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News Newsletters 2007 Newsletter for April 2007
Filled with relevant information about the rapidly evolving IT landscape, the Simpler-Webb newsletter is a must-read.
Newsletter for April 2007
Release date: 4/1/2007
WELCOME LETTER
My team put together a great newsletter for you this month. We’re experimenting with a number of new ways to spread the word about new technologies, ways to be more efficient, and services Simpler-Webb provides to help you improve your business. We’re producing monthly webinars, doing a speaking tour, and sending our e-newsletter out 6 times a year. I thought I’d introduce you to some hot topics we’ve been concentrating on in the past few weeks.
The latest technology we’re highlighting is Server Virtualization, which helps businesses achieve increased efficiency and lower operating costs. Take a look at the case study on a recent Simpler-Webb virtualization project below. We’ve also just completed a webinar that is available for you to view. This technology has applications for just about every organization. Please let us know how we can provide additional information for you.
Another way we stay abreast of new and relevant technologies is through ongoing education and specializations. I’m pleased to announce Simpler-Webb achieved Cisco’s Express Unified Communications Certification which enables us to design, implement, and maintain Cisco IP Telephony systems for small to medium businesses. This technology continues to capture our clients’ interest and we’re excited to be able to add this service to our infrastructure solutions. You’ll be hearing a lot more about this technology in the coming months.
As always, thank you for your time. If you have any questions about our educational efforts or suggestions on topics you’d like to know more about, please contact Jenna Stephenson at jenna.stephenson@swinc.com. Thank you!
Jeff Simpler
SWINC NEWS & EVENTS ::
Webinar Series-Upcoming Events
Server Virtualization: A Framework for Increased Efficiency
Now available on line!
Log on to www.swinc.com/webinar/
User name: webinar
Password: SWweb1nar!
GLBA UPDATE: Compliance Realized Through Self Defending Network on May 10th , 2007 at 1:00 PM CST
With special guest, Paul Reymann compliance expert and co-author of the GLBA rule
To register click:
http://www.crmtool.net/WebForm.asp?F=437&W=3865
Simpler-Webb Now Providing IP Telephony
Simpler-Webb achieved Cisco’s Express Unified Communications Certification. This specialization enables Simpler-Webb to design, implement, and maintain Cisco Unified Communications solutions, also referred to as IP Telephony or Voice over IP, for local and regionally sized businesses.
"Simpler-Webb is excited about providing IP Telephony to our current and prospective clients. The addition of this technology maximizes the value our customers receive by delivering a more robust line of infrastructure management services. Now our clients can rest assured knowing that we are looking after every aspect of their networks from security to telephony. This is a wonderful accomplishment." Jeff Simpler, CEO of Simpler-Webb said.
Simpler-Webb Hits the Road
Spring Conference Season is in full swing! Come by and see us at the following events:
* Symitar Northwest Users Group Regional Conference in Las Vegas, NV. Jeff Simpler led a Security Session with Chris Cooper on April 4th at the Tuscany Suites.
* Texas Credit Union League Conference and Expo at the Hilton in Austin, TX, April 10th and 11th.
* Open Solutions Conference and Expo at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, TN April 14-16.
* Symitar South Central Users Group regional Conference at San Antonio Federal Credit Union in San Antonio, Texas. Join Jeff Simpler for a discussion called "Inside the Corporate Castle: The Insider Threat" on April 27th at 9:30 AM.
* Texas Bankers Association, CFO Conference on June 7th in Galveston, TX. Join Jeff Simpler for a discussion of Infrastructure Optimization.
TECHNOLOGY NEWS ::
Free Exchange Server 2007 Trial Offer
Experience the benefits of Exchange Server 2007 firsthand. When you sign up for the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Evaluation Program, you can use Exchange Server 2007 free for 120 days. Built-in features, including unified messaging, data replication, and advanced management tools, help meet common business and IT challenges. Call Simpler-Webb at 512-322-0071 to find out more!
TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT ::
Cracking WEP
By Danny Snyder
Network Engineer, Simpler-Webb
News regarding Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) key cracking hit virtual newsstands last week. Code breakers are utilizing a new technique which allows them to uncover a 104-bit WEP key in one minute or less, further justifying the switch to Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and WPA 2 encryption standards.
Requiring the capture of just a tenth of the number of packets, this new attack goes beyond previous attempts to crack the first generation wireless encryption standard. Specifically, the technique produces a 50 percent probability of uncovering a 104-bit WEP key on an 802.11g network running at full speed within a minute with the capture of 40,000 packets. Increasing the number of packets can allow hackers to nearly double the probability up to 95 percent. The new technique allows the code breaker to more efficiently exploit cryptographic weaknesses in the RC4 stream cipher used by WEP, which have been known since 2001.
This latest advancement in WEP code breaking demonstrates the increased demand for the use of new WPA and WPA 2 encryption standards which are proven to be far more secure.
If your organization still relies upon WEP for wireless protection, call Simpler-Webb today at 512-322-0071 for a free estimate for upgrading to WPA/WPA 2.
References:
Leyden, John. "WEP Key Wireless Cracking Made Easy." The Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/04/wireless_code_cracking/print.html [4 April 2007]
SERVICE OFFERING ::
Sign up now to get a FREE 2-WEEK TEST DRIVE of Cisco Security Gear!
Simpler-Webb is participating in a special program with Cisco to provide our clients with an Adaptive Security Appliance (firewall), Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and Monitoring Analyzing and Reporting System (MARS) for their IT environments for 2 weeks with no obligation. Call today to borrow this full suite of Cisco security appliances and put them to work for you! Contact Britt Schavey to sign up at 512-322-0071 or britt.schavey@swinc.com
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT & NEWS ::
Employee Spotlight on Chris Lehr, Microsoft Consultant
Simpler-Webb’s own Chris Lehr, Microsoft Consultant, is a Long Island, New York native who attended the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Chris was an independent technology consultant for a number of years and often recommended Simpler-Webb’s Exchange FAQs before seeing a posting for his current position. He spends the majority of his day working on customer cases and strives to "provide the best consulting experience I can, with a combination of technical know-how, customer relationship building, and providing the best customer service I can."
Of his work environment, Chris says, "I get to have fun at my job, still be serious and get some really unique experience. Simpler-Webb is the first job I have taken in a while where I feel like I am surrounded by people smarter than me. It’s nice to know you have that kind of support system in place."
When he’s not out there solving cases, Chris enjoys dreaming of owning a BMW M5 and taking a 3 month vacation to the UK, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
CASE STUDY ::
Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union Increases Efficiency Due to Virtualization
Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union was in a situation many organizations face these days. Their older servers had reached the end of support through the hardware vendor. They were consuming data center resources inefficiently compared to newer systems, and yet were underutilized, which could not financially justify new, dedicated hardware. Four of the five servers were Windows 2000-based with 1 gigabyte of RAM and outdated processors.
Simpler-Webb works with Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union on a regular basis to provide IT strategy and best practices solutions, as well as Managed Services and ad-hoc infrastructure support. Working with the customer, Kim Flink, Senior Network Engineer for Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union, Simpler-Webb recognized the complexity of their IT environment was causing inefficiencies and looked at the raw server count to see where consolidation and simplification of their environment could be performed. The maintenance expiration and usage details provided by Kim Flink suggested Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union would be a good candidate for a server virtualization solution.
After evaluating a variety of options, Susan Dodge, one of Simpler-Webb’s preofessional Microsoft Consultants, along with Andy Webb, CTO and Simpler-Webb Co-founder decided to use Platespin’s PowerConvert product to convert the physical machines to a virtual system. The targeted server hardware they migrated to is a Microsoft Windows 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition server with 2 x dual-core processors, 8GB RAM, and a 400GB RAID 5 drive array.
"A snapshot was initially used to sort the servers and then Platespin’s PowerRecon was used to gather statistics over a 30 day period to further refine the list of systems and rank them by best to worst candidate, " said Andy Webb. "Suitability for immediate virtualization was determined by a number of factors; for example, their CPU, RAM, Disk I/O, disk space requirements, transferable licenses, accessibility via the transfer agent, and PowerConvert recognition of the hardware."
"The time to actually transfer from P2V (Physical to Virtual) depended on how large the system was that we were converting, network conditions, etc. However, average time to convert was approximately 4 hours on a good day," said Susan Dodge, the engineer from Simpler-Webb. "This was always done after hours, in an effort to minimally impact the customer.”"
But as with many large projects, a bit of troubleshooting was required. "On more than one occasion the virtualization didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated and therefore a manual shutdown of the physical system had to be done. However, the process got smoother with each virtualization. The next morning Los Angeles Firemen’s would put the server through its paces to verify it ran the same way the physical machine did and, if not, adjustments were made," said Susan. The customer replied, "A couple of our servers were stubborn, but Susan was on top of it and did a great job."
Now that the server virtualization project is complete, Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union is reaping numerous benefits, including:
- Power, cooling, and network requirements were reduced
- System resources are now more efficiently used and easily modified in the case that an application grows to require more RAM, disk space, or other resources
- Datacenter resource usage was lowered by reducing the original 3U of rack space and 2 towers to just 2U of rack space
- Complexity was managed by keeping applications separate from each other on virtual servers rather than installing all applications together on a single server where the testing matrix for updates and changes would be much more complicated
- Management of the systems is improved through availability of the system console from remote locations, compared to the old hardware which did not have any remote-lights-out management capability
- Virtual Machine templates were built from which new servers can be rapidly provisioned and brought into service
Unexpected benefits from the virtualization project continue to be found. As an example, when an existing server the credit union had not planned to virtualize had subsequently died, Simpler-Webb was able to build a new virtual server and it was running by the end of the day. With four additional operating system licenses for virtual machines included with the Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition purchase, they did not need to buy any licenses for the suddenly dead and reborn server. "Virtual Machines are great for when you need a server fast. Susan allocates the space, puts the OS on it and we are ready to go. We have virtualized several of our servers that we really didn’t plan to but needed something in an emergency. It was great to be able to get a system back up and running in one day. It beats ordering a new server and having to set it up," said Kim Flink.
Kim Flink of Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union has already put in to action a plan for another virtualization project, "The main benefit is how easy they are to manage and, of course, the space you save in your computer room. Virtualizing your servers saves time and money. We are planning another virtualization project this year. We are hoping to move at least six more of our servers."
USEFUL LINKS ::
Simpler-Webb: www.simplerwebb.com
Server Virtualization links:
Wireless Key Crackers Related Stories:
- London Wi-Fi security better (but still not great) (30 January 2004
- Cisco Wi-Fi kit in minor security flap (4 December 2003)
- Snag in next-gen Wi-Fi security unearthed (6 November 2003)
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/06/snag_in_nextgen_wifi_security/