Technical Services: Design, Integration, Implementation & Support
Your business's IT Infrastructure is critical to meeting your business objectives. Reliability and performance are important as is securing your data and meeting regulatory mandates for data privacy.
L4 networks takes a consultative approach. We meet with you and help assess and define your needs, be they application, system or processed based. We are happy to work with your internal IT staff in the implementation and subsequent support or we can provide this as a turn-key service or some hybrid that meets your specific needs.
Since we serve small, medium and large customers, we have endeavored to mention a fairly extensive range of capabilities on this page. Although your site may not need many of these items, our experienced engineers will work with you to determine your needs and requirements. We will then design a "right-size" solution to meet these requirements.
Click here to see all Technical Services At-a-Glance
The details (key items)
We have endeavored to add some detail for a few of the key items. Click on the link to jump to the section of interest.
LAN/WAN Infrastructure Design & Integration
If you are planning a new installation, a good place to start, after solidifying requirements, is the development of an architectural framework which will not only support those requirements but allow for an easy growth migration path without costly obsolesce. If you already have an infrastructure in place, as is normally the case, we can assess the efficacy of this architecture in terms of your business goals and objectives. Top of Page
Areas which we examine:
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Design and planning are the next steps in building or upgrading an IT infrastructure. In conjunction with our project management services, we can assist your organization in all activities relating to the design and planning of a new infrastructure or the expansion/redesign of an existing one. Whether you simply wish to upgrade your LAN infrastructure, establish inter or intra facility wireless links or establish a secure virtual private networks, we have the know-how and experience to get it done correctly the first time. We are experienced in all phases from the cable plant to the local and wide area network design and implementation.
What is architecture? There is no lack of disagreement as to what this concept means. Click here for a brief discussion on this subject. Top of Page
As more businesses move to web based applications and cloud computing, reliable Internet access is no longer a luxury, but a business necessity. Internet redundancy considerations must be taken into account in any good design. Considerations we often take into account are last mile access, automatic service fail-over, and bandwidth management and control. What is the cost of your downtime?
We have successfully implemented numerous topologies for our customers including providing support for regional and branch offices, partner and supplier access, remote workers, and more. As L4 Networks is a leading supplier of security solutions, all our designs are built upon a highly secure and maintainable architecture. Top of Page
The business that does not take security seriously will not survive in the long term. Either from data destruction or a breach that results in severe monetary damages, the risk of ignoring security is simply too high. L4 Networks provides several cost effective solutions which protect your network from both internal and external sources. We also offer regulatory reporting tools and compliance reporting services, as well, threat event monitoring services. Top of Page
Wireless Design & Implementation
L4 Networks has built several types of wireless systems for our customers. These include secure campus wireless ethernet, private point to point spread spectrum shots, secure wireless access points for guest/visitor access, wireless antenna systems to extend signal reach, hotspot designs, and hotspot billing.
We recently helped a medical customer securely and redundantly link a nearby clinic facility via a cost effect wireless bridge. The alternative was a costly proposal to trench and lay private fiber.
With the advent of more mobile applications and robotics in schools, factories, distribution centers, hospitals and clinics, the need to have fabric based "always connected" solutions is essential. Here again, L4 Networks can help by designing and implementing a hitless solution .Top of Page
Remote access has been around for a while. Now with broad band Internet access nearly ubiquitous, even the smallest companies wish to give employees remote access. Yet many companies needlessly shy away for fear of attack vulnerability. At L4 Networks we have implemented highly secure remote access solutions for large and small enterprises alike. We can tune the remote access to any subset of corporate assets, thereby limiting access based upon a specific user or user group's needs. We are adept in providing SSL VPNs, IPSEC VPNs and endpoint user security .Top of Page
Server virtualization can be used to eliminate server sprawl, make more efficient use of server resources, improve availability, lessen power and cooling costs, facilitate faster disaster recovery, enable easier test and development environment turn-up, and enable efficient centralized server administration.
Desktop virtualization moves the desktop from individual use PCs to a central server often running MS Terminal Services or Citrix. . Application upgrades and patches are far easier and more cost effective. They need to be performed only in one place, the server(s) providing the desktop virtualization, not each and every user machine.
By combining these with smart desktop terminals, companies can save a tremendous amount of their IT funds by eliminating desktop maintenance, software licenses (application, operating system, anti-virus, firewall, etc.). Since the user cannot alter the smart desktop terminal, there is nothing to break. and since it does not have a hard drive and employs a closed operating system, there is nothing to infect. To learn more, see Desktop Virtualization under Solutions menu. Top of Page
Email Alternatives & Email Security
Exchange Alternative. Years ago we implemented several MS Exchange environments for customers. To no one's surprise these days, the amount of bugs, patches, and the time it took to make it work - made it a loosing proposition for all parties. Enter Kerio Connect (formerly Kerio Mail Server). Here is a product that replaces and extends all Exchange functions. The best part is that it is highly cost effective and very stable. Call us today if your email system has become bloated and unmanageable.
Email Security. Email is one of the more common sources of infection from Internet bourn malware. Spam consumes nearly 90% of all email traffic and causes consumption of valuable IT resources to thwart it. Another problem is that it is a leading source of leaks of company information and accidental release of privacy data. Most email systems, furthermore, transmit content in unencrypted formats. Fortunately there are several appliance based solutions that address all these issues. Whether you run Exchange, Kerio, or another email server internally, or if your email is hosted externally, we have several solutions to meet the secure email objective. To learn more, see Secure Email under Solutions menu. Top of Page
It used to be called the computer room and came complete with raised floors, halon fire suppression, huge air conditioning systems, banks of batteries and generators and a large price tag. Nowadays, most business systems operate in what is termed a standard office environment. This does not mean that you can cram 10 servers, monitors, switches, routers, etc. into a small wiring closet and not have an overheating problem. Certainly not. But a carefully planned equipment room can be both efficient in operation and not break the budget. In designing such rooms, we consider power demands and emergency power options, HVAC calculations, voice and data cabling egress, equipment racks, voice & data equipment placements, common user interface stations utilizing a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch to name slightly more than few.
We have designed and supervised the building of numerous rooms of various sizes and can assist you in new design or revamping a current one. Top of Page
Brief Discussion on Architecture
What is IT Architecture? In short, it is a conceptual technical framework which examines the major components that make up a modern enterprise's overall IT infrastructure and how these components are suppose to fit and inter-operate together. Such components include software, hardware, standards, protocols, security, routing, addressing, storage, backup, database, remote access, encryption, to name a few. Realistically, most sites develop like most cities - constantly renewing streets, highways, rails, and adding on subdivisions. As with IT infrastructures, it is rare that the entire infrastructure is bulldozed and a new one built from ground up. Consider the following adapted loosely from RFC1958:Architectural Principles of the Internet.
In most operating environments there are numerous heterogeneous systems which must be supported by design. There are multiple types of hardware, data transmission speeds, and hosts ranging from small single processor workstations to large multiprocessor servers. There are multiple types of application protocols running which range from the simplest such as remote login up to the most complex such as clustered and distributed databases.
Without a comprehensive architecture, an organization will face a higher rate of system performance problems and failure as well as suffer from a more rapid obsolescence cycle than that which is necessary. One goal of a well thought out architecture is to ensure that all pieces inter-operate together in manageable manner and that system expansions can be achieved without undue component obsolescence.
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