CIS8018 Strategic Information Security Editing Services

CIS8018 Strategic Information Security Editing Services

This is a CIS8018 Strategic Information Security Assessment in which we discuss network based technologies and Networking infrastructure.

Introduction

Through this CIS8018 Strategic Information Security Assessment, our major goal would be addressing the network management and advance network based technologies initiated by HP and Orion. Majorly, this assignment gives us a clear view point of differing facts of working on network architecture domain. It also gives us a brief explanations of technologies initiated by hp and Orion and further distinguishes there use in real network domain.

Benefits of Network Simplification

There are several and business benefits that organizations enjoy when they go for the network simplification, some of them are:

Both operational and upfront acquisition costs can be reduced by simplifying the network. In the past it is observed that solution providers take advantage of fact that customer don’t have the choice of using a different network equipment and charge a lot to build products based on  proprietary technology which is at times around 40%. Moreover, a network with only one   management interface, only one operating information system and consistent feature set will be simpler and easier to manage. Via this fewer network administrators are capable of managing more devices which in turn helps administrators to spend more time on strategic initiatives than on routine operations. (Kerravala, 2010) 

A complex network is one that Scales with the Speed of Business and scaling such network can be quite complicated. The networks that are independently managed and use superimpose technologies are generally very difficult to track. Their complex mesh of technologies with network interdependencies makes scaling not only a lengthy process but also extremely error-prone.  The complexities of the web of network technologies are directly proportional to the difficulty in scaling. Hence network simplification facilitates organizations to systematize the required features or services to face challenges. 

Figure 1: Business growth

Higher Network Uptime

A simplified network is very essential in order to minimize both planned and unplanned downtime. An unplanned downtime is experienced by networks during hardware failures or configuration errors and planned downtime intended for network maintenance. For example, a far less planned downtime is needed in case of simplified networks with centralized management as administrative tasks are not required to perform on a device-by device basis.

For Hewlett and Dave Packard, all three: sustainability, competence, and effectiveness are essential and go hand in hand. As per Bonnie Nixon, Director of Sustainability for the company states “Among HP’s values are a deep respect for the environment, and an ingrained commitment to reducing our impact today and building a sustainable global economy tomorrow.” In order to reduce its carbon footprint and to offer practical solutions to make it simple, HP coordinates its know-how, surroundings, and business strategies.

HP incorporated a provision in 1966 “to meet the obligations of good citizenship by making contributions to the community and to the institutions in our society which generate the environment in which we operate.” (Perry, 2010)

Hewlett and Dave Packard still carried approach within the bounds of company to corporate citizenship — and it consciously stay away from trading on its efforts in areas like sustainability but choose to advance its social agenda silently. Mark Heintze, who is HP’s stakeholder relations manager and works on HP’s SER (Social and Environmental Responsibility) team, supervising relations with NGO’s says “Up until about five years ago, we had the ‘Boy Scout and Girl Scout approach,’ as I call it.” “We just relied on our reputation as sort of the ‘good scouts’ of the industry, but we didn’t actively publicize any of our activities in this area to NGOs or other sustainability organizations.” However as the importance of the issues like climate change and global supply chain responsibility increases in the mainstream press, HP soon understood the need of aggressive promotion and High-performance businesses that can:

• Successfully balance both current requirements and future opportunities,
• Consistently surpass peers not only in revenue growth but also in profitability and total return to stockholders,
• maintain their control across time, business cycles, industry disturbances and modification in leadership.

This case study helps us to understand the growth of HP’s leadership in key markets. It is done by true commitment to sustainability — identified as environmental and social responsibility. We observe the transformation of HP’s green credentials into new beneficial ventures and improved existing ones while moving forward to establish itself as a model corporate citizen in the global market. HP translates a good-citizenship heritage into contemporary sustainability and reliability. To construct a global sustainability program is not only ambitious but quite challenging for HP. Such program seized to the same rigorous standards of accountability and profitability as its other business enterprises. As there are not many examples in IT sector and not even a single company of HP’s size and complexity. Hence the effort needed continuous innovation, adaptive strategies and ever-growing trust in its vision through developing process that relates all departments of the 321,000-employee organization. (Kerravala, 2010)

• Supply chain: HP is leading the electronics industry’s efforts so as to raise labor and environmental standards in our supply chain by collaborating supplier audits and capability building Priority.
• Climate and energy: HP develops innovative products and solutions in favor of an energy- and carbon-constrained world Priority to lessen the impact of our operations and supply chain on climate change.
• Product reuse and recycling: HP offers a well-organized system for recycling and reuse to its customers, and we work together with many leading organizations in order to expand common standards and solutions.
• Social investment: HP is always ready to offer support to communities wherever it function especial attention on   educational achievement, financial development and environmental sustainability
• Operations: HP utilizes an environmental management system in order to evaluate and decrease the environmental impacts of our global operations but improving cost effectiveness and workplace environment.
• Employees: HP encourages a high-performing, diverse workforce and offers a safe, healthy and supportive environment which enables employees to work effectively and achieve their potential.
• Privacy: HP applies an accountability approach to privacy while reviewing decisions. It is in agreement with the law and our privacy policies and aligned with our values and potential risks
• Products: The products and packaging designed by HP has a great track record of deputizing materials in order to fulfill customer and legislative requirements

HP has its different Hewlett-Packard of its various green initiatives that it needed to raise awareness of its decades-long commitment. Shelley Zimmer, is behind the Social and Environmental Responsibility policy in HP explains “I think a challenge for HP, honestly, is that we have been working on environmental and sustainability initiatives for quite a long time, well before such issues were really of interest to customers. We’re only now beginning to understand how to communicate the details to customers. Now that they are interested, it’s become a bigger issue for companies and for consumers across the world. Hewlett-Packard: Sustainability as a Competitive.” (Grimsley, 2009)

IDC believes that HP has clearly understood the variation requirements of enterprise and aligning themselves as a leading company supplier of converged infrastructure solutions that contain networking. Specifically, by their recent accomplishment of 3com, HP considers a major step to complete their enterprise offering. HP introduces this new broader networking portfolio in market by direct and indirect sales channels and combines it by HP service offerings. At present HP Networking positioning them to be a global competitor and to be supplier for enterprises and mainverticals. To define (ROI) return on investment is linked with execution of an HP Networking depending on network solution; IDC conducted an analysis of 12 medium sized to large organizations by an HP Networking infrastructure positioned during their production environment. IDC estimates that this business is able to reduce their total prices of networking by 66% and accomplish ROI as 466%, three year profits of $147,250 per 100 users, and profits on their starting investment among 8.4 months. (Grimsley, 2009)

While reducing operating prices they developed application service and simplifying networks because network have been developed in strategic significances, and it also become more difficult to control. Enterprises searching for different manners to integrate simplicity and better manageability into its network infrastructure. Architectural openness, general operating systems all over network devices, and solution enabling centralized management of all network resources through  single console have all turn to significant selling points to enterprise. While enterprises look for simplify network management, and then it considers some steps to develop application performances, that more stable environment, less frequent equipment failures, newer technology, reduced complexity.

Most of the respondents pointed out on these conflicting pressures and its capability to address them by HP Networking. One of the respondents observed complexity, higher availability, and better ease of use and HP was less price solution when they buy the equipment.

Blade system is an infrastructure at a box. By this they can build vital business solutions that are more low-priced, consider less time to control, utilize less power and ready to develop. With its all in one design, they had some requirements to build, maintain and improve their infrastructure from beginning to ending. Within this they able to alternative host from thousands of applications on Window, Linux, HP-UX and more by a combination of practical machines, storage and server blades integrity, storage works and proliant and variety of most popular networking brands and standards. 

Why Blades make sense

Blade system is merely smatter process to build an infrastructure that supports vital applications during business wants less wire, lower electric bills and none of the headaches from present alternatives. By streamlined foundation within place, then it is possible to deliver top line business outcomes to develop quickly, reach to market speedily and empower their employees, partners and consumers.
But who has time and money to plan, put up and maintain an infrastructure that contends by giant data centers of Fortune 500? Behind Blade system views, they can perform. The launch of blade system made greater progress and built up a greater network option with decrease in use of cables to less than 94 %. Through which further work on front is taken up by network engineers than from customer side. (Solarwinds, 2010)

By adding smarter power and cooling system more than 26 percent customer saved from power against other blade choice, without giving performance. Servers and storage is added within the same infrastructure for zero cable data protection and storage expansion and contains easy methods to control it all, so one person is able to do job of many.

As per the new technologies blade system helps customers in giving positive aspects in terms of redundancy and recovery from start up. Through this technological advancement, Blade system are easy to use and useful to all level of customer. Blade system price is reasonable compare to purchase cost of rack servers and storage. Customer requires cables, network switches, KVM solutions or management software and other equipment to make everything to work.  To step up accessibility, customers frequently require doubling those components for redundancy. Therefore to define whether blades are really had a better value for business, customer should consider infrastructure components such as cables, switched and compare the entire price. When comparing varied server with that of blade system server, it limits costs and provide better solution than of rack server.

• Server purchase price is saved up to 42 percent and supporting Ethernet and power cables, fiber channel connectivity, PDUs and racks.
• Usage of cable is reduced to 94% or more
• 60% server is placed by the  same distances and with their consolidated design, inbuilt control and included software tools for integrated infrastructure management, Blade system is enough to control and simple to change saving of customer money every day.
• Time maintenance tasks are reduced from 50 to 90% or more.
• Above 30% electricity prices is reduced that is essential to power and cool servers.
• Time requirement to perform upgrades and patches is reduced from 10 minutes to 20 seconds for every server.
• Executing redundancy and disaster recovery for high accessibility of every component at fewer prices.

Orion system Integrators

To follow new technologies and changes in IT environment become a challenge, particularly like data centre networks proceed beyond traditional LAN/WAN switching and routing for exact network fabric that contains virtual networks, proprietary networking and physical devices. At any time virtualized data center and private cloud begins to be support during high requirements to transport 100% feasible of fixed network and there is no extra source to help. Then how should keep up.
Challenges faced by the customers and what they require to control complex, developing networks and data centers is known by Network engineers and system administrations. In act, network engineers shared what the usage to design (NPM) Orion network Performance Monitor. Orion NPM designed greatly, however easy to utilize, network ease to use and performance management results that transports the essential information technologyby the customer to be top at developing network. (Solarwinds, 2010)

                              Figure 2: Screen short of Orion Architecture frame work

Orion NPM makes possible the customer to detect fast, diagnose, and decides performances architecture issues and breakdown before they start receiving calls to inquiring when network is down. Moreover Orion NPM is the easiest product of its type to deploy, utilize, and control. Customers no need to spend more time to filling out statements of work for more consultants when they deployed it in network management software. This is helpful to network management able to be with Orion NPM.

Orion NPM Highlights:

• Observes and examine real-time, thorough, network performance guide for wireless access points, servers, switches, routers and some other SNMP alter devices.
• Observes VMware server and automatically follows the VM performance by vCenter.
• Observes virtualized Cisco Nexus 1000V switches by similar easiness as physical servers.
•  Observes VSAN and Fiber Channel performance problems during real time, altering depending on threshold and reports that shows VSAN health.
•  Simplifies the management of Customer from Cisco (UCS) Unified Computing System components by supplying single merged view of customer data center network health.
• Permits customer to quickly observe the status of their core IT services and data center by rectified altering that dynamically collects associated systems and devices.
• Transports alerts on real problems by permitting advanced network altering dependencies because compared effects, sustained conditions, and difficult combinations of device states. (Solarwinds, 2010)

Orion NPM Features

Orion NPM management provides general mistakes in management and observes performances and availability to make sure that customer network is constantly working at top performance. Through forefront web interface, Orion NPM provides customers a unified observes on performance of thousands of clients and interfaces on consumer network. Customers able to observe performance metrics from some SNMP enabled device, including firewalls, servers, routers and switches. Usually monitored metrics include bandwidth usage, latency, mistakes, discards and packet loss.  Customers no need to call help desk to know the solution for their problems because they get information from Orion NPM. LUCID Interface software sellers take their software to be simple to use. But at SolarWinds network engineers are considering simple to use to an entire new level by their LUCID Interface. Depending on feedback from thousands of engineers merely like customers, network engineers able to recognize and executed five vital interface attributes that simplify network trouble-shooting.

  Figure 3: Screen short of Orion Network Location

Enterprise Measurability

Orion NPM assures that network will not at all exceed administration result. As an extremely   ascendable, endeavor network management program, Orion NPM can adapt network development by the accession of numerous polling engines, extra web servers and an endeavor processes consolation.

Encouraged Alertness

Orion NPM modifies to rapidly and simply set up mighty network warning signal engines to react to hundreds of diverse network situations, admitting many circumstances assures. This network warning signal assist to distinguish and right consequences earlier exploiters practiced execution eroding or accessibility consequences.  With alert support for correlative outcomes and sustained conditions, Orion NPM ensures that you don’t get paged at 3am unless there is a critical issue. Additionally, Orion NPM can automatically escalate network alerts until a trouble is concluded.

Incorporated Wireless Poller

As everybody likes convenience of wireless, handling this technology can give an individual concern similar to that. Attempting to monitor, secure and confirm the large number of wireless devices on the market at present is an almost inconceivable job, unless, naturally, individual have Orion NPM. Orion NPM’s Incorporated Wireless Poller changes individual to simply handle wireless thin and autonomous approach points and their related customers. Orion NPM can check wireless devices aboard wired devices and allow individual with warning signal, reports and Top 10 lists for individual’s wireless substructure! Universal Device Poller (Solarwinds, 2010)
Out of the box, Orion NPM ships with a MIB information that addresses the huge bulk of general network devices. But for that handful of odd devices that are hanging around in network or for newer devices that have MIB tables were one can at present accumulate valuable and extremely elaborated executive information. Orion NPM makes it simple to produce a tradition poller to monitor any SNMP-changed device assess that has a MIB, admitting nearly any statistic that a network device registers. It can also modify how an individual desire the accumulated information exposed for graphing, alerting and describing intentions. And utilizing the MIB Translation Wizard can change MIB assesses into the units of measurement that are most practicable to an individuals.  Incorporated Virtual Substructure Monitor has planned Orion NPM to monitor virtualization widely from the information center, to the practical machine, to the fundamental network substructure.  With Orion NPM’s incorporated practical substructure monitoring capacities, individual acquire deep visibleness into virtualized surroundings so it can assure network execution assists, not obstructs, virtualization plans.

Consolidation of HP – Orion network technologies

Hp Orion profiting one another business concern necessitates a decade ago; Orion’s network communication network contained a mixture of analog modems and radio. This signified that monitoring and check was hard, though network size and traffic was quite humble. Nowadays, Orion has an IP network with a large number of routers and interconnections and more than 600 IP devices. According to Stephen Hirsch Control and Protection Systems Development Manager, Orion New Zealand Limited the network has developed substantially above the past ten years, as a matter of fact it has multiplied in size after 2008. At present individual should considerable traffic to handle and a much more complicated topology. Addition and got developed from Layer 2 to Layer 3 switches in network operation.

The dispute Orion confronted was a deficiency of visibleness.  Stephen states, Place only, communication network had developed to such a size that it was unhandled to manage. There are a large number of redundant communications ways and could not distinguish or settle troubles without difficulty, which implied that the risk of communications failures or disruptions was eminent. It was as well tough to tackle network maintenance or accomplish alterations, since there is an absence of visibleness into IP spread-eagling and network to excuse.

As an outcome, Orion chose HP Route Analytics Management software to improve realize the behavior of communications network. Mean-time-to-repair cut down from hours/days to minutes/seconds With Orion’s communications network furnishing period of time visibleness and check of the electrical energy supplying which is vital to essential services, and business operations in the community communications network availability and performance are vital.

HP Route Analytics Management furnishes visibleness into and automated chasing of, the active expelling procedure of the total communications network. Describing on these capacities, Orion at present has the power to discover and resolution hard-to-diagnose communications troubles and execute maintenance, simply and efficaciously and precisely design for network alterations and optimization. Stephen contributes; HP Route Analytics Management describes an image of network topology. Have a graphic aspect of what’s associated to the networks and information know at-a-glance, what’s working and what’s broken. Can as well analyze traffic flows and expelling protocols and appraise network operation. (Kerravala, 2010)

But more significantly, if loss of connectivity takes places it have prompt visibleness into the consequence and can repair it immediately, frequently ahead the business is struck. The degree of transparentness that HP Route Analytics Management furnishes has substantially cut down Orion’s mean time-to-repair, from days/hours to minutes/seconds accordingly.

Conclusion

From the above research report, it is been mentioned that, there are varied technological scope that has to be addressed. The report is more of presenting a clear dimensional view of all the facts and issues, which are covered in a more definite manner. The above research assignment major deals with how HP and Orion new technologies and how they brought up specified changes in terms of network management in there specified business growth. The assignment help also gives out a more diverse view point on how HP and Orion collaborate each other in utilizing there new network technologies for their faster growth.

Recommendations

Blade system and Network Performance Monitor technologies are recommended by HP and Orion companies for better network management. Further HP and Orion are future companies making a steady growth in terms of network management and to address issues pertaining to network traffic and bandwidth constraints. As majorly through this assignment our discussion was mostly concerned with issues pertaining to network technologies and how these companies made a rapid progress by initiating action in field untouched.

References

Grimsley, E. M. (2009). Hewlett-Packard: Sustainability as a Competitive Advantage. accenture .
HP. (2007). HP BladeSystem for growing businesses. Hewlett-Packard Development Company .
HP. (2011). HP Network Lifecycle. hp Brochure .
Kerravala, Z. (2010). Simplification Is Mandatory to Scaling Corporate Networks. Yankee Group Research, Inc .
Perry, R. (2010). ROI o f a Complete Networ k in g P o r tfol io: Del i ve ri n g Val u e from t he Netwo rk Edge t o the Cor e. IDC analysis .
Solarwinds. (2010). Orion Network Performance Monitor. SolarWinds, Inc.