Cisco Network Design Solutions for Small-Medium Businesses

Cisco Network Design Solutions For SmallMedium Businesses zeros in on critical solutions for networking professionals who are deploying computer networks within a small or mediumsized business. It addresses core networking issues, including security, customer relations management (CRM), wireless LANs, unified communications, IP telephony, and more. For networking professionals, Cisco Network Design Solutions for SmallMedium Businesses is a onestop reference and design guide for the effective implementation of networking solutions that enhance the bottom line. Cisco Network Design Solutions For SmallMedium Businesses is separated into two parts the first part explores the network design process, surveys the SMB landscape, and identifies the network requirements from the edge to the core for an effective solution implementation. The second part identifies multiple security solutions, Cisco's integration with popular CRM solutions, design models for ICS 7750 deployment in the context of an IP Telephony solution, Wireless LAN solutions, and Cisco's Unity and IP/TV solutions.

This book gives sound advice for developing an effective business focused network solution. I especially like the chapters on security, which are practical and concise, offering an effective path for making sense of the all to complex security situation that we find ourselves confronted with in these times. The author puts security issues and threats in an easy-to-understand framework along with examples that help the reader make the connection to their business. Each threat is followed up with a set of solutions that the designer (and the CEO) can use to assess the security interventions that best balance risks and costs for their own business. The creation of a security policy is stressed. A follow-on chapter delves into the details of how the security policy gets translated into the Cisco environment. This book takes the rare but much needed view that network design should be driven from requirements and policy first and design and implementation second. Although the title slots the book in the realm of Cisco network design for small to medium businesses it should be of interest to a wider audience. I count myself fortunate to have crossed paths with this practical and useful book. Hats off to Mr. Rybaczyk for a job well done!

Every sentence in this excellently written book is packed with concentrated advice for small-to-medium sized enterprises. The content is absolutely up-to-date in how it relates to the real world. I particularly valued the Security Overview chapter, which helped me, with its Security Policy template, to meet the new Sarbanes-Oxley requirements for financial data security. Essential reading for every SMB enterprise!

Cisco Network Design Solutions for Small-Medium Businesses (Peter Rybacyk, 2005) outlines the networking needs of SMB's across the whole "yellow pages" of vertical markets. When dealing with a topic this extensive, an author has to make choices between depth and breadth. While the book does not delve too deeply into configuration or deployment use cases, it does manage to touch on pretty much every solution Cisco offers the SMB market. It's a comprehensive resource for a partner or reseller to help design an SMB network. By covering the SMB market in such detail, the book actually winds up touching on most of the major solutions (including enterprise) in networking today. For the small business owner, its probably a bit steep on the technical detail for a first-step resource, but if you are already networking savvy or have able to dig a little deeper to get more vital information, you'll find this book quite useful. It's worth noting that there isn't any mention of the Linksys offerings; thus, it appears that this book is aimed at the "larger than the smallest" SMB market; it certainly is not applicable to small office/home office (SOHO). Throughout the book the author puts forth a poignant and true-ringing analogy about the direction of networking vis a vis its apparent commoditization. Networking appears to be en route, however quickly and completely, to a kind of utility basis, wherein we will come to see it as increasingly plug and play, and perhaps as reliable, as electrical and plumbing systems. Although it is questionable whether networking can ever attain such a status, especially inasmuch as the applications get more complex with IPT, wireless, and storage, the trend in that direction is apparent (and welcome!). The first part of the book covers the network design process and the profiles on different small and medium-sized businesses. It takes into consideration the key requirements of an SMB network: high performance, scalability, and "built within budget." This section includes an interesting overview of the networking infrastructure, including cable plant and storage requirements. There is a very useful checklist of design document components including requirements, cost/benefit analysis, implementation details, and so forth. The second, and larger, part of the book details specific network solutions. These include security, remote access, IP telephony, wireless, partner collaboration, customer care, and front/back office collaboration. The security topic is divided into two chapters, the first dealing with the impact of the wide variety of security breaches (such as DDoS, man-in-the-middle attacks, zombies, worms, etc.). The other security chapter covers details on VPNs (in terms of the encryption technologies, appliances such as concentrators to manage them, and management advantages), firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and security functionality in the Cisco IOS. After detailing the requirements for VPNs (authentica

Do you manage an accounting department? This book is for you. Are you in sales, marketing, manufacturing, advertising? This book is for you. Are you a senior or mid-level manager in a small to medium sized business? If you are, this book is for you. If you are a network engineer who is considering a move into management this book is for you. If you are a network manager, this book will give you excellent insights into the use of various technologies in your business. If you are a school administrator or technology coordinator in a school district of any size this book is for you. If you are a Cisco 'guru', this book will fill in any gap that you may have regarding newer Cisco technologies and how they might be integrated within your organization. This book isn't a standard technology book with detailed explanations regarding for instance; how to enter into 'config' mode or how to configure a vlan on a wireless device. This book is about serious issues that all Small to Medium businesses face as they try to bring their organizations to the next level. It is almost impossible to do justice to this book without writing 100 page review...but I will do my best to point out some salient points that I believe provide the philosophical guidance that underlies what is written. In Chapter 7 Customer Relationship Management Solutions (CRM), Peter writes the following, "Any effective CRM solutions offers an SMB the opportunity to provide excellent customer service 100% of the time or, at least, close to it. In the information age, it means that no matter which employee is interacting with a customer, he or she has access to the relevant information to meet the customer's needs effectively, in a timely manner, and without confusion." He then proceeds to write that whether one is taking an order, a reservation, offering info about a new service or product, "a CRM solution should facilitate the interaction and the decision-making process on the part of the SMB's employees." Talk about a crash-course MBA. His chapter on CRM and Chapter 10 Front and Back Office Integration Solutions reads like a mini-mba and should be helpful to anyone in management. The rest of the book provides inciteful information on various technologies and how they can be considered within the context of Customer Relationship Management Solution, increasing a company's competitiveness and increasing the bottom line. For instance, in the section on VPNs, Peter provides a level of technical insight that is usually missing from technical how-to books. In addition, he provides the business-management insight that is always missing from how-to books. The issues that he writes about are critically important for not only network managers to understand, but for business managers to understand also. Any techie who reads this book will clearly be more valuable to an organization. Many techies only understand the 'prompt' they see on a router or switch. If a 'techie' wants to