Articles by tag "network security"

1. How to Build a Scalable and Secure Enterprise Network Without Downtime
   Selene Gong

   30
   Expanding an enterprise network is more than adding switches or routers—it’s about ensuring growth without compromising reliability, security, or business continuity. For IT managers and network architects, a single misconfiguration or hardware failure can trigger cascading downtime, drive ...
2. What Is the Default SVI on a Cisco Switch (And Should You Use It)?
   Selene Gong

   28
   Understanding how to access and manage your Cisco switch remotely is a fundamental skill for network administrators. At the center of this is the SVI (Switch Virtual Interface). A common question is: "What is the default SVI on a Cisco switch?" The direct answer: VLAN 1. Every new Cisco switch ...
3. What Breaks When Cisco IOS XE Is No Longer Updated
   Selene Gong

   32
   For network engineers and IT administrators, the stability of Cisco IOS XE is the bedrock of production environments. However, when an IOS XE release reaches its End of Software Maintenance or Last Date of Support (LDOS), it stops being a reliable asset and begins to pose significant risks to ...
4. How to Verify Cisco Hardware Using Serial Numbers and System Information
   Selene Gong

   32
   Whether you are onboarding new Cisco hardware or auditing existing infrastructure, verifying that the device is genuine and correctly registered is a critical operational and security step. Powering on a switch and seeing traffic flow is not sufficient proof of authenticity. Counterfeit or ...
5. How MSPs Can Efficiently Manage Customer-Owned FortiGate Firewalls at Scale
   Selene Gong

   36
   Managing customer-owned FortiGate firewalls at scale is a complex yet rewarding responsibility for MSPs. While expanding service offerings, MSPs face challenges like diverse firmware versions, multi-client policy consistency, secure remote access, and patch management. Without a centralized ...
6. FortiGate 60F vs 80F: Best Value SMB Firewall in 2026
   Selene Gong

   33
   Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) face an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape in 2026. Advanced ransomware, phishing attacks, and heavy VPN traffic have turned firewall selection into a critical operational decision. Choosing the wrong device can cause network bottlenecks, ...
7. FortiGate 120G for a 200-User Firewall Refresh: A Practical Migration Path Beyond SonicWall
   Selene Gong

   33
   If your organization has around 200 users and is still running an older SonicWall NSA or TZ firewall, you’ve probably already noticed the signs. Not in a report—but in daily operations: VPN users complaining about slow connections Video calls dropping during peak hours Performance ...
8. Designing Enterprise Inspection Architectures for High-Volume AI Traffic Without Breaking User Experience
   Selene Gong

   25
   Enterprise networks are undergoing a structural shift driven by the rapid adoption of AI-powered applications such as copilots, LLM-based assistants, and internal RAG platforms. Unlike traditional web traffic, AI traffic is highly API-driven, encrypted, and often bursty, which introduces new ...
9. Keeping Legacy ERP Alive After Basic Auth: Architecture, Relay Options, and Secure Containment Strategies
   Selene Gong

   19
   Microsoft’s ongoing deprecation of Basic Authentication in Exchange Online and Microsoft 365 is forcing enterprises to rethink how legacy systems communicate with modern email infrastructure. While modern applications can easily transition to OAuth 2.0–based authentication, legacy ERP ...
10. Designing Enterprise Inspection Architectures for High-Volume AI Traffic Without Breaking User Experience
    Selene Gong

    24
    As enterprise networks evolve under the pressure of AI-driven workloads, traditional security inspection models are beginning to show limitations. High-volume, low-latency AI traffic introduces challenges for inline inspection, SSL decryption, and policy enforcement. Organizations must rethink ...