Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

Managing modern networks means taking on the complexity of downtime, config errors, and vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. Learn how BGP Flow Specification (Flowspec) can help to mitigate DDoS attacks through disseminating traffic flow specification rules throughout a network.

As businesses become more digitized, IT leaders must consider the ability of the network to transform business operations in every functional area. Many organizations are already doing this today, demonstrating best practices in how the network can be an innovation partner in marketing, service delivery, customer service, and logistics, among many other areas. However, those who rest on their laurels today may find themselves playing catchup in the not-so-distant future.

Whether you're streaming a movie, conducting a crucial Zoom meeting, or managing a data-intensive enterprise, a reliable Internet connection is non-negotiable. The Internet is expected to be fast, always available, and capable of handling your specific needs. But how can you ensure that your Internet service provider (ISP) is meeting these expectations? The answer lies in Internet Service Level Agreements (or Internet SLAs).

In relatively short order, the adoption of cloud services and hybrid work models went from exception to ubiquity. This has fundamentally changed the nature of the networks users rely upon—and created an entirely new set of challenges for IT and network operations teams. More than ever, business services and interactions are reliant upon network connectivity that spans a diverse mix of the public internet and third-party networks.

Find out about different network security device types and their uses.

In our digitally-driven world, networks serve as the backbone of every organization's operations. Whether you're a business, a healthcare facility, an educational institution, or a government agency, the efficiency and reliability of your network infrastructure can make or break your daily operations.

There are three main infrastructure types to consider when hosting and deploying applications: Bare Metal, Virtual Machines (VMs), and Containers, each with its own advantages and disadvantages depending on your use case. The three technologies are not mutually exclusive however, as both VMs and containers run on top of bare metal servers, while containers can also be deployed inside VMs.

Organizations must always be ready to pivot on a dime and adjust their business goals when the market—or their customers—demand it. Whether driven by industry changes or developments in market trends, when goals shift at the top, the teams who execute against them must follow suit. Since network infrastructure is becoming increasingly complex to fit business needs, IT teams are part of these initiatives.

Let me tell you something you already know: Networks are more complex than ever. They are massive. They are confounding. Modern networks are obtuse superorganisms of switches, routers, containers, and overlays; a hodgepodge of telemetry from AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, and sprawling infrastructure that spans more than a dozen timezones.