are advantageous for sensitive matters like Internet banking, for example. Make sure you also take other precautions. Always make sure you have a good anti-virus package installed on your computer when browsing the Internet.

There are so many variations of viruses so it is not always easy to keep up. Make sure that you get regular updates too. This way, any threat is at a minimal. If a free secure proxy is not enough, you could always parting with your cash. They basically provide the precise same thing but will have you believe otherwise. In my experience most of these products are a waste of money.

Remember, a free proxies provides you with anonymous surfing. Please do not think that this is a means of evading the law. Do not use proxies for anything dodgy. Always respect your local, national, and international laws when you are surfing the Internet.
Free proxies are also useful if you want to get around network blocks. Network blocks are usually installed on school networks or at a place of work to stop people accessing certain websites.

Using free proxies can sometimes solve this problem, although once the proxy becomes popular it is likely to get blocked by the network. Try and find a relatively new secure proxy so that you can be fairly sure that is has not been blocked yet. If it has, just keep looking at more until you find one that has not been blocked by the network.

I hope this brief article has helped you gain the basic knowledge of how you can use a free proxy for anonymous browsing and so you can protect your privacy. Proxies are useful if you want to protect you identity and to get past network blocks.

Wayne Cutforth is 23 and from England. He enjoys promoting free proxies and also owns an anonymous proxy site.He hopes that this article is useful and that you can use proxies to enhance your privacy.

August 17, 2008

Life Cycle of a Converged Network: Ongoing Operations and Network Optimization

Filed under: Networks — mltalbert @ 12:00 am

Whether you plan to use an MSP for ongoing operations, or you feel the IT staff is sufficiently trained to handle it in house, failure to have the proper management tools can evaporate your ROI through network outages and costly troubleshooting practices. Software patches and vendor upgrades can wreak havoc in a production environment, and should always be tested first on an isolated segment using all inclusive analysis software to assess their impact on the network.

Most companies have come to rely on their IP PBX vendors management software, and after a year or two into the deployment have found them sorely lacking. Today, IPT vendors and developers are seeing the need for a management application that takes a look at the whole network, including the traffic patterns of data and real time applications.

Analysis software packages are rapidly entering the market from such well known industry leaders as Alcatel-Lucent, as well as vendor independent software developers.

The converged network analysis solutions available to you should be assessed in the planning stage, and once decided upon, used extensively in the testing, implementation, and ongoing operations and optimization stages. Such features as capacity planning, network assessment and simulations, design and configuration are all crucial in the pre deployment stages Your analysis software should be hardware agnostic and compatible with a wide variety of PBXs to accurately measure voice use patterns both pre and post deployment.

Monitoring of ongoing operations such as real time QOS data, dropped calls and packet loss, policy based management features, and troubleshooting alerts with root cause analysis should all be included in the application, as well as the ability to interpret the data in a variety of reports.

IP address management should also be a consideration, as now that you have converged, every device - a laptop, an IP phone, even hand held mobile devices that connect to your network will be competing within your address space. IPAM tools are also becoming available from many vendors to help streamline and simplify administration.

It is the ongoing operations responsibility to assure that the benchmarks that were set in the planning phase are being met, and that the SLAs agreed upon, either in house or with a carrier, are being adhered to. With the help of the right analysis solution IT can quickly determine both, and in the case of an SLA not being met, can help find where the responsibility lies.

Network Optimization

The same software that you use for ongoing operations could prove vital to the optimization phase of the IPT life cycle. While operations and optimization are both ongoing, they are also happening at the same time, and should probably best be thought of as two different job descriptions.

The IPT converged network is a dynamic entity, with moves, adds, and changes constantly shifting performance levels in a growing organization. Much of the motivation for convergence is to future proof the network, extending its life span to avoid costly upgrades every few years.

While much of the ongoing management operation is happening in real time on the production network, optimization could and should be performed first in the test lab. The goal of optimization is to push the network, to define new benchmarks and to improve existing SLAs with specific targets in mind.

If VoIP is the voice aspect in the triple play of IP Telephony, then IPT can be thought of as just one aspect in the broader scope of Unified Communications. As organizations seek to converge all communications, both real time and non real time, to an IP infrastructure, new applications are being developed and deployed. Unified Communications cover a range of applications from audio/video conferencing, blogging, mobility, wireless VoIP, distance learning, instant messaging, wikis, collaborative desktop applications, and presence, just to name a few.

Each of these applications will require its own bandwidth and Class of Service. It is the role of the optimizer to test and prepare the network for these potentially disruptive services by allocating resources appropriately, and making the necessary upgrades. With the proper tools and strict adherence to the IPT life cycle, convergence can future proof a network infrastructure for deploying a host of unified business applications for years to come.

Michael Talbert is a certified systems engineer with over 7 years experience in the industry. For more information on VoIP, visit the website VoIP-Facts.net, or the VoIP Facts Blog for up to date industry news and commentary.

August 4, 2008

The New 802.11n Wireless Standard - Bringing Mobility To Your Business

Filed under: Networks — gsmyth @ 12:00 am

There are lots of features that have commanded attention from the 802.11n new wireless draft standard. The major benefit of 802.11n is improved experience for the end-user in terms of data, voice and video. This new wireless standard has the ability to provide improvements in service not undergone before.

The rise in throughput or connection speed, which appears to be up to five times higher than present networks, is one of those improvements. Also, reliability should be increased as a result of reduced latency or jitter. The coverage and throughput is more consistent and that makes this wireless service more reliable.

802.11 is the technology increasingly preferred for achieving network access and the improvements in throughput alone will fuel this trend. 802.11n network also has the potential to replace Ethernet wired networks. However, we cannot expect this to happen all of a sudden. The new standard could replace wired networks for achieving end-user network access in the long term. Gigabit Ethernet will even now offer enhanced latency and enhanced jitter performance compared to 802.11n.

You have to mull about the impact that mobility would have, particularly keeping in mind the success of your organization before new technology to back up the new draft standard is being installed. It allows employees to attain access to company information and applications in a secure manner in spite of both time and location. Internet access can be provided easily to visitors, contractors or partners, without making corporate network security access, an issue.

Hospitals can deliver an efficient means of tracking or locating crucial staff and equipment and this could have a major say in the well-being of a patient. Data connectivity over large areas of space is another major benefit with the new draft standard. The efficient voice connectivity over the network will be an advantage for employees as it will cut down the needless phone charges arising from their mobile phones.

Improved employee productivity can be achieved. If a brake down in the car is preventing an employee from getting into the office there is no need to worry at all. Clients will take advantage from the boost in the response times of employees, enhanced accessibility and their capability to secure relevant company information even if they are not at their desk.

A workforce that is more and more mobile now has anticipations of utilizing the services of data and business applications. Mobile devices are in huge popularity around the world; 2006 witnessed 200 million 802.11 being sold. An alarming three billion people using mobile phones worldwide and it is estimated that by 2009, the Wireless LAN phone market will be worth $4 billion.

Your wireless and mobility roadmap will be guided by the business needs associated with your organizations strategic initiatives and objectives. The following four elements of a mobility strategy should be considered by you on a more tactical level. They are to take into account the mobility platform you have, define your connectivity protocols, get a good idea about your strategy related with security and organize your mobility applications.

Datacraft is the leading independent IT services and solutions company in Asia Pacific. Datacraft combines an expertise in networking, security, Microsoft solutions, storage and contact centre technologies, with advanced skills in consulting, integration and managed services, to craft IT solutions for businesses.

August 1, 2008

Moving To An NGN Platform

Filed under: Networks — gsmyth @ 12:00 am

Next Generation Networks (NGN) provide the end-user with a more complete set of applications, generating a network platform, which permits for the fast formulation of new services without requiring to introduce new infrastructure. Noticeable improvement has been attained in standardizing architecture of NGN and implementation of protocol in a number of dissimilar standards bodies. This has lead to substantial progress of business network security.

However, considerable progress has not been witnessed in the generation of standardized open APIs so that the community of developers creates advanced applications for the NGN platform. The importance of APIs is paramount. Standards bodies require finding a solution to the key issues related with open APIs in order to set up a fluent working environment for the NGN platform. NGN platform can be crucial to the network management system. Therefore, you have to resolve all issues as soon as possible.

NGN at the core implies an assembly of a number of (overlay or dedicated) transport networks each historically developed with a different service in mind into a single core transport network (often centered on Ethernet and IP). Amongst other things, it implies the emigration of voice from a switched architecture (PSTN) to VoIP as well as emigration of legacy services like Frame Relay, X.25 (either commercial emigration of the customer to a new service such as IP VPN, or technical migration by emulating the “legacy service” present in the NGN).

With a NGN platform end-users will be delivered much more than fundamental telecom services; business IP telephony, information and entertainment services, comprising IPTV, are all looked at by major telecom companies as significant applications, which can fuel revenue growth. For the enterprise user, the telecom companies intend to utilize the NGN as a basis for exerting huge pressure on the ICT outsourcing space aiming at earning better profits.

NGN provides a clearer partition between the services and the transport (connectivity) part in the network, which execute above that transport. This implies that at any time a provider desires to activate a fresh service, it can be done at the service layer itself without taking into account the transport layer - i.e. services do not depend on transport details. Applications comprising voice will be inclined to be free more and more from the access network (de-layering of applications and network) and will be included increasingly in end-user equipments (Set-top box, phone, PC).

However, the strategic change being planned to make, has some dangers associated with it. The industry of telecom is transferring from a high-profit and low-risk business model, prior to the introduction of deregulation and IP to a low-profit and high-risk model. But, to continue as a network carrier in the traditional manner with the possibility of ever-dwindling revenue is, understandably, not perceived as a choice by major telecom companies.

More and more companies are incorporating NGN networks across the world. In the UK a popular NGN was put into practice by BT (British Telecom) known as 21CN (21st Century Networks) and this resulted in noticeable betterment of business network security. In Bulgaria, BTC (Bulgarian Telecommunications Company) introduced the NGN in a big project as an underlying network of its Telco services in 2004. So, it is an unmistakable fact that the companies across the world are moving to an NGN platform. With the fixed telephone service moving to IP and mobile, business and network transformation is the only option to redeem themselves for telecom companies.

Datacraft is the leading independent IT services and solutions company in Asia Pacific. Datacraft combines an expertise in networking, security, Microsoft solutions, storage and contact centre technologies, with advanced skills in consulting, integration and managed services, to craft IT solutions for businesses.

July 31, 2008

The Advantages Of Wireless Networks

Filed under: Wireless Networks — gsmyth @ 12:00 am

In this world of modern technology, most people prefer not to connect computers with Ethernet cables because excessive cables scattered throughout their office or home is unsightly. You can choose to install a wireless network to avoid excessive cabling. For a wireless network, there is no need to use Ethernet cables to connect your computers to the DSL or router.

Usually, a wireless network broadcast signal uses one or more wireless routers or wireless access points. The access points or router are provided with an aerial and an Ethernet port. The Ethernet port in the access point must be connected to the modem which is provided by your internet service provider, if you need internet access. If you have to move the wireless network to another place, you can simply transfer and install it in your new location easily.

You can also make a combination of wired and wireless connections with an access point or wireless router. The access point functions as the receiver and radio frequency transmitter and can interact with computers, IP Phones, PDAs and other access points having 802.11 wireless adapters. IEEE 802.11 standard of wireless transmission is utilized in a wireless local area network (WLAN). Certain other wireless networking standards such as Bluetooth are available now. However, 802.11 standard is considered as the most effectual networking solution. Actually, the aim of the developers of this network interface was to connect computers through a local area network. However, it has now been changed and a wireless network interface is also used for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and internet access.

Based on the surveys conducted so far, it is clear that you can stay connected in your network for a long period each day. If you have a laptop with a wireless connection, you can walk around your office with your laptop without losing the connection. Nowadays, certain emergency services are transferring their confidential data through a wireless network. We can consider this as an evidence for the data security which is provided by wireless network. You can send and share data quickly through a wireless network. This is the main reason why businesses and people prefer this network interface for their data sharing. Another important fact regarding wireless networks is that you can connect to the network easily even from the regions which have poor telecom infrastructure.

Some of the main reasons which make the wireless network interface popular include:

i) Convenience as you can use this network interface at home, the office or anywhere else without hassle.
ii) WLANs are available anywhere in the world at an affordable cost.
iii) If you are moving to a new location, you can transfer the interface and install it at your new location easily.
iv) There is no need for an Ethernet cable to connect computers to each other.

For a business, one of the main advantages in setting up a wireless network is savings. You can access the changes in your business in a short period of time after installing the wireless network. There is no need to spend money on cables and other equipments. The cost of maintaining a wireless network is also less when compared to other network interfaces.

Nowadays, you can buy wireless routers at an affordable cost. Also having a wireless network can increase productivity and improve the working environment in your office.

One of the main drawbacks of this network interface is that it may cause health and environmental hazards. Recent researches reported that the constant use of wireless network interfaces may lead to memory loss, poor concentration, premature senility, nausea and even the hazardous disease named cancer. Some environmental hazards that may occur due the constant usage of this interface are also reported. These hazards occur due to electromagnetic radiation coming out of wireless networks.

Datacraft is the leading independent IT services and solutions company in Asia Pacific. Datacraft combines an expertise in networking, security, Microsoft solutions, storage and contact centre technologies, with advanced skills in consulting, integration and managed services, to craft IT solutions for businesses.

June 24, 2008

What To Know About Broadband Routers

Filed under: Networks — osbwebhost @ 12:00 am

When you are thinking about whether or not your home is in need of broadband routers, you need to make sure that you are looking at all of the information that is out there. With so many homes having more than one computer, it is basically a must have and something that a home should not be without.

Broadband routers allow more then one computer in the home to share the same IP address, or Internet connection. This means that the computer users get to save a lot of money as they do not have to sign up for several different internet services.

Basically, the computers in the home will be able to share the Internet connection by using what is called NAT, or network address translation. This also means that all of the computers in the home can be surfing the Internet or sending emails all at the same time by using one of the many broadband routers that are out on the market. Also, it is very important to know that with broadband routers, you will have an extra wall of protection as NAT acts like a firewall. This firewall basically hides your true IP address, which means that it is much safer from people who want to hack into your system.

Prices And Availability

Your basic broadband routers will cost under seventy dollars usually but the more intense ones can cost up to several hundred dollars. Unless you are running an office with more then a few computers, there is no reason why you cannot go with your basic and simple broadband routers, as these will be so much more affordable. Make sure though that you really evaluate exactly what you need for your computer usage and then get the proper router that will provide you just that.

These routers can always be purchased online through different web sites or in stores. The good thing about heading to your local electronics store for the purchase of your router is that you may be able to find more helpful information about broadband routers. Just make sure that you have a salesman that is trying to do what is best for you and not just trying to up-sale you because it is their job. With enough research, you will be able to find a selection of broadband routers that are perfect for your needs without having to spend your entire budget and savings.

For more information about routers please visit my website Routers - Aethra Routers

June 17, 2008

There Is No “I” in Network Monitoring

Filed under: Networks — Sciencelogic @ 12:00 am

Well of course there IS an “I” in Monitoring! Actually there are two of them. However this very simple concept is often forgotten and quite difficult to accomplish while effectively running IT Operations. I was reminded of this while attending the Gartner Symposium ITxpo in Orlando last October.

Gartner analysts talked about the maturity model for running IT Operations as a Business, and they concluded that very few IT organizations had built the framework of People, Process and Technology to achieve a high level automation by welding the right set of tools together for internal IT departments to be able to deliver IT solutions like a service provider.

What’s Happening Now
Typically, larger IT organizations run in silo-based organizational structures because of the very nature of technology subject matter expertise. The network engineering group, the database management team, the systems management teams with Unix and Windows, the IT security teams, the back-office application management teams and the e-mail/blackberry service delivery teams often run in separate subgroups.

Most often, these teams use their own independent tools (often from the manufacturer of the technologies they support) or a single narrow/deep tool to assist with performance and event management for databases, e-mail systems, servers or the network. This typical structure leads to 5-10 independent monitoring/management systems that often don’t share information with each other.
More important, the lack of or oftentimes extreme expense and ongoing management associated with integrating multiple heterogeneous technologies and applications into a unified monitoring/management system leads to communication breakdowns and knowledge transfer gaps that prevent rapid issue resolution.

The Team Solution
So back to the title of this blog post: “There is no I in Monitoring.” The idea is a play on the well-known saying “there is no I in Team.” I could not find this commonly used phrase attributed to a specific person, but I have heard it in sports and business coaching as a consistent mantra for amazing results.

By definition, a “team” is collection of people working together towards a universal goal. Partly based on the mnemonic - Together Each Achieves More - which values the togetherness of individuals; this well-meaning adage emphasizes the need to leverage the strengths of individual subject matter experts to maximize the efficiency and success of the team.

So the crescendo moment you have all been waiting for. Valuing the individual strengths, skills and experiences of every one of these silo technology teams, and channeling them through a single tool and a single pane of glass will generate exceptional results in IT Operations Management.

We welcome you to our monitoring world and hope that you’ll enjoy learning about our philosophies and the idea of a collaborative team effort in managing IT operations.

David Link is president and CEO of ScienceLogic (http://www.sciencelogic.com). He and his partners built a thriving company from the ground up by focusing on delivering “products that just work” to the underserved IT management marketplace.

May 29, 2008

A Look Into The World Of Network Cables

Filed under: Networks — Galway @ 12:00 am

Network cables are extremely important items in the modern world. It is scary to think of it but they are responsible for the transfer of all kinds of data across the whole of the world. The network cables are primarily used for intranet connections in an office and finding the right cables for your office is very important.

For the uninitiated this can be a very daunting task after all if you know very little about them then you are unlikely to be able to pick the right ones for your specific needs. If all you know about network cables is that they are twice as long as the middle to the end then where should you start?

The process of organising cabling effectively is known as cable management and managing cable effectively can ensure that data is transferred both effectively and safely. Good cable management should ensure that cables do not become tangled and it can also work to ensure that cables do not accidentally become unplugged as a result of being knocked.

These kinds of accidents can have really detrimental effect on a business if data transmissions are lost at important moments. Making sure that cabling is installed properly can be an arduous task but it is important to make sure that it is done properly. This is increasingly important in businesses that work in the It sectors, communications sector, power distribution industry, facility wiring company and indeed in all types of industry or business that use a wide range of cabling.

The quality of cable management has an obvious increased level of importance in hospitals and medical centres. These are of greater importance as if they are laid incorrectly they could become a hazard for staff or patients.

The network cables that are available come in a vast range of different size, colours and shapes. Each different type of network cable is designed to meet different needs. Ethernet cables are designed to connect Ethernet applications, fibre optic cables transfer data over fibre optics, patch cables and telephone cables also help with the transfer of different types of data.

Each of these differing types of cable perform a different service. The Ethernet crossover cable, for example, is used to connect computing devices together that would normally require a hub, router or networking switch. These types of cables are usually found to contain a single wire that delivers transmission in each direction.

The major benefit of cables like the fibre optic cable is that they allow greater amounts of data to be transferred quicker than previously possible and over a longer distance. They have a number of benefits over metal wires in that they do not experience as much loss and they do not experience as much interference as conventional cabling.

These types of wire operate by channelling thin beams of light down the cables and through a process of total internal reflection the light is kept in the core of the wire. This light is in turn transfers data which can be translated at either end of the cabling.

Aside from the practical benefits of the different types of cabling they are also often offered in a wide variety of different colours. This can be useful as a practical method of keeping track of different cables but it can also be used simply to look good in the place that they are placed. Common colours available include red, black, green, grey, white, blue and yellow.

Shaun Parker has been involved in the networking equipment and network cables industry for several years.

April 23, 2008

Making System Management Simple From A Distance

Filed under: Networks — AjeetK @ 12:00 am

Many people are finding that the way to run their business is through remote infrastructure management. This allows for individuals to run their business or their system even when they are away from it.

This is like having a service desk on the line at all times and ensuring that your networks are running properly 24 hours a day. This seems extreme to a lot of people, but when you rely on your network to run your business, it isn’t extreme at all.

Many businesses spend endless hours and excessive amounts of money paying for people to maintain their infrastructure for them. The great thing about infrastructure management is that there are people there all the time that are looking out for the network and always ensuring that it is operating at its very best.

This is done remotely so even when the office is closed things can be repaired, slow servers can be noticed and repaired, and when the office reopens in the morning everyone will find that their systems work exactly the way they should, and they are none the wiser of any problems that existed or were repaired the night before.

Remote management means that you are paying an individual or provider to monitor your networks at all times. This means trusting someone, but it also means that you don’t have to wait for something to go wrong to call someone in to help you. It also means that a problem can be fixed as soon as it pops up, instead of waiting for it to grow and grow and possibly have a domino effect on the whole system, slowing or shutting everything down.

Many companies go with remote infrastructure management because it is more cost effective. While you have to pay for the service, you may find that the basic service to have the system monitored is very low and even when there is a problem that needs to be addressed it is more cost effective to have the problem fixed remotely instead of having someone come out to the office and fix the problem.

There are many service desk providers that will also provide remote monitoring and management options. This is a great option for any business that wants their network to be secure and run at optimum speeds and levels at all times.

Many are afraid of how much this type of service will cost, but when you look at it and really think about how much you have to pay for someone to come in and fix things once they have gone wrong you will find that these services are worth every penny that you pay for them, perhaps even more!

Any service worth having is an expense, but when the benefits of having the service outweigh the costs associated with them, then you know that you are making a great business decision and that is why so many businesses are taking that leap and purchasing remote management services.

Rely on us for infrastructure management at single point of contact and efficient single point of contact. Check for the best service in single point of contact.

March 4, 2008

Some Good Reasons For Having A Wireless Connection

Filed under: Wireless Networks — scottyken @ 12:00 am

Having a wireless network opens up many possibilities,
they provide an inexpensive and easy way to share a single Internet connection among several computers. This means you only need one modem, and you can add additional computers to the network just by plugging in a wireless card and turning them on. The new machines are connected to the Internet immediately.

A wireless network also lets you access files and printers from anywhere in your home. It allows you to synchronize files you have on your laptop with your home computer, and you can easily send files between computers as well. Using a wireless network to transfer files is faster than sending them via e-mail or burning them to a CD! Because printers connected to one of the computers on a network are shared by all the computers on that network, you can write documents anywhere in your home, press the print button, and collect the printed files from a printer that is connected to another computer.

If you are a game player, you have probably noticed that your games often have an option to play over a local area network or LAN. Wireless networks are LANs! This means you and your family can play these games together and do not have to be on computers that are next to each other to do so. Lets face it, it is more fun to play against real people, and it is even more fun to play against people you know instead of strangers on the Internet.

Your games will also play much faster over your LAN. Additionally, you can connect game consoles to the Internet and begin playing these games online. It is much easier to experience online play through an Xbox or PlayStation 2 that is connected to a wireless network than have to use a modem!

Wireless network connections are always on. This means you can connect to the Internet whenever you want without waiting for your modem to dial in. Laptops can be carried from room to room, and they will always have access to the Internet. Since wireless networks operate without the need to log in, you do not need to set up usernames or passwords.

The single greatest thing about a wireless network is that it is, well, wireless! The biggest reason to have a wireless network is because it eliminates the need for costly, ugly, and dangerous wires trailing all over your house. You can use your computer in any room you want no more being trapped near a phone outlet or walking over that tangle of wires in your home. The cost of getting enough Ethernet cables can add up, and sometimes, you may even have to make holes in your walls to set up a wired network. If you are renting, of course, this is impossible. With a wireless network, you don not have these problems - you can even use your computer outside if you want! And if you move, there is no need to disconnect and pack up all those wires, and you no longer have to examine all the wires for damage whenever your Internet connection goes down.

You can see how having a wireless network can simplify your life.

To find more information and advise on wireless networks visit http://science-discovery.com

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