"The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather, a condition of it."
Are you considering a network upgrade to accommodate some new needs? Is there something you would like to put in place but you are struggling with the budget? Are you experiencing some issues with your infrastructure?
Whether you have immediate plans for upgrading or changing the infrastructure, there are always things to be improved, even if the budget would not allow for what you would like. A very limited budget is only one more reason to look into what you may have:
...a 10 gigabit backbone giving service to some remote closets service to a few IP phones. How much did it cost? Worst, did it include any measures to keep the latency down... and constant? Or, is this a situation where despite the huge investment, the users are still facing issues?
...a 40 gigabit backbone with the state of art technology, while the most important servers are using the same (if not lower) bandwidth and in many cases not having more than a few hundred megabit available due to its I/O
...a fully redundant network with more than half of its uplinks in standby. Will these go up when needed? How much did it cost each of these uplinks? And no, it is not the GBIC only, it is the GBIC slot, the blade and the chassis…
…a state of art WIFI deployed on top of an existing network, exhausting most of its resources and barely leaving any bandwidth for sensitive devices like phones, or other critical devices…The above are only a few examples on the most typical situations. We can find at least one of these issues in over 90% of the existing networks. And, if you are one of the luckiest 10% not experiencing any of these issues, maybe you would still like to consider how much is it costing in terms of hidden costs such as electricity and potential downtime.
What would be probability and the impact of a major failure? What are the critical (and many times forgotten especially when they seem insignificant) components which could impact large areas? How much it would cost in terms of downtime?
How much time would you need to react to it, considering all the steps required (get the right alarm, activate the contract, identify the issue, use, install and configure the spares and make it work)?
These are only a few other aspects where Cruxen may help whether we are designing a new network for you, redesigning the existing one or simply testing and hardening it.
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."
Building the appropriate design for a new network enviroment or changing an existing one is a critical step to ensure future scalability as well as interoperability with new and legacy technologies. Cruxen experts can assist you in the design build out of your new network or the optimization of an existing network.
Often a decision to migrate to a new infrastructure is made based solely on the age of the previous one. However, not always is necessary to replace the entire infrastructure. In fact, many times, replacing all the components may NOT solve some fundamental issues if those were related with certain traffic patterns, specific flows, odd configurations, unique applications, or environmental conditions, just to name a few situations.
This is where a Health Assessment gains relevance. It makes sense to identify the issues and limitations as such will help on making a much better decision. Providing the results on that Health Assessment, in some cases it may be required to replace only certain components, to fine tune the existing configuration, or to redesign the existing network by moving some central components to the egdge, while making sure that any future changes will have the desired result.
Data collection – by putting together all the relevant information in terms of:
Layer 1 – Existing cabling overview (in some cases it may include as well some testing, although this component is normally optional), physical servers and its connections, wan links, internet connections, redundancies, etc...
Layer 2 – Existing vlans, 802.3ad trunks, STP configurations, etc…
Layer 3 and above - routing mechanisms (VRRP, static routes, EIGRP, etc…) and subnets to be used / load balancing configurations, existing features, ACLs, and security mechanisms
For each one of these layers, a network diagram may be produced to properly document the existing scenario. At the same time, an analysis is carried to detect inconsistencies in terms of firmware, configurations and environmental conditions.
As a second step, some traffic analysis may be performed, while reviewing existing logs to detect potential risks, vulnerabilities and instability factors.
In some cases, a stress test may be performed as well. This test may check redundancies, links operation and features like load balancing
As the result of this health check, a report with the findings and a number of recommendations is produced. This report is meant to point the situations to improve, by providing specific guidance on the viable scenarios.
"We all die. The goal isn´t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."
As the difference between a standard technology deployment and a great technology deployment begins before the hardware and software are even considered, Cruxen offers expert assistance in assessing, planning, and designing the optimum solution to meet your unique organization needs.
Assessment Services - Technical expertise and methodologies to assess the availability, operations and vulnerability of your network
Change is an inevitable part of any IT infrastructure. If your organization knows change is needed but you’re not really sure where to start, Cruxen can help get your project moving.
Cruxen Cprovides Assessment Services for Availability, Security, Network Performance and Operations, Wireless, and Government Compliance. Assessments also include an analysis of potential improvements such as firmware upgrades and architecture enhancements.
When you choose any Cruxen assessment service, you will receive documentation clearly stating the findings. The report includes recommended improvements, changes or modifications, and our migration plan to reach your desired state of performance.
If resources, budget, or time prevent you from doing everything at once, we can structure a detailed step-by-step plan to reach your goals on a schedule that works for you.
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
Of course any Systems Integrator or any vendor would be happy to help building the specifications for a tender. This is clearly an area where a lot of organizations are whiling to “help”, hoping this way to gain any kind of advantage as they also sell the gear.
Cruxen is an independent company and therefore, without any conflict of interest. We may step aside immediately after working with you in the specifications, to participate in a Proof of Concept with the vendor of your choice or manage the project awarded upon finding the best offer. We can do only a part of this, or the entire road with you, if that is your requirement.
Obviously, we are happy to take our share of responsibility in the project success. This can be easily achieved by many parameters such as for example:
- Timely execution of the entire project including each of its milestones and respect for the maintenance windows agreed
- Participation on the SLAs effectiveness (by sizing in advance the maximum downtime allowed for a certain period)
In summary, Cruxen may provide:
- Technical expertise and advice in the Networking and Security areas, before, during or after building the Specifications.
- Support the evaluation of applications / tenders / proposals and monitoring of their implementation.
- Provide support to and/or participate in various (technical) meetings and working groups.
- Any other support with technical / administrative work related to project requirements.