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| MIS’s Challenges to Manage the Global-Scale
Networks of ASUS |
 AWith
the fast-growing trend of e-commerce and the power of business
intelligence via the Internet, enterprises now are more than
ever depending on the 24x7 network connectivity which enables
various business-critical applications (e.g. ERP, CRM, SCM,
etc.) and provides real-time communications of geographically
distributed users worldwide. While the network connectivity
can improve operational efficiency and increase business productivity,
it also brings about difficulties in IT management and risks
of security events. To keep the pace up with ASUS’ fast
growing of business territories worldwide, how to plan and
build the network infrastructure according to the practical
business needs and well-manage the global-scale enterprise
networks has been the very crucial challenge faced by the
ASUS MIS personnel. In addition to the challenge of network
manageability, the need of continuous access to the Internet
also exposes the enterprise networks to the threats of hacking
and worm attacks. Although there have been some ‘security
solutions’ such as firewalls, antivirus and VPN products
deployed in the environment, the ever-changing, new breeds
of attacks which can circumambulate those perimeter security
solutions still pose tremendous threats to the enterprise
networks.
In response to the needs of both traffic manageability and
security protection, ASUS decided to deploy GenieATM (Genie
Advanced Traffic Management) in the network construction project
for their new headquarter building. GenieATM as a comprehensive
traffic analysis and troubleshooting solution is expected
to provide the total solution for: continuously traffic monitoring
of each geographical network spot and critical business application
servers, real-time detection and pre-alarming of network anomalies,
precise traffic information provision for effective troubleshooting,
and in-depth traffic analysis and reporting. |
GenieATM Solution
After closely discussing with ASUS
MIS staff to understand their network topology and the management
challenges faced, GenieNRM put forward the GenieATM deployment
proposal meeting ASUS’ needs and initiated the corresponding
on-line tests as follows: |
- Real-time
Traffic Snapshot:
The unique traffic analysis technology
of GenieATM, Real-time Traffic Snapshot, was used to conduct
an overall network health examination. During the first
10 minutes using the Traffic Snapshot function, all the
malicious traffic such as Sasser worms, ICMP attack (Ping
of Death) and unwanted traffic such as P2P e-Donkey file
transferring were successfully identified. Not only anomalies
were reported but also each anomaly’s detailed information,
such as the network addresses of the anomaly initiators/victims’
and the interface inforamtion of the impacted network
resources, was rendered. With the aids of the in-depth
traffic information, ASUS IT personnel identified, isolated
and resolved the anomalies effectively in minutes.
- Flow Monitor:
7x24, continuous traffic monitoring meeting ASUS’
large-scale, complex network topology was configured via
the Flow Monitor function. Through the flexible configuration,
the traffic monitoring can focus on critical network spots
and application servers in ASUS’ network environment:
. Monitor by departments of the business (such as HR,
Sales, RD, and Manufacturing departments);
. Monitor by worldwide branches/facilities (such as branches
in America, German, Austria, Netherlands, China, etc.);
. Monitor on important application servers (such as Web
Servers, Mail Servers, File Servers, Database Servers,
ERP Servers, etc.)
In addition to the continuous monitoring, traffic thresholds
of each monitored network segment were set. Once a threshold
was violated, real-time alarm was sent via SNMP trap or
e-mail to notify MIS correspondents for timely reactions.
In addition to the continuous monitoring, traffic thresholds
of each monitored network segment were set. Once a threshold
was violated, real-time alarm was sent via SNMP trap or
e-mail to notify MIS correspondents for timely reactions.
- Function 3- Flow Analysis:
Flow Analysis was performed on the perimeter of ASUS headquarter
network. The function renders up to Top-128 heavy network
resource consumers, the remote-end they are connecting
to, and the applications they are using. The Top-N function
provides also historical analyses enabling cross examination
backwards with traffic monitor reports. The MIS staff
hence no more regard historical event back tracing as
a painful task.
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Do More with Less— GenieATM
Empowers the Network Manageability in ASUS
Beneficial Results
Make 24x7hrs,
Global-scale Traffic Visibility Possible:
 prior
to the deployment of GenieATM, due to the tremendous complexity
and giant scale of ASUS’ enterprise network, the MIS
had difficulties to gain the in-depth traffic visibility.
Now with the capability of long-term monitoring, drilled-sown
Top-N analysis and focused analysis on critical network
spots, ASUS MIS staff now can have the holistic view in
hands of its global-scale network, anywhere, anytime.
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Simplify the Task of Various
Traffic Analysis Report Generation:
 with
the abundant traffic analysis reports provided by GenieATM,
now MIS staff can fulfill the report generation routines
in few clicks. The flexibility in analysis reporting also
allows the MIS staff to respond to high-level management
demands instantly. |
Minimize Possible Losses
Caused by Network Down:
 via
the traffic-based mechanism GenieATM can alert network anomaly
activities at the early stage through Web UI, SNMP trap
and e-mail notification. The comprehensive anomaly information
helps identify, locate and hence perform precise actions
to resolve malicious anomalies. The used-to-be 30-mins-more
troubleshooting process can now be shortened to 5 minutes
in 3 simple steps, and the time reduction means significant
cost saving by minimizing possible productivity loss and
company image damage caused by network down. |
Painless Deployment
& Easy Management:
 the
appliance solution, transparent architecture contributes
to an effortless, non-interrupting deployment experience
of GenieATM. Facing the scalability of ASUS networks, GenieATM’s
layered-administration design lets the MIS manger easily
delegate different management tasks to different members
of the crew with different scopes of responsibilities. The
remote manageability with friendly Web-based GUI and the
support of multiple languages perfectly meet a global-scale
enterprise’s need of traffic management. |
Customer
Profile
Industry sector: Manufacturing
Company name: ASUSTek Computer Inc.
Headquarter: Taipei, Taiwan
Founded: 1990
Employees: 40,000
Revenue: US $8.29 billion (2004)
Products: motherboards, notebooks, barebone PCs, servers,
graphic cards, communication devices, optical storage devices,
LCD monitors, PC components and PDAs.
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GenieATM
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