 Tech Focus
Squeeze More Out Of The Network
CRN Test Center reviews products that can boost network performance, on demand
By Samara Lynn
What makes a technology product leading-edge? Is it the ease of installation and use? Feature set? Return on investment (ROI)? Perhaps it's cutting-edge engineering.
It is, in fact, all of the above.
Networking products have come a long way from the days of hubs and token rings. Heavy demands are placed on today's data centers. From converged traffic emanating from a variety of sources such as VoIP and storage systems to combating the pervasive onslaught of security threats, network administrators have come to expect the devices and software that are components of a network to be efficient, secure, reliable and have proven ROI.
The four products presented here differ in functionality and features. Yet, each one of them meets the criteria to make it a leading-edge networking product.
CA: ARCserve Backup r12.5 for Windows
CA has overhauled ARCserve r12.5, making Release 12.5 so much more than a backup product. It integrates data protection and storage management and is more of a multilayered offering. An added boon is the intuitive interface and granular options for handling all kinds of backup jobs.
There are a slew of new features in this release, and backup data deduplication may be the most noteworthy. By searching for duplicate backup data, this feature can significantly reduce an organization's storage needs. Deduplication in CA ARCserve is an in-line process that occurs at the backup server, within a single session. ARCserve scans incoming data and segments it into chunks. Thus, disk space needed to back up this data stream is smaller with deduplication than in a regular backup job.
Another impressive new feature is the ability to back up Hyper-V Virtual Machines. Full backup of VM images is supported as well as the backing up of VMs at the file level. VM backup works well in this product and is easy to initiate. Need to restore a VM? That isn't a problem with ARCserve. It can perform granular restores from image backups or do file-level restores.
Security is beefed up in this release as well. If an administrator wants to recover encrypted backup, there is no need to remember the encryption password, which can (and should, as a best practice) change on a regular basis. It's simple to configure this software to remember the password for data restoration.
There are some preinstallation requisitions for ARCserve Backup. They include SQL Server Express, Microsoft's .Net framework 3.5 SP1, Microsoft's XML Core Services and Java Runtime Environment 1.4.2.16. No need to hunt for the prerequisites; they are all included with the software. During install, ARCserve will check a machine for all necessary components and if any are missing will guide a user through installation. It's a fast and hassle-free process.
CA has really made ARCserve almost idiot-proof. After installation, the rather juvenile-sounding My First Backup wizard guides a user through every step needed to create a detailed backup job. However, there is
nothing juvenile in the precise, step-by-step manner the setup aids users in building a backup job. There is also a handy definition lookup in which a user can get clear-cut definitions to technology terms featured in the wizards.
CA: XOsoft r12.5
XOsoft release 12.5 is CA's solution for replication and high availability. It's an all-inclusive disaster-recovery solution. Why did we include disaster recovery in a feature on network products? Easy. A network is only as sound as its last good backup or disaster-recovery capability. Business-continuity planning is not merely a nice-to-have, it is a must-have.
This product provides replication and restoration for both files and platforms. Some of the supported platforms include Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, Oracle and IIS.
Installation has multicomponents to it. The Control Service role is the single point of control of the CA XOsoft operation. An outstanding feature is the Continuous Data Protection Recovery option. It allows IT staff to perform restorations nearly effortlessly without a lot of overhead. Users can also get down to some real nitty-gritty management with the included Power Shell command-line interface tool.
Once the Control Service is installed, clicking on it opens up the browser-based CA XOsoft Overview page. From this page, there is a scenario management link. Clicking on this link automatically installs CA XOsoft Manager. From the Manager, engines are installed for both the Master (source) and the Replica (target) machine.
After the engines are installed on the Master and Replica, a user can choose the directories to replicate from Master to Replica. A click of a button initiates a replication; as replication takes place, an animated graphic of the data exchange between the master and host is displayed so a user can easily see its progress.
Both the Master and Replica in each scenario has associated, configurable properties; scripts can be made to run before or after synchronization, parameters can be established such as maximum spool size or minimum disk free size, and a user can configure event notification and reporting.
Cisco: Unified Communications 500 Series
Think industry-leading, and Cisco will most likely be at the forefront. Although Cisco is renowned for providing technology deployed on large-scale enterprises, it offers products targeted at the SMB as well. One such product is the Unified Communications 500 series.
The UC500 is ideal for small businesses looking for a VoIP solution that is integrated with other capabilities.
This is a small device with a lot of features. It's an all-in-one unified communications solution. It's an IP telephony system with features such as voice messaging and auto-attendant, and it has eight Power over Ethernet (PoE) ports that can be used for wired IP phone and PC. This device also provides wireless connectivity; it has a single integrated access point with WPA and WPA security as support for multiple SSIDs (Service Set Identifiers). This is a complex device, but not so complex to configure.
The most straightforward configuration option is to initially connect the UC500 to a PC running the Cisco Configuration Assistant software. The software is available for download from Cisco's Web site. By following the default configuration settings, it's fairly simple to get the device up and running.
Next, it's only a matter of adding IP phones and PCs to the PoE ports on the switch. Once again, the Cisco Configuration Assistant is used to set up the IP phones. To expand the ports available on the UC500, an administrator can choose to add the Catalyst Express 520 Switch to the UC500's uplink port. A DSL/cable modem is connected to the UC500 to set up WAN connectivity. The UC500 supports Foreign Exchange Office (FXO) lines, Basic-Rate Interface (BRI) lines as well as SIP trunking. Using the Cisco Configuration Assistant, it is also painless to get the UC500 set up as a single integrated wireless access point.
The device comes with a swivel-mount dipole antenna that connects to the UC500. The software walks a user through setting up secure wireless configuration options. Administrators can also increase the coverage area of wireless access by using Cisco's Mobility Express Solution to deploy additional Cisco 500 Series Wireless APs in either stand-alone mode or using controller-based architecture. However, using the UC500 as a single integrated AP should more than suffice for small offices and requires no additional network hardware, a savings factor for a small business.
D-Link: xStack DES-3528
D-Link has a firm foothold in the consumer market. Make no mistake, though: This vendor has offerings for the SMB market that boost network performance and provide advanced feature sets for administering a network.
The DES-3528 is a managed 24-port, Layer 2, 10/100 switch. This is a switch that is perfect for organizations with light voice, video and data needs.
The DES-3528 is targeted at SMBs but has some surprisingly aggressive security features worthy of an enterprise-level switch. Access to the network can not only be restricted by MAC and IP addresses, but by UDP/TCP and VLAN ID. Administrators can use inherent security controls to require users to provide a username and password in order to gain access to the network. There is even protection against Denial of Service attacks; the D-Link Safeguard Engine can detect DoS attacks and prevent an overload to the central processor.
There are some additional security mechanisms. This switch can perform DHCP screening, client filtering and other security lockdowns to prevent breaches such as rogue DHCP server and IP spoofing.
Stacking up to a whopping 32 switches is supported and a stack can be managed by a single IP address. Plus, any D-Link switch can be included in the stack. This is a great way to provide scalability in an SMB network.
In addition, eight queues are provided to handle voice, data and video traffic. Traffic priority can easily be set by a variety of methods, including IP or MAC address specifications. Underlying technology by default handles video and audio streams without taxing network bandwidth.
D-Link devices are superb when it comes to the management interface; it is easily navigable and has a crisp, clean look. For more granular tasks, the switch also has a command-line interface.
Some other options that come with this device include Telnet Server, ZModem, support for SNMP traps, system logging and DHCP Auto Configuration. |