IP WAN over MPLS Advantages

When we think of IP wide area networks, the first thing that comes to mind is the Internet. While the Internet does have almost universal connectivity and modest cost to access, there are some serious issues when it comes to business applications. Bandwidth, latency, jitter and packet loss have no guarantees and few expectations. Security is a joke. But aren’t other methods to interconnect business locations costly and hard to manage?

It is possible to set up a private IP network that lets you use your familiar IP addressing schemes and avoid encryption, firewalls, tunnels, and additional hardware. You’ll gain a performance advantage compared to using VPN techniques over the Internet and save yourself the administrative headaches of trying to manage a WAN with inherently indeterminate characteristics. Who offers something like this? It’s TelePacific, one of the nation’s largest competitive carriers.

TelePacific’s 1Net is an IP VPN running on a private MPLS network, not the Internet. Since MPLS or Multi-Protocol Label Switching can transport almost any protocol, it can be set up to mimic the Internet while keeping your data private. Only the locations that you set up can exchange traffic. No one outside of your user group can capture or view your data. You’ll have any to any connectivity within the group with security sufficient to address HIPPA or similar government regulations.

In fact, TelePacific set up just such a private IP Network for a medical imaging organization with 6 locations. They use it to transport patients’ private medical records among their location. Referring physicians can access patient imaging results within hours at their own computers. The system is also used for claims processing, patient scheduling and registration. Interestingly, this system also allows dedicated Internet access through a single firewall at corporate headquarters.

The TelePacific 1Net IP VPN has both cost and performance advantages over other secure networking solutions, including private line, ATM and Frame Relay. You can specify up to six different Classes of Service (CoS) to support sensitive real-time services such as VoIP telephone and teleconferencing. On Net, latency for all CoS is specified at 50 msec. That rises to just 100 msec for extended reach locations off the TelePacific network but still within the US. Network availability is 99.999% (5 nines) both on and off network locations.

The Classes of Service are CoS 1 for VoIP real time traffic, CoS2 for video conferencing and real time data traffic, CoS3 for high priority, delay sensitive business data like Ecommerce and Citrix, CoS4 for medium priority delay-sensisitive business data such as CRM and WebEx, CoS5 for general less delay sensitive business data like ERP, and CoS6 for best effort traffic with no prioritization. That’s typically Email and FTP.

Are you cringing at the cost and effort involved in linking your business locations by private lines or frustrated by the highly variable performance and difficulty in securing the Internet? Perhaps the best solution for your business needs is a private IP VPN based on MPLS networking. Check prices and features to compare with your other choices.



Note: MPLS network diagram courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Global Crossing Ups Ante On Network Security

What’s a major expense for organizations that nobody wants to talk about? Security breaches. It seems like every few days there’s another big splash in the news about user accounts and credit card numbers being compromised. There’s the direct cost of having to make up for losses, but there’s the larger cost of concerned customers abandoning or avoiding the company out of fear they’ll be the next victims.

These are the security horror stories we hear about. What generally isn’t reported is the espionage and theft of intellectual property that goes on behind the scenes. Your competitive advantage can be neutralized in minutes when key trade secrets and client lists are downloaded by unethical competitors and professional thieves.

Most companies are more attuned to network security than ever before. But is it enough? Judging from breaking news stories and industry buzz, not hardly. This is why Global Crossing is expanding its portfolio of security solutions for enterprise customers.

Global Crossing is well known as a leading worldwide IP network provider serving 40% of the Fortune 500 and hundreds of carriers, mobile operators and Internet service providers. They have the resources and the reach to deal with threats on an international basis. They also have the need, as their customers are prime targets for nefarious activities.

Global Crossings expanded suite of network security measures now includes a new SIEM or Security Information and Event Management platform. This resides in the Global Crossing Security Operations Center (SOC) where a team of security professionals, analysts and engineers monitor and assess network security issues on a full time basis. The reports and analysis are delivered to the proprietary uCommand portal for each customer.

The suite of security features includes a firewall, intrusion prevention service, web content filtering, antivirus and antispam appliance provided by Fortinet. This is augmented by additional professional services that include security policy review and creation, penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, incident response and security assessment and audit.

This is a multi-pronged approach that starts with evaluation and design of policies, procedures and technical measures, continuously monitors for threats, automatically thwarts them in progress and reports the attacks, plus jumps into action to deal with new issues as they arise.

The challenge of network security is that it is a rapidly evolving field with highly motivated and increasingly sophisticated perpetrators pitted against equally motivated security professionals. The more valuable your assets and the more your company depends on network connections and an online presence, the greater the threat to your operations.

Are you feeling the need for improved network security? If you are beyond what out of the box antivirus programs can do for you, a managed security solution may be your most cost effective option. Whether you have a small retail store or a Fortune 500 corporation to secure, get pricing and features of managed network security options new. You’ll likely sleep a lot easier knowing that someone in the security center is watching out for your interests.

Do You Need A Managed Security Services Provider?

Network security worries have gotten way beyond concern over bemused hackers nosing around to see how far they can penetrate to achieve bragging rights among their peers. Cybercrime is now major crime. The goal is no longer the thrill of outwitting the local IT staff. It’s all about the money. If there is something worth stealing, there’s a motive for cyber criminals to target your network.

You really don’t have a choice when it comes to protecting your network, servers and other resources. The only choice you have is whether to do it yourself or outsource it. Outsourced security is often referred to as managed security services or SaaS, Security as a Service.

MegaPath, a major competitive carrier, offers a suite of managed security services that includes a managed firewall, intrusion prevention, anti-malware/anti-virus, web filtering, anti-spam, application control, data leak prevention, managed logging, vulnerability scanning, security information management, file integrity monitoring.

One area where the need for network security is particularly important is for electronic payments. There are millions, perhaps billions of dollars flying through networks as data packets at any given time. The payment card industry that includes all businesses involved in issuing and accepting electronic payments has strict standards in place for credit and debit cards, prepaid cards and other electronic payments. These are referred to as the PCI DSS for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

How confident are you that your retail or other business not only meets the letter of the law regarding PCI DSS but complies with industry best practices? It’s not just the large companies that are being targeted by organized crime. There is easier prey among smaller and mid-size organizations that lack the resources to adequately protect their own and cardholder data.

Don’t feel alone if you are concerned about being stretched thin and perhaps vulnerable when it comes to security resources. In a white paper called “The Compliance Trap”, MegaPath references comments by the Yankee Group that many companies with fewer than 50 employees often don’t even have a dedicated IT person. Companies with 100 employees typically have 2 IT staffers, and companies with 500 to 999 employees have five or fewer people with no security specialists on staff.

Certainly, you can take this as a cautionary tale and move to hire a security staff and the requisite hardware and software to fortify your network. Most companies with little or no security staff don’t have the budgets to embark on a major security upgrade in this challenging economic environment. But that needn’t stop you from improving the situation by getting your security as a service. Hiring an expert company that has already developed the necessary protocols and has trained staff available 24/7/365 can get you up to speed quickly and likely at a cost far below what you would have to spend yourself.

Do you need managed security services? If there is any question in your mind, why not get complementary cost quotes for security as a service and see how it fits your budget. You may decide that managed security is the way you want to go permanently.