Reviews

Review: WAN Optimization Solutions

Riverbed diagram

I recently had the opportunity to test out and implement some of the top WAN optimization products on the market today. I was amazed at the science behind these awesome devices and how they were able to “speed” up long distance data transfers. WAN Optimization has been a bit of …

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Review: Cisco ASA 5500

Firewall Migration

Today we review the Cisco ASA 5500 series firewall/vpn/ips/security device.  For those who don’t remember the Cisco ASA series is the replacement for the PIX as well as the VPN concentrator.  Along with the new line of ISR routers, Cisco is moving swiftly on all fronts to devices that can …

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DNS Review: Commercial DNS Appliances

Infoblox

I recently had the opportunity to completely over haul the DNS for a large IT organization and wanted to take this opportunity to do a complete DNS review.  As part of the over-haul, the internal DNS would remain on Windows Active Directory servers however the public facing external DNS servers …

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What is the Cisco 6509 Enhanced?

Recently I was on a project to upgrade our current Cisco 6509 core switches and came across some new changes to the Cisco 6509 chassis. The switches that were being upgraded were just doing basic switching duties, populated with Sup II’s in Slot 1 and primarily had 10/100/1000 switching module …

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Review: Scrutinizer NetFlow Analyzer

Today I’m going to review Plixer’com’s netflow analyzer called Scrutinizer. Scruntizer is a free, yes you heard that right, FREE netflow analyzer for your Cisco router. Wikipedia defines Netflow as:an open but proprietary network protocol developed by Cisco Systems to run on Cisco IOS-enabled equipment for collecting IP traffic information. …

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