The Lippis Report

By Cisco Systems

Traditional security techniques are unable to respond to threats that can arise from anywhere. To protect today’s borderless networks, IT managers must adapt by implementing faster, smarter security measures that monitor the constantly changing global landscape. This white paper, written for IT managers and executives, examines the security risks and needs of borderless networks, details a systematic plan of action, and describes how Cisco can help implement threat defenses that will serve you today and for years to come.

Find out how by downloading this white paper

By Cisco Systems

Spanning-Tree Protocol (STP) can be easily compromised by eavesdropping in a switched corporate environment, but this vulnerability can be mitigated using L2 security features that are available on the Cisco® Catalyst® 6500. STP Man in The Middle (MiTM) attack compromises the STP “Root Bridge” election process and allows a hacker to use their PC to masquerade as a “Root Bridge,” thus controlling the flow of L2 traffic. To understand the attack, the reader must have a basic understanding of the “Root Bridge” Election process and the initial STP operations that build the loop free topology. This paper provides an overview of the STP Root Bridge Election Process, STP MiTM Attack Guide and Mitigation Techniques for STP attacks.

Find out how by downloading this white paper

By Cisco Systems

The Cisco® Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition integrates multivendor private branch exchanges into one network and centralizes applications. The Cisco Unified Border Element works with it to route traffic on secure cost-saving Session Initiation Protocol trunks. Together they help workers around the world achieve higher productivity through high-performance collaboration tools.

Find out how by downloading this white paper

This vidcast is a short video presentation on two and three tier network fabrics for high end data centers. Cisco’s FabricPath Switching System and F-Series module for the Nexus 7000 are reviewed along with a case study

Massively scalable data centers have unique requirements such as low latency, high performance, non-stop operation, simplicity of design, workload mobility and storage transport support. To address these requirements Cisco launched FabricPath, which is a scalable multi-link and multipath technology allowing 2 to 48 Nexus 7000s to be configured in a large, non-blocking Ethernet switch fabric. This fabric, called a FabricPath Switching System or FSS, eliminates oversubscription and creates a two-tier fabric. In addition to FabricPath, Cisco launched its’ F-Series 10GbE module for the Nexus 7000, which offers 32 ports of auto-sensing 1/10GbE targeted at server access, aggregation and FCoE implementations solutions. Craig Griffin, Senior Director of Product Management for Cisco’s Nexus 7000 discusses new Ethernet innovations for the age of massively scalable data centers.

A white paper on the topic is available here:

By Cisco Systems

We work, live, play, and learn in a world that has no boundaries and knows no borders. We expect to connect to anyone, anywhere, using any device, to any resource—securely, reliably, transparently. That is the promise of borderless networks. To fully deliver on this promise, Cisco is advancing along three critical fronts: workplace transformation, technology leadership, and operational excellence.

By Cisco Systems

This paper provides a brief introduction to common security threats on IPv6 campus access networks and will explain the value of using First Hop Security (FHS) technology in mitigating these threats. An overview of the operational principle of FHS is provided together with some examples on how to enable FHS on Catalyst® 6500, 4500, and 3750 Series Switches. The target audience for this paper are network architects and network operation engineers.

Find out about FHS by downloading this Cisco whitepaper.

By Cisco Systems

Typically, data centers have been built over time, with servers added as they are needed. This process has resulted in server sprawl, increasing power and cooling costs, and created challenges in management and security. To meet their requirements, organizations are employing virtualization on a broad scale on servers centralized in the data center. However, server platform and virtualization address only one part of the problem for the global organization. Not only does application complexity put a burden on the server resources, but applications increase the burden on the WAN. With a widely distributed user base, organizations must address the challenge of WAN performance if they are to deliver applications to remote users with an acceptable user experience. To meet this challenge, Cisco provides a solution to host applications and deliver them over the WAN while helping ensure the highest levels of scale and performance, enabling organizations to achieve their business initiatives.
Find out how by downloading this Cisco whitepaper.

By Cisco Systems

Virtualization is rapidly becoming an essential tool for more fully harnessing and managing the power of today’s data center servers. In only a few years, standard x86 server technology has increased in performance and density so that today, multisocket, quad-core systems with 32 or more gigabytes of memory, are the norm. The combination of multicore computing and virtualization software such as VMware Virtual Infrastructure has enabled IT departments to bring server sprawl under control by running multiple independent workloads on a smaller number of servers. Today, fewer servers are required to do the same work, and their utilization levels have increased — both factors that contribute to greater energy efficiency and lower power and cooling costs.

As IT departments have discovered the benefits of server consolidation, they have also found that virtualization solves an even broader set of problems. Business continuity plans based on virtualization can make disaster-recovery solutions simple, reliable, and more cost effective. Virtual desktop environments can use centralized servers and thin clients to support large numbers of users with standard PC configurations that help to lower both capital and operating costs. Virtualization allows development, test, and production environments to coexist on the same servers, and it helps decouple application deployment from server purchasing decisions. New applications can be deployed in virtual environments and scaled on demand to accommodate the evolving needs of
the business.

By Siemens Enterprise Communications

This White Paper provides a comprehensive overview of the Virtualization plans for the Siemens Enterprise Communications OpenScape UC Server 2010 and for OpenScape UC Suite. Virtualization takes yet another step in our evolution to a pure software architecture and to match current and emerging strategies in the IT industry.
Siemens Enterprise continues to pursue Open Solutions for our customers and is using Open Virtualization Format  (OVF) and Virtual-Appliance software-solution approach for platform-independent virtualization of all the products, and to deliver on our message of Open Communications. Siemens Enterprise continues to lead the evolution of real-time UC-based communications by delivering innovative and customer-centric solutions with measurable financial benefits.

Find out how by downloading this Siemens whitepaper.

There is huge growth in video traffic on corporate networks thanks primarily to on-demand video clips and increasingly video collaboration, TelePresence, video surveillance and Digital Signage. But how do IT business leaders support the various forms of video on their corporate networks before a video tsunami wreaks havoc to network performance?  Also how do IT business leaders deliver a good video experience to a wide range of endpoints such as low bandwidth remote offices, mobile smartphones, WiFi connected laptops etc?  Tere’ Bracco, Senior Marketing Manager for Network Systems and Security at Cisco, joins me to discuss Cisco’s Medianet technologies that offer an approach to managing and delivering video services over corporate IP networks. 

Find out by listening to this podcast.

WAN optimization products are central to delivering excellent application performance to employees in branch offices especially as applications continue to be centralized in data centers.  Another key attribute of WAN optimization is that these solutions reduce WAN bandwidth requirements thus spend.  At the heart of WAN optimization technology is cache architecture, or how device stores or caches data to minimize WAN transfers.  We dive into the two main cache architecture approaches; “per peer” and “universal” then ask the key question.  Does caching architectures and cache sizing affect WAN optimization performance or are there other more important aspects of WAN optimization that buyers should be concerned with as they undergo vendor selection”?  In this Lippis Report podcast, I talk with Baruch Deutsch, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Cisco Systems, to demystify WAN optimization. Enjoy, Nick

By Cisco Systems

A system wide feature of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, CleanAir technology improves air quality by:
– Detecting RF interference that other systems can’t see
- Identifying the source and locating it on a floor plan
- Providing automatic adjustments to optimize wireless coverage around the interference

CleanAir technology provides the following benefits:
- Self-healing and self-optimizing wireless networks
- Faster troubleshooting for less downtime
- Effective policy enforcement

Layer 1 security

See how CleanAir technology avoids interference and speeds troubleshooting by watching this short video

By Cisco Systems
This white paper addresses the RF interference challenges that result from high usage of a shared spectrum. It explores the limitations of standard Wi-Fi chip design and how this affects the ability of an IT organization to gather critical, actionable data about the wireless spectrum for effective troubleshooting. Finally, it introduces Cisco® CleanAir technology and explains how by integrating RF intelligence into the network, users gain tremendous insight into actual usage of the wireless spectrum. This insight is critical to proactively managing Wi-Fi networks to support mission-critical and latency-sensitive applications needed in today’s hospitals, distributed enterprises, manufacturing sites, retail stores, and offices.

To learn more, download the Cisco whitepaper.