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Archive for the ‘Green’ Category

Three Ways to Acheive a Sustainable Network

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Industry directives, laws, and rising energy costs are causing companies that rely on IT networks to find ways to make their networks more green and sustainable.  Small changes can make a significant difference but many business owners don’t know what to look for our how to begin.  We’re here to help.

There are three key areas that can help you attain a more sustainable network.

1. Efficiency of Operation

A network’s ability to provide collaboration services not only minimizes the time multiple employees spend on efficient processes, but helps to reduce overall power use and increase effectiveness.  Integrated services networks are the key as they tend to be the most productive, and cost less to upgrade incrementally, growing only as the business itself grows.

2.  Efficiency of Power Use

The best way to control and limit energy cost and consumption is by purchasing an integrated services network like the Cisco Enhanced 2-port OC12/STM4 ATM OSM+switch. These centrally managed networking solutions require less power to do more work and keep consumption down. Power supplies which have been optimized also help considerably, as does intelligent power management.

3. Maximization of Equipment Life

Upgrading constantly creates hardware waste. A sustainability plan must include networking hardware that can evolve as the business evolves without being replaced by new physical components.  An integrated system also helps on this front as the system itself can be retained when pieces of the system are upgraded. For example, you can keep the networking hardware and simply upgrade the software to a better security package if desired.

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Brocade Going Green

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Brocade found that:

“In the United States alone, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates data centers consumed some 61 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006 - using the equivalent of the average yearly energy output for 15 power plants. As the global demand for more data and faster performance increases, data system energy costs continue to rise.”

Brocade is determined to improve energy efficiencies by focusing on programs and products that support the ongoing development of green data centers. Increasing efficiency can be done through a variety of ways including:

1. Power and cooling. Because Brocade’s data centers generate one-third of the heat compared to competitors, they require less cooling and the saved power can be used for other devices.

2. Scalability. Brocade’s products simplify high performance data migration across heterogeneous environments.

3. Management. Because management is easy, centralized information management is more cost effective.

Brocade’s newest products are designed to be green, but don’t forget about the reliability and flexibility of Foundry’s routers like the NetIron MLX-16. New or refurbished, Brocade and Foundry products lead the industry.

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How Upgrading to an Integrated Services Router Saves Money

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Want to save money while saving the environment? Of course, why not? Although you might not immediately think of upgrading to an integrated services router when you come up with a list of ways to minimize waste, companies that have upgraded, are doing just that. An integrated services router maximizes efficiency in several ways. Combining multiple functions into one easily managed source makes sense from an administrative standpoint, but ISRs (Integrated Services Routers) like the CISCO3825-HSEC/K9, are energy efficient as they deliver multiple networking services, reducing the need to power several different hardware components that would be needed to fulfill the same function. By integrating services, these ISRs reduce pollution, emissions, contamination, and e-waste by facilitating power conservation.

While it makes logical sense that combining several electrical pieces of hardware into one will save energy, there are other ways that integrated services routers help a company save expenses and reduce waste. These routers enhance business processes. With this sort of improvement, e-business can be conducted faster and more efficiently, reducing labor time and the need for travel can be reduced as well, as the employee can adequately work from his/her current location which reduces overall energy use and environmental pollution.

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Businesses Going the ‘Green’ Way

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

If you have used, broken, or no longer needed I.T. equipment, you may be tempted to toss it in the trash bin outside and watch it be hauled away. But there are two important reasons to refrain from doing that: one, you’re throwing away money; and two, adding more lead-based equipment to a landfill isn’t good for the environment.

If you’re a company that wants to go green, here are some important steps to take to reduce your company’s carbon footprint.

First and foremost, don’t throw away I.T. equipment! There are reliable alternative hardware providers like MULTI-LINK Communications (MLCP) that will accept your old equipment (even if it’s broken) for a trade-in credit, or will even sell your used equipment (like a Cisco 7905 IP phone) on consignment whether or not your buy anything from them at all. Let MLCP refurbish and try to sell your equipment and all you have to do is cash the check once it sells. Not only will someone else struggling to afford the right I.T. equipment for their company benefit, but so will you financially, and so will generations to come with fewer landfills.

You can also remind staff, vendors, customers, etc. to reduce paper waste by simply adding “Please consider the environment before printing this email” to the bottom of every email sent internally and externally from your staff. Sometimes, people just need a reminder to think before hitting that print button and saving paper not only saves trees, but also reduces supply costs.

Offering a recycling program at work will encourage to bring recyclables from home and not only eliminate how much recyclable material goes into residential trash, but the money can be used to donate to a local school, buy a new microwave for the break room, or given away to the employee (or team) of the month who brings in the most recycling.

Going green doesn’t have to be expensive. It can actually save you money, encourage respect for the environment with your staff, and keep the planet healthy for generations to come.

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How to Sell Your Used I.T. Equipment

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

There are lots of reasons why you might want to sell your used I.T. Equipment. Perhaps your business has closed and you are liquidating. Maybe you’re growing and need an networking system that will keep up with your new demands. You might have experienced a network meltdown and would rather get rid of the stuff than pay to have it fixed. But this stuff is expensive. It would be great if you could sell it off rather than dump it in the trash– even a little money from it would offset expenses and keeping out of the world’s landfills only helps the environment. So what do you do? How do you find someone who’s looking to purchase the exact equipment you want to get rid of?

You could try craigslist or another similar online site, but the chances that the person who needs exactly what you have, say an end-of-lifed Cisco 803 Ethernet router will even check out your listing is slim.

That’s where a company like MULTI-LINK Communications Products (MLCP) comes in. Although known for being a leading alternate provider of Cisco hardware, MLCP also accepts used equipment (as well as equipment in need of refurbishment) to sell on consignment even if you don’t buy anything from them! That’s right! You don’t need to buy from MLCP and they’ll still sell your old equipment for you for a nominal fee.

Why would a company do this?

For one, MLCP has the ability to do it. The company’s international client base is so wide and diverse, they constantly get calls from customers in need of refurbished equipment that’s no longer manufactured. For many companies who aren’t ready to upgrade but still need to replace a single, obsolete component, purchasing something you no longer need is ideal. Second, MULTI-LINK is a fully functioning distributor that’s been in business since 1995. The company is about building long-term relationships and helping its clients with all their I.T. hardware needs– whether it’s purchasing new systems, refurbishing old ones, upgrading, downgrading, or liquidating altogether.

So before you toss thousands of dollars in the trash and add to a landfill, contact MLCP and check out their Investment Recapture Strategy.

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Recycling I.T. Hardware: A Global Concern

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

Although ‘going green’ may be the buzz word of the decade, the disposal of ‘technotrash’ is a very real concern globally. It’s estimated that the U.S. alone produces up to 230 million metric tons of hazardous waste annually, even though confirming that statistic is difficult. Regardless, most of the United States’ old computers, cell phones, and I.T. equipment ends up either in landfills or is shipped off to poverty-stricken countries like China where villagers dismantle the computers for recycling. For less than 25 cents a day, these people are exposed to high amounts of lead and currently suffer higher rates of birth defects and increased mortality rates than other countries.

So what can we do? Is there a way to reduce our consumption, not only of fossil fuels, paper, and energy but also of computer hardware and technology-dependent products?

Here are three ways to reduce our carbon footprint and still keep up with cutting edge technology:
First, purchase refurbished hardware like routers, switches, telephony, and more from third-party suppliers. One person’s trash truly is another person’s treasure—particularly when it’s been refurbished to ‘like new’ standards. Not only will you reduce the demand for ‘new’ products forcing manufacturers to produce less, you can save a great deal of money and some third-party suppliers actually offer better warranties on refurbished products than the manufacturer will offer on the same product new.

Second, trade in your old equipment. Third-party suppliers often offer generous trade in credits on equipment you no longer need because your network has either grown or needs to downsize. These companies refurbish and resell your equipment which not only keeps the products out of a landfill but also helps smaller companies a few years behind you to upgrade their networks at prices they can afford.
Third, donate retired cell phones to organizations like ‘Cell Phones for Soldiers’ which collects and recycles old cell phones and then uses the money to purchase international calling cards which are given to troops stationed overseas so that they may call home more often and at no cost.

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Router Security Features Made Easy: What is a Firewall?

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

If you’re not an I.T. wiz, some of the descriptions of the router security features might seem more like a foreign language than anything aimed at helping you decipher which integrated services router is right for your company. We’re here to help you understand the security features of a router by breaking them down for you one at a time. Let’s talk about Firewalls.

First off, what is a Firewall?

A firewall is a device that provides basic security for your computer or network. Network-level firewalls are typically built into your router and acts as sort of a gatekeeper for all the packets of data that enter your network from the expansive internet (which can be a dangerous place). The firewall examines each data packet and looks at the data packet’s header. The header must match a list of ‘rules’ that the firewall knows, and if it does, it can pass. If it doesn’t, the firewall stops it. Who sets these rules? The network administrator typically sets the rules for the firewall to follow, but can also set up the opposite—a set of rules that are negative. If the firewall detects that a packet’s header contains something on the firewall’s list of ‘negative rules,’ it will also stop the packet in its tracks.

While in theory, a firewall might be enough of a security system to protect a network, it usually isn’t. Most firewalls do not detect and defuse viruses, worms, and most application-specific attacks. To the firewall, the headers for these ‘bad packets’ appear to be good headers which is why additional security like and IDS, IPS, application-level firewalls, and anti-spyware/anti-virus applications are needed for more reliable network protection.

Think of it like this. Your network is a night club. The firewall is the bouncer who stands at the door letting people come in. Even the biggest, most intimidating bouncer has no way of knowing that the underage boy showing him a fake ID is really underage. To the bouncer who sees the fake ID, the kid looks legit. And so he lets the kid go in, and in turn, the boy is caught drinking and the entire club is shut down—which is exactly what malware like a virus or worm can do to your network. An IDS/IPS combo, and anti-spyware/anti-virus applications along with application-level firewalls take a harder look at the underage kid’s I.D. So once the kid gets past the bouncer, he hands his ID to a hostess who runs it through a scanner. The ID comes up as a fake, the threat is detected, and the kid is then promptly kicked out of the club before ever reaching the bar. These added layers of security are like the ID scanner. They use complex rules when they examine a packet, scrutinizing its content, its source, the ports involved, the destination address, the type of traffic it is, and the applications being called to open it. Only under this advanced scrutiny can hidden attackers like viruses and worms be detected.

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Router Security Features Made Easy: What is IDS?

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

If you’re not an I.T. wiz, some of the descriptions of the router security features might seem more like a foreign language than anything aimed at helping you decipher which integrated services router is right for your company. We’re here to help you understand the security features of a router by breaking them down for you one at a time. Let’s talk about IDS.

First off, what is IDS?

IDS stands for ‘intrusion detection system’ and is commonly used along with an IPS (intrusion prevention system) for maximum security protection, but doesn’t always have to. Some IDS’s stand alone, but do little to actually protect a network from intrusion. While an IPS is designed to actually shut down a network the moment an intrusion is detected to keep it safe, an IDS acts more as an observer. The IDS is passive. It simply examines packets of data traversing the network and it does so from afar—the IDS is located in a monitoring port. When the IDS sees something that doesn’t meet configured rules, it sets off an alarm. For systems with the IPS also, the IPS then kicks in and either shuts down the network or isolates the malicious traffic.

The problem with an IDS, other than it doesn’t do more than simply detect something bad has entered the network, is that it tends to be pessimistic—and often sees ‘good’ data as ‘bad’ data simply because it doesn’t recognize that the good data is good. That creates an atmosphere were false positives abound and like a car alarm that goes off not only when a thief is breaking in, but also when the wind hits it just right, or the rain, or a tree branch, administrators spend significant time dealing with things that aren’t problematic at all.

There are certainly some pluses to an IDS though. An IDS has the ability to detect more, and different types of attacks, that a simple firewall can’t. An IDS can sense data-driven attacks, host-based attacks, network attacks, unauthorized logins, and malware like worms, Trojan horses, and viruses. The reason they’re more sensitive is that IDS’s employ multiple methods in threat detection all at once.

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Save Money and Be Green with Smart IT Purchases

Monday, December 1st, 2008

A clean, healthy environment and slowing down consumption benefits each of our lives personally and helps to preserve the planet for generations to come.  And in general, we’ve made great strides in the U.S. to ‘go green’ both in our personal lives and in our businesses.

What you might not know is that one of the worst hurdles in ‘going green’ isn’t the recycling of plastic, paper, and aluminum.  It’s the recycling of computer hardware. According to law professional Nancy Jackson in an article published online in October 2008, nearly 85% of electronic waste winds up either in U.S. landfills or is “sent by recyclers to third world dumps.”  Not only is computer hardware not biodegradable, it’s actually considered toxic waste due to its content:  lead, mercury, beryllium, dioxin, and cadmium (each CRT monitor actually contains between 4 and 8 pounds of toxic material).

So with technology racing along and hardware like desktop computers, routers, switchers, even telephony on the cusp of becoming obsolete only a few years after it’s introduced to the market, how can we, as business-owners and consumers, slow the process of IT hardware filling up landfills?

One way, is to purchase refurbished hardware.  The business of providing refurbished, reliable IT hardware is in its infancy, even though many companies have begun to turn to companies that provide solid refurbished hardware like MLCP and others as a way to save money during the recent economic downturn.  While saving money on equipment that has a short shelf life before it marches into obsoleteness makes sound financial sense, it’s also good for the environment.

From an environmental standpoint, supporting these companies who buy used hardware from consumers, refurbish, and resell it, is essentially the same as supporting a car company that has put in the money and effort to lower manufacturing emissions.  We have a choice in which companies we want to build relationships with, so let’s choose the ones that share our vision for a cleaner environment.  By selling our outdated hardware to a reliable company MULTI-LINK Communications Products, we’re ensuring that the old equipment will spend nearly double the time (even up to ten times longer) in someone’s office before it hits the dump.  And with the demand for refurbished equipment going up, demand for new equipment will decline—meaning that overall, less hardware will need to be produced and fewer emissions will be created in their production.

It’s the least we can do for future generations, and with the cost-savings, it’s the least we can do for ourselves as well.

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Router Security Features Made Easy: What is Malware?

Tuesday, November 30th, 1999

If you’re not an I.T. wiz, some of the descriptions of the router security features might seem more like a foreign language than anything aimed at helping you decipher which integrated services router is right for your company. We’re here to help you understand the security features of a router by breaking them down for you one at a time. Let’s talk about Malware.

First off, what is Malware?

Even the name sounds bad, doesn’t it? For good reason. Malware actually comes from the phrase ‘malicious software’ and describes any type of software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer without the operator’s consent. In legal terms, malware is known as a ‘computer contaminant,’ and comes in many forms including: spyware, adware, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, rootkits, crimeware, and other destructive software. It is important to note that while some software can damage a computer (ie., cause it to crash because it overloads the computer or has some other glitch), the difference between legitimate software and malware is that with malware, the creator intended to create something destructive.

How does Malware work?

Your network can become infected by malware in several ways. If even one computer on the network receives an email with a virus attached, or visits an attack website, the computer, and often the entire network can become infected. The results can be anything from an irritation in which adware keeps popping up to something more serious like spyware capturing credit card information of your customers. In extreme cases, if a computer has been compromised by a virus, a hacker, or a Trojan horse, it can become a ‘zombie computer’ and part of a botnet. Zombie computers are actually under the control of a ‘botmaster’ and are used to send out spam or even spread illegal material like child pornography. This way, the spam and contraband material is difficult to trace back to its source.

Protecting your computer and network from malware is important if you want to keep your system secure. Anti-Malware software is significantly effective in identifying and preventing any Malware from infiltrating your network. Companies like McAfee and Symantec offer subscriptions to software that detects and removes Malware.

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