Wow! It is already December. How did those January 2023 resolutions go? As the year-end holidays approach, it is a good time to review our successes as we look forward to the year ahead. At Network Critical, 2023 was a very productive year on many fronts. We would like to share some of our major successes.
State of Maryland, USA
The state government has many geographically remote offices connected to a central headquarters. Early in the ear, they embarked on a transition from legacy Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) to an IP-based system. As with any large technology project, some issues needed resolution. Some examples were the complexity of IP networks and the wide range of data types supported that could cause congestion and restrict access to resources. There were also network security concerns to address with the new technology.
The Maryland Department of Information Technology called on the Network Critical team to review the transition issues and suggest solutions. After a detailed analysis of network performance and a review of future needs, it was determined that a Network Critical Visibility Solution based on the SmartNA-XL™ would ease the transition. This visibility architecture provides comprehensive traffic analysis and monitoring across all network layers allowing identification of network issues and maintaining high service availability to clients. It also provides a connection to security tools and compliance with regulatory requirements.
This is only a summary of the Network Critical solution and how it helped a complex and geographically dispersed government network. We work with many state, local, and federal governments assisting with legacy transitions, traffic visibility, and security issues. For more information about our monitoring, performance, and security portfolio go to: www.networkcritical.com/contact-us.
Packet Brokers for Complex Networks
Network Critical started over 20 years ago with an innovation that allowed for permanent, accurate, safe, and reliable visibility of network traffic. The SmartNA™ TAP was released with fail-safe technology that kept live network traffic active even if power was lost to the actual TAP unit. This new feature changed the function of a network TAP from a simple diagnostic tool to a permanent network fixture. TAPs are now connecting tools that provide valuable information for traffic monitoring, performance monitoring, future planning, and security. As IP networks increased in complexity and speed, our continued innovation led to the development of the Packet Broker, a new tool to help larger networks manage the variety of connected tools on the network.
Packet Brokers offer advanced features such as port mapping, filtering, aggregation, regeneration, and packet manipulation. These features allow network engineers to manage the flow of traffic to and through various tools. By sending only the information that a specific tool requires to that tool, Packet Brokers allow tools to perform more efficiently and, therefore, process more traffic. Utilizing Packet Brokers with TAPs improves visibility accuracy and saves capital budget dollars by reducing the number of tools necessary to manage links.
Recently, Network Critical has taken the Packet Broker innovation one step further by introducing the Hybrid TAP/Packet Broker. This new product combines the advanced features of a Packet Broker with the fail-safe capability of a TAP. The TAP technology ensures that live traffic will not be lost during a power interruption to the unit. The intelligent Packet Broker features allow maximum tool utilization and management. The SmartNA-XL™ hybrid, for example, combines all this feature power at up to 10Gbps speeds. Saving space, the unit is a compact 1RU package with internal dual redundant power supplies. For more detailed information on the SmartNA-XL™ go to www.networkcritical.com/network-taps-product-list.
South American Expansion
A critical part of our mission as a company is to develop new technologies that assist our customers in their quest for simple, manageable traffic visibility. We are also focused on continually getting closer to our customers and our potential customers to better understand their network issues. Customer service and personal touch are key to this quest.
To that end, we have embarked on a geographic expansion into South America. The economy of South America comprises approximately 434 million people living in twelve nations and three territories. It encompasses six percent of the world's population. The economy of South America is diverse. Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru are world-class producers of agricultural products. Manufacturing is also world-class and growing throughout the region. Mining, oil and gas production, and tourism income rank among the top world producers.
In the computer industry, South America is one of the top global regions for software development. Major companies such as IBM, Intel, Disney, Dell, and Microsoft are operating software centers in South America with over one million developers currently working there.
While there are some current economic challenges in the region, we believe that it is time to invest in the South American computer industry and are actively working to engage distributors and resellers in the region. We have been successful in getting closer to our South American customers this year with this effort and will continue to grow our presence in the region.
2023 has been a successful year for Network Critical. We saw growth in innovation, growth in major customer wins, and growth in global market expansion. We plan to follow our mission of staying close to our customers and focusing on technological innovation. Check back in January as we discuss some wild innovations for the long-term future and some updates for the not-so-distant future. Happy Holidays!
