1. At a Glance Presented By: James Hall and James D. Saylor
Unified Networking
At a Glance
Presented By: James Hall and James D. Saylor

2. What is unified networking?
Leverages wireless and wired technologies in a meshing environment
Shares network-level resources throughout company
Provides various services from a centralized topology
What is Unified Networking? When you hear the name, you can’t help but hear ’unity’, and that gives away its purpose. A unified network is one where the individual services, elements, and hardwares come together to form a cohesive unit capable of supporting the various needs of the business. In the coming slides, we’ll be discussing what elements go into a unified network, why each of these elements are important, and how they will contribute to your practice’s improved efficiency and security in the face of continually-changing technologies.

3. Benefits of Unified Networking
Increased security throughout network
Improved outcomes across service domains
Workflow efficiency improvements
Higher degree of technological organization structure

4. What’s in your Unified Network?
Wi-Fi Network
Telecommunication Systems
Wired Hardware
Security Appliances
IP Security Camera Systems
To understand how you can more efficiently develop your network structure within your information technology department, you must first figure out which systems leverage your company’s network to function. For many of you, the transition to an IP phone system has probably recently occurred or is in the works, and I’d wager that more than a few of your practices have security systems in place with cameras that run over your wireless networks or through Ethernet. Besides these, every computer in your practice falls within the scope of your network, and we’ve not even touched on the backbone consisting of your routers, switches, bridges, and security appliances.

5. While this chart might actually be a simpler version than some of your practices’ networks, the underlying principle remains the same. Every device within your practice feeds back into the backbone of your network for its needs.

6. The Network Backbone
Quality of service can be determined by quality of internet connection.
IP Telecommunications systems, cloud solutions, and web browsing hinge upon Internet.
Which internet option is for you?
DSL
Cable
Fiber

7. The Argument for Fiber Low Latency Higher throughput
High speed fiber optic internet is likely available near you as part of business or enterprise grade options available through local ISPs
Low Latency
Higher throughput
Service-Level Agreements

8. Inside The Practice Modem Security Appliance Router Switches
Access Points

9. Importance of Modernization
In recent years, networking hardware has adapted to higher throughput
Throughput is the maximum capable transfer speed of a device
Older devices will have 10/100 – new devices offer 10/100/1000 Mbps
Common bottlenecks in a network are found in outdated networking equipment

10. Telecommunications - The VoIP Solution
VoIP becoming prevalent over traditional phone systems
VoIP leverages Ethernet to provide voice- and multimedia- based communications with workflow benefits
Scalability
Easy of Transition
Cost-Effectiveness
Integration with other business systems

11. Your Security Appliance and You
Hardware- and software- oriented network-level protection from threats
Includes host of security functionality:
Firewall
Traffic Shaping
Content Filtering
Intrusion-Detection Systems (IDS)
VLANs
Many employ adaptive security architecture for further protection

12. Adaptive Security Architecture
Creating a fluid, adaptive security environment
Leverages ‘smart’ firewalls to secure environments beyond dictionary threats.
Commonly seen within ‘stateful’ firewalls & heuristic analysis
Adaptive Security Architectures are security devices that offer a fluid, adaptive security environment that goes beyond access controls and blocking traffic based on malicious definitions and known infections. Instead, adaptive security architecture works in a similar vein to machine learning, utilizing stateful firewalls and heuristics analysis to learn data patterns amongst malicious payloads and attack vectors. Through this analysis, these security appliances can pre-emptively combat threats without necessarily relying on manual updates or previous discoveries of the attacks.

13. Adaptive Security Architecture – Intrusion Detection Systems
Leverages a combination of database-referencing and machine learning to identify, detect, and prevent intrusions.
Analyzes workloads and packets for ’markers’ that identify its status.
Intrusion Detection Systems, commonly seen within most enterprise-grade firewalls and security appliances, are information systems within the adaptive security architecture that leverage a combination of database-referential attack prevention and machine-learning in order to identify, detect, and prevent intrusions. These systems perpetually monitor workloads and traffic within a network or environment, learning common traffic types and sources and documenting ‘benign’ traffic standards. Within the IDS’s heuristics database, it can identify known, common threats upon inspection of workloads or packets. However, these technologies take it a step further. By analyzing large data sets and its ’typical’ environment’s traffic, it can flag suspicious activities and data transfers, going as far as identifying markers commonly associated with or related to known threats.

14. Traffic Shaping and Content Filtering
Traffic Shaping profiles network traffic to identify high- and low- priority data
Allows for increased quality of service for vital services like VoIP
Content Filters restrict access to certain websites and categories of traffic
Limits access to dangerous or distracting content

15. Unification through Virtual LANs
Creates a logical separation of devices within your network
Allows for isolation or partitioning across organization
Ex. - VLAN1 for security system, VLAN2 for telecommunications, etc.
Increased security through minimum-required access

16. Better Security, Unified Front
Network-level security improving HIPAA Compliance
Effective technical safeguards through modernization and unification
Facilitating improved workflow through IP Telecommunications

17. Thank You