porttracker whitepaper

porttracker whitepaper: track what is connected to your network

There are many issues facing IT managers responsible for multiple sites including the security, management and administration of complex, disparate systems. There is a lot to keep track of. In the current economy not only are network managers expected to do more with less, but the rate of change is dramatically increasing as corporations reshape themselves to face the future. Budgets are tight, and according to Gartner, they will only get tighter.

Gartner's IT Spending Forecast, 1Q09 Update: 2009 Growth Will be Worse Than 2001, predicts falls across the board on IT spending. However, the report acknowledges some technologies are indispensible. No matter how constrained a budget may be, the analysts say, some areas must be financed and money always will be found for these key areas.

"Supporting current complex IT installations is both necessary for continued operations and a strategy for slowing down technology refresh cycles", the report states, before adding that areas set for continued investment include security and networking. Remarkably this element is one area that is often missed. According to recent research just five per cent of firms and organisations have a good understanding of their network environment, and as a result, have a system that is poorly used and inefficient.

We know that managing multiple sites brings with it many challenges. With consolidation on the increase, and many firms still finding expansion necessary, technology footprints get larger and complexity increases. Changes in staff numbers – up or down, IP phone rollouts, introduction of wireless all mean the number of end points is changing rapidly. The imperative for change often has a negative impact on performance, security and keeping track of the detailed changes in active end points on the network. As more applications, users and devices become critically dependent on highly reliable IP networks for their functionality, management processes and documentation procedures that worked well when systems were smaller or resources were more available, often break under the pressure of rapid change. Administrators, help desk staff, security staff no longer have a clear picture of what is currently connected; where they have capacity for new connections or where there are disconnections that have left open connections.

The ability to identify who has access and where they make use of that access is critical information and of vital importance to management whether in the commercial or government sectors. Regulatory frameworks impose legal duties to be on top of and to be able to retrospectively track such information. Breaches of privacy no matter how accidentally, or theft via access breaches is causing dramatic reductions in public trust and is creating high profile negative publicity on a regular basis.

As a result, companies increasingly have to look for and implement more mature and effective mechanisms for managing their infrastructure. They want and need end-to-end solutions that provide a wealth of information. Richard Gordon, research vice president of global forecasting at Gartner, stressed this as he announced the spending report, adding, "IT organisations will look for ways to shift spending from capital expenditures to operational efficiencies."

In many sectors i.e. education, the need to deliver secure, consistent and reliable services across any number of sites, can seem like an expensive and unwieldy task. However, this does not need to be the case. Some simple measures can have a dramatic effects improving enterprise network security, reducing administration costs, and allowing resources to be used much more efficiently. For example, solutions are available that can inspect every switch port and display information on its status, without requiring the already pressurised IT and networking team to cable chase and make guesses about where they end up.

“IT and network managers need systems that can track and report on the devices and people connected to their network. A modern organisation can no longer rely on cable-chasing to find these important facts out. For example, scheduled reporting or 'run now' tools can simply and quickly give them this information, reducing their port wastage, improving network security and saving them money. In these times an immediate return on investment cannot be overlooked, nor underestimated,” explained the porttracker product manager Take the University of Hertfordshire. The University is an extremely modern, high tech establishment that caters for more than 24,000 students and 2,500 staff across three main sites. As a university it specialises in subjects with a business focus, and must provide exceptional teaching, learning and research facilities. With so many people depending on connecting to its network and with rack cabinet after rack cabinet full of switches and vast quantities of network cables, the University realized that it knew very little about how it was all actually being used. The University knew it needed to get a clearer picture to assure service levels across its resources.

Having studied the systems available, the University worked with porttracker, a provider of network management software, as it sought to regain control over its network infrastructure. Each year, the University was finding that as each new intake of students and their supporting lecturers filled its halls, so they filled up its network capacity too. With such a large number of people and the constant change in the user population using its network, it needed to know which switches were available, and which were redundant.

The plug-and play porttracker appliance now lets the University quickly and simply track and report on exactly who and what is connected to their network. Unused switches or ports are easily identified and easy to use displays let administrators keep a clear eye on exactly what is happening and where. Redundant switches can now quickly be deployed elsewhere. With the average number of switches per organisation estimated at a thousand or more, achieving this view without an automated appliance based solution like porttracker usually seems impossibly complex and is invariably time consuming.

Alan Dickson, Network Manager at The University of Hertfordshire, said “We were able to save time and resources as we no longer had to manually look for idle switch ports and switches across our sites, which in turn has enabled us to spend more time on other network management tasks. Furthermore, porttracker addressed our three key issues of managing the network, facilitating the smooth intake of new students every year and identifying areas of unused switch capacity in a simple and easy to use manner.”

Alan Swan, CEO, porttracker, estimates that 95% of IT and networking managers are suffering just like the University. They are having real difficultly keeping track of what devices were connected to their network. Most have little idea that solutions are available that can support them by managing and delivering the data they need to resolve capacity and security problems. "Having a complete overview of all the users and devices connected to your network will not only reduce your security risks but it will enable you to manage the switch port estate in a far more efficient and cost effective manner" he explained.

Every organization is under increasing pressure to deliver ever higher reliability, availability and performance across their infrastructure. Yet most organisations are still missing out on implementing appliance based solutions to alleviate their headaches and permit them to not only meet but also to exceed the expectations of management and users alike.