2010 is shaping up to be a year that continues to emphasize the need for security. One potential solution that has been promoted for several years is network access control (NAC). NAC has come about as a response to the increased need for security by large and small organizations. If you’ve been considering NAC, there are several ways to deploy this security solution. These include infrastructure-based NAC, endpoint-based NAC, and hardware-based NAC.

The latest upgrade to the family of IEEE 802.11 standards is identified as IEEE 802.11n. Users of this new process will notice two improvements with this improved wireless technology. They will find that significantly greater speeds and ranges can be achieved over the existing standards. Specifically, 802.11g products, which have a theoretical maximum throughput speed […]

Last October I wrote a number of posts discussing the basics of wireless LANs, along with the associated frequency spectrums, security standards, and security vulnerabilities. The wireless networking process, defined through the IEEE 802.11 set of standards, has become common in private homes and has a significant and growing role in corporate and business settings. […]

Although not usually covered in training materials, it is interesting to note where Ethernet originally came from. Like many of the early networking protocols, the principles of Ethernet were developed inside a corporation that was looking to solve a specific problem. Xerox needed an effective way to allow a new invention, called the “personal computer”, […]

Security is a vital consideration when planning, designing, implementing, and managing any type of network infrastructure. This is especially true for wireless local area networks (WLANs), which present a unique set of challenges to both IT specialists and security professionals. In addition to the typical problems that new network and device technologies are plagued with, […]

No matter what book or manual you use to study for the CCNA examination, you will see various protocols and processes referencing an RFC. And, although frequently referenced, the RFCs are seldom actually included in the documentation. So, the logical question becomes, “What is an RFC and where can I find them?” In the computer network […]

Devices must send dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) when a phone call is routed to an an automated system. Automated attendant (AA), voicemail (VM), or interactive voice response (IVR) systems are some examples of the types of automated systems that can pick up phone calls. Cisco Unity, Unity Connection, and Unity Express are all examples of systems that […]

In my last post we looked closely at E.164 and the IETF, and how they made subtle changes to the existing E.164 numbering plan. In essence, all devices with a phone number would reflect the entire number with a plus symbol tagged onto the front of the number, like +14043567893 if you’re in North America. […]

When we are addressing Voice over IP we need to remember that essentially we would like to reach customers over the PSTN or SS7 network. The only avenue to date to do this, is by using something called the telephone number. However, that number has undergone some changes recently. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is […]

Do I really need QoS? I get this question quite often from students and prospective customers. Well let’s look at all the reasons for implementing QoS. Most manufacturers of Voice over IP equipment today like Microsoft, Cisco, and others are adding to their codec mix, a variable rate codec that can respond automatically to network congestion. […]