It has been interesting working with Tony B, the network optimization consultant brought on board by Newton Ad Agency. Tony really knows optimization, and the information technology (IT) management team has charged you with reporting on how to fit Tony's message about optimization to the specific business case of Newton. In this discussion forum assignment, you will give an informal report.

 

First, review Tony's discussion of optimization, Five Best Practices for Optimizing Your Network, at the Help Systems webinar.

 

 

Then, post your response to the following prompt:

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Given Tony's message, when and how will it be appropriate to optimize networks at Newton Ad Agency? If applicable, post any other optimization experiences you may have.

 

In response to your peers, note cases and ideas that you did not discuss in your post that seem interesting. Consider this an opportunity to collect good ideas about how to apply optimization.

1.   Every network should be optimized. The idea is to reduce wasteful transmissions and get the most out of the software and hardware on a network. Some of the main points that Tony was trying to drive are:

·        Be knowledgeable about the scope of your network

• What servers, software, computers, tablets, smartphones, and any other device connected to the network
• Who owns those devices and what privileges do certain users have.

·        Protect your network

• Be proactive in monitoring activity on a network not reactive
• Internal users should have limited access (enough to do their job)

·        Configuration issues

• Does certain hardware or software prevent achieving higher transfer speeds
• Are security features properly implemented like configuring ports for firewall traffic

Newton Ad Agency represents an enterprise environment. As such, to continue to thrive they need to cut costs and unnecessary equipment. This could be done by maybe virtualization and having a server provide program applications to reduce the need for expensive hardware. For instance, the new location is also supposed to store the new media server for the company. There more than likely will be a team of designers that needs higher end hardware to modify large files. Those users could access a pool of virtualized computers to reduce the cost on hardware by buying cheaper models used to connect to the pool. Maybe the file server could also host a small pool of virtual servers to? That is was a solution at my job for remote users that needed access to QuickBooks. We used our file server to also create a small pool of virtual computers that can be accessed remotely to get in to QuickBooks to view inventory. The file server had Windows server 2012 with more hardware than necessary just to be a file server alone.

 

Something else Newton Ad Agency should consider is what users have access to customer ads. Being an advertisement agency, having access to advertisements months before release should warrant some strong security measures. Leaking advertisements can cost companies thousands or even millions of dollars. 

 

 

2.      The process of optimizing your network begins as early as the planning stages. I know it sounds cliché, however, the best way to manage and monitor anything is by getting out in front of it. Being proactive is the best plan of attack when optimizing a network. In the sense of Newton Ad Agency and establishing a new network, it is vital to know your network. When building the LAN , in my case located in Tacoma WA, it is vital to keep a detailed inventory list. By knowing all the devices and nodes (users), you put yourself in a better position to notice small anomalies and changes. This transitions into stage two, which is closely monitoring those users. If you are already knowledgeable as to how many users you have, and who those users are, you will be able to notice possible infiltrations by closely monitoring user activity. Most situations of infiltration, be it an insider attack or outside, involve the use of authorized credentials. As a network administrator, knowing your users and their standard usage makes it much easier to notice things that might be out of place, i.e. a user spending more time on the system than usual [after hours, areas of authorization that don't match up, etc.], or even a new user that an external source might have created unbeknownst to you. Again, knowing your inventory, both of physical devices, as well as of users gives you a much better chance at successfully monitoring the system, "You can't optimize or monitor network resources you aren't even aware of." Next is proactively attacking potential issues. Often when dealing with cyber security a reactive approach means damage control. The damage has been done, so now we must clean up the mess. Taking a proactive approach and encouraging network admins to report suspicious behavior early, rather than waiting until a user reports the issue, could be the difference between prevention and loss of vital data. In short, optimizing your network is an ongoing process. It starts at planning, flows through conception and never truly ends. As I have found in my real world daily routine, managing a network is like managing a living breathing organism. No two challenges are the exact same and everything is preventable with accurate and detailed planning [even though it is impossible for one individual to plan for everything]. The important thing is to stay in tune with your network and know it like the back of your hand.