NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: ANDREAS M. ANTONOPOULOS ON THE DATA CENTER 08/17/04 Today's focus: The central nervous system of a data center
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * What's behind the log messages * Links related to Data Center * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This Newsletter is sponsored by Redline Networks Are your Web-enabled Applications Secure? Why Firewalls and Deep Packet Inspection Are Not Enough. Read this breakthrough perspective on Web tier vulnerabilities before you deploy another load balancer or point product in front of your Web and application servers. You may never look at the critical Web tier the same way again. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=70514 _______________________________________________________________ CHECK OUT NW FUSION'S NEW WHITE PAPER LIBRARY Just launched: NW Fusion's White Paper Library with new features and improved capabilities! Sort NW Fusion's library of white papers by Date and Vendor, view white papers by TECHNICAL CATEGORY, mouse over white paper descriptions and take advantage of our IMPROVED white paper search engine. CLICK HERE: http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=72526 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: The central nervous system of a data center By Andreas M. Antonopoulos Almost all components of a data center such as network devices, storage systems, servers and even the electrical systems generate logs. Like a central nervous system, log messages are generated by these devices using the syslog or SNMP protocols apprising us of various activities and events at the hardware level (for example, data link down, fan failed), operating system level (disk full, too many files open) or at the user level (user logged in, incorrect password). To take advantage of this flow of information, data center architectures must include the necessary infrastructure to collect, filter, analyze, correlate and archive the log information. Data center managers can put log data to many uses such as troubleshooting, security monitoring, network management and regulatory compliance. The operations and security groups will use logs in slightly different ways, so the infrastructure has to be flexible enough to support these different uses. For security monitoring, the emphasis is on finding the "needle in the haystack" through filtering and correlation in near real-time. As thousands of messages stream in from various devices, the log management infrastructure must be able to prioritize and alert on the most important messages without overwhelming the operators. The term "Security Information Management" is used to describe a range of products from vendors such as Arcsight, Netforensics, Intellitactics and Micromuse, which provide this type of functionality. These products specialize in intelligent filtering and the management of large volumes of messages to provide selected alerting with a focus on security. Network monitoring and troubleshooting require sophisticated filtering of log data, with the addition of root-cause analysis. HP OpenView, IBM Tivoli and other such products focus on providing an overview of the data center and network to assist the operations group in maintaining availability and performance. Root-cause analysis is the process of correlation that allows operators to identify the underlying event that may have triggered a wave of log messages across the infrastructure. Regulatory compliance has become an increasingly onerous responsibility for many enterprises, especially in the health and financial services sectors. Regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act stipulate that enterprises must monitor their infrastructure and retain audit data on the activities of their users and administrators. By securely collecting and archiving logs for long-term storage, enterprises can meet many of these regulatory requirements. To comply with the regulations the emphasis must be on collecting "raw" log data (without filtering) and on long-term archival. The log archives must be securely stored and searchable for forensic and investigatory purposes. Vendors such as Addamark and Loglogic offer products focused on archival for compliance purposes. A comprehensive log management infrastructure must necessarily include products from different vendors to address each of the possible uses of the log data. Data center managers who are building a log management infrastructure must take into consideration the various end-users (network operations, security operations, audit group etc.) of the log data and ensure that the infrastructure addresses their needs. RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS HP focuses on enhanced virtualization Network World, 08/16/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/081604hpworld.html _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Andreas M. Antonopoulos Andreas M. Antonopoulos is principal research analyst at Nemertes Research. He can be reached at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by McAfee Visit the Enterprise Security Center, sponsored by McAfee(r), for an exclusive collection of news, whitepapers, information, analysis and strategy for securing your networks and systems. Learn new strategies for securing your servers and protecting your desktops from viruses. Get the latest information on how to stay on top of the latest threats to your network and bolster your skills in synergizing your IT staff as a critical business asset. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=72590 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Archive of the Data Center newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/datacenter/index.html Data Center research center: http://www.nwfusion.com/topics/datacenter.html _______________________________________________________________ Guide to effective data protection: Proven backup and recovery automation for PCs Over 50% of the average employee's work data exists only on that employee's computer. What if it were lost due to a virus strike or laptop theft? Join Connected and Network World to find out how you can get your data back in minutes or hours, not days or weeks. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=72447 _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE WONDERING IF YOUR PAY IS UP TO SNUFF? Check out Network World's 2004 Salary Calculator to see if you're getting paid what you're worth. Using data collected in the 2004 Network World Salary Survey, we've programmed this calculator with several categories that could affect your pay. Answer the questions and find out what the average salary is for your job category. Click here: <http://www.nwfusion.com/salary/2004/calculator.html> _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. 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