Networking Articles

Article / Updated 08-31-2023

As an IT professional, cybersecurity is the thing most likely to keep you awake at night. You must consider two basic elements as part of your cybersecurity plan: Prevention: The first pillar of cybersecurity is technology that you can deploy to prevent bad actors from penetrating your network and stealing or damaging your data. This technology includes firewalls that block unwelcome access, antivirus programs that detect malicious software, patch management tools that keep your software up to date, and antispam programs that keep suspicious email from reaching your users’ inboxes. The most important part of the prevention pillar is the human firewall. Technology can only go so far in preventing successful cyber attacks. Most successful attacks are the result of users opening email attachments or clicking web links that they should have known were dangerous. Thus, in addition to providing technology to prevent attacks, you also need to make sure your users know how to spot and avoid suspicious email attachments and web links. Recovery: The second pillar of cybersecurity is necessary because the first pillar isn’t always successful. Successful cyber attacks are inevitable, so you need to have technology and plans in place to quickly recover from them when you do.

Article / Updated 08-31-2023

Security techniques and technology — physical security, user account security, server security, and locking down your servers — are child’s play compared with the most difficult job of network security: securing your network’s users. All the best-laid security plans are for naught if your users write down their passwords on sticky notes and post them on their computers and click every link that shows up in their email. The key to securing your network users is to empower your users to realize that they’re an important part of your company’s cybersecurity plan, and then show them what they can do to become an effective human firewall. This necessarily involves training, and of course IT training is usually the most dreaded type of training there is. So, do your best to make the training fun and engaging rather than dull and boring. If training isn’t your thing, search the web. You’ll find plenty of inexpensive options for online cybersecurity training, ranging from simple and short videos to full-length online courses. You’ll also need to establish a written cybersecurity policy and stick to it. Have a meeting with everyone to go over the security policy to make sure that everyone understands the rules. Also, make sure to have consequences when violations occur. Here are some suggestions for some basic security rules you can incorporate into your security policy: Never write down your password or give it to someone else. Accounts should not be shared. Never use someone else’s account to access a resource that you can’t access under your own account. If you need access to some network resource that isn’t available to you, you should formally request access under your own account. Likewise, never give your account information to a co-worker so that he or she can access a needed resource. Your co-worker should instead formally request access under his or her own account. Don’t install any software or hardware on your computer — especially wireless access devices or modems — without first obtaining permission. Don’t enable file and printer sharing on workstations without first getting permission. Never attempt to disable or bypass the network’s security features.

Article / Updated 06-28-2023

In this article you will learn: What enterprise automation is Why you should implement enterprise automation How enterprise automation will impact businesses in the future What Is Enterprise Automation? Enterprise automation increases efficiency by replacing repetitive, manual, and error-prone business processes with intelligent, automated, and more reliable workflows. Enterprise automation is an ongoing and strategic driver of the digital business landscape that seamlessly connects data, applications, and services with people and their organizations. With enterprise automation, companies remove bottlenecks, improve and accelerate the flow of data, empower IT resources with better productivity, and give non-IT business groups the ability to easily self-serve their data needs – across their enterprise. Why Enterprise Automation? Think about the IT and organizational challenges you face today. You’re experiencing poor agility in certain areas. Meanwhile, the rapid pace of business requires digitalization, cloud adoption, and quick responsiveness. This situation is exactly what you want to aspire to; however, your business processes are sluggish and suffering where data silos persist. Collaboration between teams is more difficult than it should be. Not only is business moving quickly, but the pace of innovation is increasing as well. Your project leaders, your customers, your internal business partners, and your employee expectations are ever increasing. This forces your organization to be more innovative and try new things as you seek to become faster and more efficient. Competitors in your landscape aren’t sitting still. You need to leverage and exploit all the data you can across your enterprise — operational systems, functional applications, and multiple channels of data. All must be harnessed to survive, thrive, and excel in a competitive landscape and to take corporate intelligence to the next level. You recognize that to be agile and responsive, and to achieve these aspirations, you need solutions to be agile and responsive and capable of connecting your entire enterprise, end-to-end. That is what enterprise automation is all about and the inspiration behind Enterprise Automation For Dummies, sponsored by SnapLogic. The Future Is Enterprise Automation Enterprise automation done well uniquely combines data integration, app-to-app integration, and API development and management for API-led integrations and delivery of data services. And, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Easy-to-use, event-driven platforms, augmented with graphical (low-code and no-code) user interfaces and AI-assistance, enables you to get up and running sooner to remove manual burdens and automate business processes. To learn more, download Enterprise Automation For Dummies to gain knowledge of integration principles and pick up insights on how to automate and orchestrate data across your enterprise and empower people. Enterprise Automation For Dummies includes case studies with summaries and achieved success metrics. Download Enterprise Automation For Dummies today and chart your future.

Article / Updated 05-03-2023

A resource record is the basic data component in the Domain Name Service (DNS). DNS resource records define not only names and IP addresses but domains, servers, zone, and services as well. This list shows you the most common types of resource records: Type Purpose A Address resource records match an IP address to a host name. CNAME Canonical name resource records associate a nickname to a host name. MX Mail exchange resource records identify mail servers for the specified domain. NS Name server resource records identify servers (other than the SOA server) that contain zone information files. PTR Pointer resource records match a host name to a given IP address. This is the opposite of an Address record, which matches an IP address to the supplied host name. SOA Start of authority resource records specify which server contains the zone file for a domain. SRV Service resource records identify servers that provide special services to the domain.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 12-12-2022

The best approach to working with Microsoft Azure can be summarized in three words: “always be learning.” The Azure product development teams release new features every workday, so if you aren’t actively working to stay current, you’ll fall behind, and your career will suffer. This Cheat Sheet offers some essential ingredients in Azure automation. Remember that the Azure portal is all well and good until you’re tasked with deploying 50 virtual machines!

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

Active Directory is part of a storage structure you design that provides organization of objects — like users, computers, groups, and an assortment of other objects — in your IT environment. Before you can implement Active Directory, you have to do some planning. Be sure to complete the following steps before creating domains and organizational units (OUs): Using the DNS namespace, identify and name the root domain. Determine whether a tree or a forest is appropriate for your organization. Determine whether you need additional domains. Consult your requirements and environment to decide which domain model is best for your needs and to decide whether you need additional child domains. Analyze business models and processes to determine which OU model is best for your needs. Determine who will administer each OU and the administrative rights they'll need. Delegate the administrative privileges that the OU administrators need. Diagram the logical Active Directory structure.

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

Active Directory uses a multiple-master model, and usually, domain controllers (DCs) are equal with each other in reading and writing directory information. However, certain roles cannot be distributed across all the DCs, meaning that changes can't take place on more than one domain controller at a time. Some domain controllers, therefore, do assume a single-master operations role — known as operations masters in Active Directory. The five categories of operations master roles are: Schema master (one per forest): Maintains the master copy of the schema. PDC emulator (one per domain): Emulates a primary domain controller for backward compatibility with Windows NT. Domain naming master (one per forest): Tracks object names throughout a forest to ensure that they're unique. Also tracks cross-references to objects in other directories. Infrastructure master (one per domain): Tracks object references among domains and maintains a list of deleted child objects. Relative identifier (RID) master (one per domain): Tracks the assignment of SIDs (security identifiers) throughout the domain. Usually, the first domain controller that you create in the first domain assumes the operations master roles. You can assign these roles to other domain controllers in the domain or forest, but only one domain controller at a time can hold each operation's master role.

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

Before you arrange and use Active Directory, you need to install the operating system Windows Server 2008. Start by making certain the hardware you plan to use as domain controllers is able to run the operating system. This list shows you the minimum and recommended hardware levels for Windows Server 2008: Component Requirement Processor 1 GHz (x86 CPU) or 1.4 GHz (x64 CPU) Memory 512MB required; 2GB or higher recommended. Hard Disk 10 GB required. 40 GB or more recommended. Video Super VGA or higher video card and monitor. Hardware Must be on the Windows 2008 Hardware Compatibility List.

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

The range of Active Directory (AD) has expanded in Windows Server 2008 and has become an essential part of many information technology (IT) environments. Active Directory has become an umbrella for a multitude of technologies surpassing what AD was in Windows Server 2000 and 2003. Check out the new uses for Active Directory: Active Directory Domain Services: An X.500-based directory service that provides integrated authentication and authorization services for a Windows computing environment. Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services: A stripped down version of Active Directory Domain Services that focuses on providing just the directory services functionality. Active Directory Federation Services: A Web Services–based technology for providing Web single sign-on authentication services between different organizations. Active Directory Certificate Services: Provides digital certification enrollment and revocation services in the support of a public key infrastructure (PKI). Active Directory Rights Management Services: Provides a solution for managing how users can use documents that they're authorized to access.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-07-2022

Whether you're new to Active Directory (AD) or just need a refresher, it'll help you enhance your information technology (IT) environment if you understand how Active Directory has expanded in the Windows 2008 Server, the tasks of the domain controllers, necessary steps to design the logical side of Active Directory, the standard resource records used in the Domain Name Service (DNS), and the hardware required to run the Windows 2008 Server.