Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Development and administration of local networks Installation of SCS - the basis for building a network

The construction of a local network begins with the installation of SCS , which creates the foundation of a local computer network - LAN.

 local network includes a computer and telephone network. To build a computer network, symmetrical cables of at least category 5e / class D or optical fiber are required. To create a telephone network, it is enough to lay category 3 cables. The length of information applications lines depends on the category of transmission medium, application class, channel model, total length of flexible cables, and maximum operating temperatures.

Unshielded SCS provides high quality of transmitted signals with short line lengths. If the line length is close to the maximum allowable, a shielded system with a good parameter reserve is required. The choice of a shielded SCS ensures data protection from external interference, a solution to the problem of cable pickups, and a decrease in the effects of power wiring.


Computer science vs computer engineering

When installing a local area network (LAN), it is required to observe additional rules for laying power cables in parallel with low-current ones. Power surges cause unwanted pickup on local networks. Competent installation provides for compliance with the minimum permissible joint laying distances.

SCS installation - the first stage of network creation

The choice of SCS as the basis of a local network is the first stage with a long-term perspective. The cabling infrastructure of the building must ensure the operation of three to four generations of LAN equipment. To build a local network, customers have to take into account the existing network configuration, the perspective of the organization's network needs.

Installation of SCS begins after the approval of the technical design by the customer. When designing in parallel with installation, installation diagrams are provided to the Customer for approval. The schemes include the routes of cable channels, their type, routes of cable laying, the location of system elements - distribution points, connectors, points of consolidation.

In the case of overhaul with the simultaneous laying of cable systems, coordination of the stages of work performed by different contractors is required. When building a SCS or several cable systems as a subcontractor at a facility where a complex of construction work is being carried out, the managers of our company coordinate the work with other contractors.

In most cases, customers require testing. It allows you to confirm the quality of the SCS installation, to reveal hidden defects, to make sure that the normal operation of network protocols is ensured. We test 100% of the lines at every site. As an example, the EcoLAN website shows examples of test results and parameters of a typical category 6 line and a fiber-optic line of OM-2 category.

The quality of the SCS is determined by the reserve of parameters of the system, as well as by how much the reserve was maintained during the installation of the SCS. The higher the category of the system, the more the quality depends on the installation. This dependence is more pronounced when laying unshielded cable systems. The screen protects the "weak link" of the SCS from external interference - the connector. In the absence of a screen, external interference occurs in the most unbalanced part of the system.

In order to fully realize the capabilities of the SCS, it is required to ensure a minimum imbalance of symmetrical pairs during the installation of connectors, to withstand bending radii when laying cables, not to allow cable harness to be tightened, to take into account many details of the parallel laying of power and low-current cables, to ensure the equipotentiality of telecommunication and power grounding.



Friday, September 4, 2020

Digital Revolution 2020: Ten Best Practices for CIOs

The state of uncertainty that has accompanied digital transformation for several years has changed with the proclamation of an orientation toward the "enterprise of the future", IDC said. So what does the future hold for IT organizations?

The current state of digital enterprises can be summed up in the words of renowned science fiction writer William Gibson, "The future is here, it just isn't evenly distributed."

While some of the CIOs have plunged into the nirvana of hyperspeed, hyperscale, and hyperconnectedness, others are grappling with the fragmentation of digital transformation initiatives, and are being hit by competitors and other market forces.

Payback time for digital CIOs has yet to come, but they have little room to maneuver. Competitors are stepping up their digital efforts. Under these conditions, CIOs can and should take concrete steps to create the digital "enterprise of the future."

Predictions based on IDC FutureScape: Worldwide CIO Agenda 2020 Predictions provide up-to-date information on technologies, markets and ecosystems to help CIOs understand future trends, their impact on the enterprise, and take action to succeed in 2020.

By 2024, 80% of digitally advanced organizations will change the “walled garden” model, in which everything is in charge of the IT department, to a self-service model. Providing libraries of cloud solutions, functions-as-a-service (FaaS), and tools that require little or no coding and are easily digestible by employees without good IT training helps businesses respond quickly to changes market needs without the involvement of IT specialists. We only need guarantees of the security and compatibility of these solutions.

For such a transformation, IT directors need to clearly understand the desired future state, which is determined jointly with business leaders and line managers (line of business, LOB) and serves as a reference point for employees of the enterprise and its partners cloud architect requirements.

Recommendations

Invest in training the developers who design and build such digital tools, maintain relationships with tool vendors, and leverage their expertise.

Build digital platforms with data, API services, and microservices to create open self-service environments.

Open labs and centers of excellence to share knowledge between LOB developers and IT staff.

By 2023, 65% of CIOs will lead their organizations in establishing innovation hubs, sharing best practices, and engaging engineers across the enterprise. Since the line divisions are actively using new technologies, they employ technically competent managers and specialists, the CIO should turn the IT service into a center for the exchange of best practices and knowledge about digital technologies. This will enable the architecture and integration of digital efforts across the enterprise. The CIO and IT staff need to think ahead of time about making changes to meet the changing business needs, ensure incremental evolution of IT services and platforms, gain new skills, and empower IT to influence in real time.

Recommendations

Work with business leaders to focus on creating a culture of peer learning and mentoring.

Develop a plan for expanding skills at each stage based on the pace of evolution that can be foreseen.

Build partner networks to fill skill and competency gaps.

Due to the increase in the number of cyber threats and the need for new functionality, 65% of enterprises will intend to modernize their legacy systems and invest in new technology platforms by 2023. Updates and support for legacy systems will not keep pace with growing cyberthreats and costly upgrades, but convincing business leaders to upgrade their systems will be challenging. It seems more realistic to implement new functionality and capabilities.

Recommendations

Prepare a business scenario that reflects critical business needs, such as improving customer experience, to justify the cost of a large-scale legacy replacement.

Develop an optimization and modernization plan, get the support of line managers.

Use security first architectures and design approaches to avoid new security vulnerabilities.

By 2023, 70% of IT services will use a containerization strategy and API, and will also try to expand the portability of applications and improve hosting flexibility. Successful organizations will implement containerization strategies and redouble their efforts to leverage APIs and microservices to further modernize, automate procedures, ensure compute independence, isolate applications, improve quality, and increase scalability. CIOs who do not use container-based approaches will feel the lack of flexibility, mobility and scalability, which will ultimately lead to a significant loss of competitiveness.

Recommendations

Microservices, together with containers, should form the basis of architectural models for all new applications.

Implement and extend DevOps for continuous evolution.

To meet the demand for on-demand compute resources, use serverless models and features that are provided as services.

Until 2022, 70% of IT services from implementers and operators will turn into designers and integrators of digital solutions and will define each product, service and process. The challenge for IT is that line units, through vendors, will begin to strengthen their role in technology creation and deployment, regardless of the nature of IT support, which will also change. If IT managers refuse to change roles and responsibilities when implementing technological solutions in line departments, the consequences for them will be very sad. It is much better for the CIO to plan and manage the transition in collaboration with line leaders.

Recommendations

Build a digital platform and API strategies to enable secure and fast integration of diverse applications and systems.

Invest in in-depth design and user experience expertise.

Create centers of excellence for selecting and validating digital software and tools.

By 2023, 80% of organizations will accelerate software development. This will deploy updates and review code at least once a week. Many IT departments have already moved from waterfall to agile application development (at least in theory), but so far they are not always able to cope with the rapid implementation of reliable code in small chunks to continuously create new business value. IT departments should be able to deploy updates every week, even if only individual applications need it. The CIO needs to redouble efforts to move towards true agile development and DevOps.

Recommendations

Think about products and business results, not projects.

Use a modular approach to improve adaptability.

Accelerate DevOps adoption, continuous integration and deployment.

Trust subordinates to search for new approaches to the creation and implementation of software.

By 2022, 40% of CIOs will lead innovation in their organizations. The choice of CIOs as leaders in the digital transformation process is quite logical. They are uniquely positioned to be innovative leaders, have a deep knowledge of digital technology, are able to predict business changes driven by new technologies, and, more importantly, understand how business works. IT leaders who are successful as an innovation leader are able to articulate their digital vision and engage others in its implementation. The technical savvy of IT professionals remains essential, but their success will depend on their ability to communicate, build relationships, and deliver on their commitments.

Recommendations

Form the foundation for reliable delivery of IT services and prevention of potential problems.

Promote a digital vision co-developed with line leaders.

Highlight limited but significant digital initiatives and demonstrate their business value.

Through 2022, the introduction of artificial intelligence tools to expand, optimize and accelerate IT operations will remain a major transformation initiative for 60% of corporate IT services. IDC's August 2019 CIO Sentiment Survey showed the following. Representatives of 54% of organizations are convinced that artificial intelligence is of significant value for automating IT operations and optimizing IT. The challenge for CIOs is not to automate IT, but to focus on the opportunities that deliver the most value. The CIO should start by defining his strategic goals, such as cutting costs, realigning talent, increasing IT capacity, and the like.

Recommendations

Partner with universities, consortia, start-ups, other organizations and alliances to increase the number of AI specialists.

Automate AI operations and initiatives to connect disparate components and streamline processes.

Make service quality an important metric for the effectiveness of your automation operations.

By 2024, 75% of CIOs will rethink the resources available to them, in particular budgets, assets and talent. Allocating resources in real time and ensuring enterprise agility will result in huge cost savings. CIOs strive to speed up processes and increase their agility, but face various obstacles. The most significant of these is perhaps the lack of flexibility in allocating the necessary funding and resources. Flexible resource allocation is a significant competitive advantage for CIOs. It is the essential foundation for achieving true organizational agility, which is one of the top priorities for IT transformation among CIOs.

Recommendations

Work closely with HR and Finance to build new systems for recruiting, performance management, and budgeting.

Keep in touch with line managers, create technologies to synchronize resources and budgets for IT and line departments.

Leverage flexible cycles for continuous planning and balanced IT resource allocation.

By 2023, 60% of CIOs will implement employee development programs approved by senior management. After a series of failed, scattered and unrelated employee engagement initiatives, the most effective CIOs will embark on strategic, targeted programs that include lifelong learning, engagement and innovation in digital workspaces. Immersive experiences and workspaces will drive productivity growth and attract the best talent. In most cases, such programs are a critical component of enterprise initiatives.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

European information security standards in Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law “On Amendments to the Law“ On Information Protection in Information and Telecommunication Systems ”regarding confirmation of the compliance of the information system with information protection requirements cloud architect.

The law on the territory of Ukraine adopted the requirements of the ISMS family standards for certain categories of information, the protection of which is ensured by the legislation of Ukraine. Also, the law has amended the basic requirements for the protection of information, as well as the criteria for establishing compliance with these requirements.

Corresponding changes were made to the Law of Ukraine "On Information Protection in Information and Telecommunication Systems" and for the most part affected the ways of confirming the compliance of the information system with information protection requirements by establishing appropriate criteria.

The explanatory note to the above document states that the main purpose of the adoption of this law is to integrate European requirements and criteria for assessing information protection against cyber threats with the Ukrainian legislative data protection system. Standards that regulate data protection issues, cybersecurity - information security management systems, ISMS (Information Security Management System, ISMS).

The law touched upon the main topics of protection and exchange of information, such as cryptographic protection of information. The law established the main points and requirements for placement, storage of basic information resources, their protection and other regulatory requirements, both general and industry-specific.

The adoption of this law is undoubtedly a step ahead for information security in Ukraine. The implementation of international standards, European ISMS will provide uniform cybersecurity requirements for companies of all sizes, thanks to a single independent standards base. Also, this, unambiguously, will facilitate the procedure for confirming the compliance of systems with information security requirements, as well as public procurement in government agencies and organizations where information protection is ensured by law.

Webinar Risk Management. ISO 31000

Any business faces risks in its activities. Risk is at the heart of all management decisions. Everyone treats risks differently: some try not to notice them, some avoid them, but only a few systematically and consciously manage risks. Risk management is a process necessary for every company, especially those who are preparing for an IPO (Initial Public Offering), as well as financial structures to obtain licenses for their activities.

On August 26 at 10:00 (Kyiv time) we  invite you to the free webinar  “Risk Management. ISO 31000 ” ,where we will present our NT-RM31000 Risk Management course . ISO 31000 and explain the principles, structure and process of risk management to effectively identify opportunities and threats.

At the webinar, we will consider: amazon solutions architect certification

Consider the ISO 31000 series of standards

Scope, terms, principles and definitions of risks

The structure of the risk management system

Risk management processes

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Heterogeneous virtual environment management

Microsoft and TechExpert are inviting virtualization experts to a hands-on workshop on the practice of managing virtual heterogeneous infrastructure. This event will be useful for those companies that face the following challenges.

Management of virtual environments from different manufacturers (Microsoft, VMWare).

Integration of virtual environments into a single managed space (unification of server infrastructure management).

Implementation of Hyper-V / SC VMM technology in the presence of virtualization infrastructure based on VMware.

Reducing the cost of managing a heterogeneous virtual environment.


What does a cloud architect do

The peculiarity of this master class is that a virtual server infrastructure will be deployed as part of a large-scale test laboratory, combining a number of the most common products. In particular, the infrastructure will include products from vendors such as Microsoft, VMware, Citrix, Hewlett-Packard. As part of the master class, options for complex management of this environment are proposed. The test lab will demonstrate the key planned and emergency situations that are most often encountered on real servers.

Special attention during the event will be paid to the latest infrastructure management tools from Microsoft System Center - in particular, Microsoft SC VMM 2012, SCOM 2012, SCCM 2012 and the latest product - System Center Orchestrator 2012. At the same time, the most interesting features of Virtual Machine Manager 2012 will be able to try it yourself - each participant will have at his disposal the necessary tools for the implementation of several key scenarios (within the framework of mini-laboratories).

The speaker at this event is the architect of infrastructure solutions from TechExpert, who has played various roles in a number of virtualization projects based on various platforms, including those presented at the event.

Venue

TC "Network Technologies", Kiev, Pobedy Avenue, 53a

Date

4-7 October 2011

Duration

1 day (8 hours)

Target audience of the

Company with at least 500 PCs, developed server infrastructure (at least 10 servers).

Trainees

IT managers, heads of departments and leading specialists responsible for the development and management of infrastructure

Participation fee

Free, by this invitation

Organizers

Microsoft

Company TechExpert Company

The

Activity format implies several key elements in the format:

demonstrations (within the test laboratory),

independent laboratory work,

mini-presentations.

Monday, August 31, 2020

Interview. Andrey Shokhanov about IT security

In his interview after the course М2821 "Development and management of public key infrastructure in a Windows environment", which was held a few weeks ago at the TC "Network Technologies", Andrey said: what is a cloud architect

“As a trainer, I would like to note that course 2821 is one of the most important in the line of infrastructure courses. Today, there are practically no software products that do not use cryptography or digital signature. And one of the most frequent questions that I hear from IT specialists is “For some reason I have something swearing about a certificate”. And for the frequent question of what the error is, you cannot immediately answer. And when you figure it out, it turns out that initially the entire infrastructure was built incorrectly, which leads to a new headache “how to live further”.

As part of the course, we consider not only the basic principles of designing and managing a public key infrastructure, but also how to further develop their infrastructure to a level where companies can exchange information completely transparently and safely, while not spending a lot of effort on integration between different infrastructures.

For my part, I would like to note that one of the most interesting moments that I happened to see in the framework of this course is the organization of access to the corporate network using the citizen's identifier, which every citizen of Georgia has (this is about to start here).

Summing up, I can say that if an IT specialist does not know Active Directory or PKI, then it is simply pointless to study any products, be it Exchange Server, Lync Server System or SharePoint and the Dynamics product line. "

The depth, completeness of the course and the usefulness of the material were highly appreciated by the training participants. Several interviews with them:

Igor Bondarenko, "ProCredit Bank"

“I had been planning to take course 2821 for a long time, but in Kiev it is not read so often. One of the main selection criteria was the coach - I repeatedly visited the training grounds, which were led by Andrey, it was always interesting and useful.

It so happened that course 2821 was read at intervals of several days in different training centers, but it is more convenient for me to get to Network Technologies, there is an opportunity to park my car and there is no need to leave the building for lunch.

The course itself is built on the basis of outdated Windows 2003, but this was not a problem - Andrey showed how the functionality and settings look like on the current OS versions. The trainer is well aware of other topics on which the course is based and is happy to answer questions, therefore, during the training, we received much more useful information than was provided by the "training manual".

Soon I will have to implement a lot of what was discussed in the course. The knowledge gained and the support that the TC provides after the training to the trainees instill confidence that this implementation will be successful. "

Roman Cheremisin, TRK Ukraina

“The course that Andrei Shokhanov read, as well as many others that he read and reads, was very interesting both in terms of topics and in the provision of material.

The only drawback is that the course is focused on systems with 20,030 servers. Since almost all industries use a public key structure (PKI), not excluding ours, it became necessary to take this course so that there was not only an understanding of what PKI is, but also a certain practical skill in managing certificates, electronic signatures, certification authorities and other.

In the learning process, we have developed a fairly good atmosphere for the perception of theoretical material and the solution of practical problems. In my humble opinion, the courses taught by A. Shokhanov are one of the most interesting and easily perceived. Thank!"


Friday, August 28, 2020

The evening schedule is available again!

Don't miss  course M20767 Implementing Data Warehouses in Microsoft SQL Server 2016. Take training at a convenient evening and weekend! The course is open.

By popular demand of the listeners, the Training Center "Network Technologies" returns to the schedule courses with a non-standard schedule cloud architect salary.

The nearest course with a non-standard schedule starts on November 5. This is course M20767 Implementing Data Warehouses in Microsoft SQL Server 2016.

Students will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to implement a data warehouse for BI solutions. The course covers creating a data warehouse in Microsoft SQL Server 2016, using ETL with SQL Server Integration Services, validating and cleaning data using SQL Server Data Quality Services and SQL Server Master Data Services.

You can get acquainted with the program and schedule of classes on the course page.

We remind you that almost any course at the Network Technologies Training Center can be taken remotely. You can also choose a convenient time for corporate group classes and even prepare an individual training program or develop a special course that meets the training needs of your employees.