OVERVIEW

The virtualization of physical computers has become the backbone of public and private cloud computing from desktops to data centers, enabling organizations to optimize hardware utilization, enhance security, support multi-tenancy and more. These environments are complex and ephemeral, creating requirements and challenges beyond the capability of traditional monitoring tools that were originally designed for static physical environments. But modern solutions exist, and can bring your virtual environment to new levels of efficiency, performance and scale.

This guide explains the pervasiveness of virtualized environments in modern data centers, the demand these environments create for more robust monitoring and analytics solutions, and the keys to getting the most out of virtualization deployments.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

·        History and Expansion of Virtualized Environments

·        Monitoring Virtual Environments

·        Approaches to Monitoring

·        Why Effective Virtualization Monitoring Matters

·        A Unified Approach to Monitoring Virtualized Environments

·        5 Key Capabilities for Virtualization Monitoring

o   Real-Time Awareness

o   Rapid Root-Cause Analytics

o   End-to-End Visibility

o   Complete Flexibility

o   Hypervisor Agnosticism

·        Evaluating a Monitoring Solution

o   Unified View

o   Scalability

o   CMDB Support

o   Converged Infrastructure

o   Licensing

·        Zenoss for Virtualization Monitoring

Fulton Financial Corporation has a long and storied history that began in 1882 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where local merchants
and farmers organized Fulton National Bank. The bank’s name was chosen to honor Lancaster County native Robert Fulton, the inventor and artist best known for designing and building the Clermont, the first successful steamboat.

In an effort to optimize the productivity of its employees and enable them to have more time to focus on their customers, Fulton sought to upgrade the thin clients for its Citrix application virtualization infrastructure, with the help of its Citrix partner and IGEL Platinum Partner, Plan B Technologies.

In selecting a desktop computing solution to support its Citrix application virtualization infrastructure, Fulton had one unique business requirement, they were looking for a solution that would mirror the experience provided by a Windows PC, without actually being a Windows PC.

During the evaluation process, Fulton looked at thin clients from IGEL and another leading manufacturer, conducting a “bake-off” of several models including the IGEL Universal Desktop (UD6). Fulton like the fact that IGEL is forward- thinking in designing its desktop computing solutions, and began its IGEL roll-out by purchasing 2,300 IGEL UD6 thin clients in 2016 for its headquarters and branch offices, and plans to complete the roll out of IGEL thin clients to the remainder of its 3,700 employees in the coming months. The bank is also leveraging the IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS) to manage its fleet of IGEL thin clients.

There’s little doubt we’re in the midst of a change in the way we operationalize and manage our end users’ workspaces. On the one hand, IT leaders are looking to gain the same efficiencies and benefits realized with cloud and next-generation virtual-server workloads. And on the other hand, users are driving the requirements for anytime, anywhere and any device access to the applications needed to do their jobs. To provide the next-generation workspaces that users require, enterprises are adopting a variety of technologies such as virtual-desktop infrastructure (VDI), published applications and layered applications. At the same time, those technologies are creating new and challenging problems for those looking to gain the full benefits of next-generation end-user workspaces. 

Before racing into any particular desktop transformation delivery approach it’s important to define appropriate goals and adopt a methodology for both near- and long-term success. One of the most common planning pitfalls we’ve seen in our history supporting the transformation of more than 6 million desktops is that organizations tend to put too much emphasis on the technical delivery and resource allocation aspects of the platform, and too little time considering the needs of users. How to meet user expectations and deliver a user experience that fosters success is often overlooked. 

To prevent that problem and achieve near-term success as well as sustainable long-term value from a next-generation desktop transformation approach, planning must also include defining a methodology that should include the following three things:

•    Develop a baseline of “normal” performance for current end user computing delivery
•    Set goals for functionality and defined measurements supporting user experience
•    Continually monitor the environment to ensure users are satisfied and the environment is operating efficiently

This white paper will show why the user experience is difficult to predict, why it’s essential to planning, and why factoring in the user experience—along with resource allocation—is key to creating and delivering the promise of a next-generation workspace that is scalable and will produce both near-and long-term value.

Prioritizing Mobile Application Security

Despite the increase of cyberattacks targeting mobile applications, most organizations neglect, or deprioritize mobile application security until it’s too late. The coverage of high-profile breaches and security incidents involving mobile apps in the news tells us that mobile app security should be a high priority in every organization’s broader security strategy. Failing to properly secure your mobile apps can result in the following:

●    Financial loss
●    Reputational damage
●    Customer data loss
●    IP theft
●    And more

This whitepaper shows organizations how to prioritize mobile app security by focusing on building better relationships between development and security teams. This resource also provides a history and overview of software development and steps that an organization can follow to build a concrete strategy to strengthen their overall mobile app security posture.

Download the full report here.

This year’s Weak Password Report highlights why passwords are still the weakest link in an organization’s network, and how stronger password policy enforcement can be your best defense.

The 2023 password report unveils keys themes in password creation that include:

• ‘Soccer’ tops the related terms list with over 140,000 inclusions
• Top 10 base words from the Nvidia breach
• 88% of passwords used in attacks were 12 characters or less
• The most common base term found in passwords used to attack networks across multiple ports is still password

Download the report to uncover information from an analysis of 800 million breached passwords and passwords found in live attacks on our team’s honeypot network.

Microsoft Active Directory (AD) is arguably the most common identity and access management platform in today’s enterprise and as a result, a prime target for cyber-attacks. Microsoft Active Directory is used in approximately 90% of the Global Fortune 1000 companies as the primary means of authentication and authorization to resources. This statistical picture holds true in the SMB market as well. As a result, most organizations today use Active Directory to implement their password security and password policies.

Active Directory, by default, contains the ability to create basic password policies. Are these enough to protect your organization from attackers? In this comprehensive guide we look at five ways to strengthen your existing Active Directory Password Policy and explore additional solutions available to ensure complete confidence in your first line of defense.

Let's look closer at native Active Directory password settings and see which settings are found in the default password policies businesses use with Active Directory. Download the whitepaper to learn the five ways to strengthen your Active Directory Password Policy.

Remote and hybrid work environments mean IT Service Desks have a new set of complex challenges to navigate while maintaining a trusted level of security. Navigate the IT service desk in a remote & hybrid work environment more efficiently.

We examine the common driver for Service Desk tickets including network access, cached credentials workarounds, and password resets. All of which can present unique cyber-security challenges that require change for increased efficiency, productivity and security.

Download the whitepaper to learn what the Specops Software cybersecurity team recommends increasing efficiency without sacrificing security.