Empowered by today’s high-performance computers interconnected over LANs and WANs, companies are faced with the daunting task of bringing workability to the diversity and complexity of today’s data communications landscape. This new, comprehensive resource addresses key network management challenges, showing you how to: tie together incompatible LANs, meld legacy systems and LANs, extend the reach of LANs with wireless links, protect information assets from various disaster scenarios, and consolidate multi-protocol traffic over a single WAN backbone in a way that guarantees appropriate service levels.

Moreover, this hands-on guide defines management system requirements for the enterprise, and identifies the tools and expertise companies need to manage systems and networks in wired and wireless environments. You will learn how to design and test networks before implementation, and harden systems and networks against internal and external attacks with effective security administration and the application of specific tools. Putting infrastructure issues into proper perspective, this book will help you succeed in managing advanced communications systems and networks.

About the Author

Nathan J. Muller is a managing partner and consultant at the Ascent Solutions Group, LLC in Sterling, VA. He is also the author of IP Convergence: The Next Revolution in Telecommunications, Desktop Encyclopedia of the Internet, Wireless Data Networking, and Intelligent Hubs (Artech House, 2000, 1999, 1995, 1994).