Tag Archives: IT Services

Keeping Up with Updates

It is commonly understood that computer systems need to be kept up to date in order to keep them secure, and to fix bugs. End-user computers have updates that either automatically happen, or at least notify the user when they are ready to be installed. For servers, it is typical to have scheduled maintenance to install updates and reboot.

Unfortunately, network routers, firewalls, and switches are often not given the same care. There are several reasons that this may happen:

  1. The appropriate decision maker is not aware of the need
  2. There is a desire to not modify network devices that are deemed “working”
  3. There is a desire to not have any outages of network devices
  4. A support contract is often required to get the latest software.

For #1, it is simply a matter of education, which we hope this article serves to help.

For #2, it needs to be understood that by not keeping network systems up-to-date, you are potentially exposing your network to security issues, and denial-of-service attacks.

For #3, there are a variety of techniques to make your network redundant, so that outages caused by updates are minimal. These features also make your network more robust in general, protecting against device failure. First Network Group can help to design and deploy a network architecture that is less vulnerable to outages.

#4 should be considered as a required cost of doing business. Depending on the hardware vendor, the costs will vary. There are some vendors whose support contracts are significantly less costly than others. It is important to factor in the ongoing operational costs when deciding on the particular brand and model of gear for your needs.

The bottom line is that updates to all server, storage, and network devices are critical to keeping your network secure and available to serve your customers.

To discuss your options, contact Randy Carpenter, Vice President of IT Services: rcarpen@network1.net or 1-800-578-6381, option 2

Managed Hosted Servers and Off-Site Storage Now Available

Do you need to host a server at a remote location for redundancy or disaster recovery? Just need to host an important application, and don’t want the hassle of having to deal with the hardware and software yourself?

Do you require off-site storage for backups or disaster recovery? First Network Group, Inc. now offers fully managed servers, hosted at our location, as well as hosted storage solutions to meet all of your needs.

FNGi has a broad range of offerings, from shared web hosting to dedicated virtual servers to collocation of your own servers. Let us build you a solution that fits your needs. We specialize in ISP solutions for hosting mail, web, DNS and other services. Whether you need to cover a few users, or thousands of users, we have you covered.

Take advantage of our fully redundant network, protected by battery backup and on-site diesel generator. Virtual servers are hosted on a redundant server cluster which utilize a cluster of NetApp storage systems for ultimate resiliency. We also have options to have data replicated to an off-site system.

servers

If you wish to host servers at your own location, but need off-site backups, we can do that too. From simple backup storage to live synchronization of NetApp storage systems, we can cover your data backup and disaster recovery
needs.

First Network Group, Inc. has the resources and information you need to plan your IPv6 deployment. Contact Randy Carpenter at 1-800-578-6381, option 1 today to discuss your needs.

Red Condor E-mail Security

redcondorlogo“First Network Group, with EdgeWave’s Red Condor product, provides e-mail security for ISP’s and businesses…”

E-mail security is a necessity these days. However, preventing viruses, trojans, and spam from getting to the inboxes of your users can be difficult. Many solutions rely on your email server to do filtering.This can consume valuable resources on your server, and can eat up costly bandwidth on your internet connection. The filtering rules can also be very difficult to maintain and update, leading to malicious mail making it through your filter, or legitimate mail getting trapped by the filters.

First Network Group, with EdgeWave’s Red Condor product, provides e-mail security for ISP’s and businesses without having to install anything on local servers. A hosted solution is available that prevents unwanted email from even entering your network. Or, if you prefer, appliances are available that can be hosted inside your datacenter, but still separate from your mail servers. Both offer the same protection, which is backed by a team of EdgeWave engineers that continually update the systems to defend against new attacks. Many First Network Group customers are already usingRedCondor, and it has proven to perform betterthan alternatives, while still maintaining an attractive price.

Contact Randy Carpenter VP of IT Services at 1-800-578-6381, option 1 if you have any questions, or would like to order.