5 best features that are most easily overlooked in routing switching

Microsoft Word users are said to have used only 10% of the software's functionality, as well as those who manage the corporate LAN switches and routers. This situation causes the enterprise to pay the unnecessary purchase and the human cost.

An informal survey by some major switch and router vendors shows that users only use less than half of their system's capabilities. Some of the neglected functions focus on the specific functions of network management and security, these vendors say.

Brocade Company Switch Product management manager Ananda Rajagopal said that 80% to 90% of users use about 10% to 15% of the switch, and no more than 20% of the functionality. In many cases, Rajagopal says, it is because people are unfamiliar with these features. From the perspective of security level and the visibility of communication behavior, this unfamiliar and unused situation can sometimes significantly affect the performance of the network. Some of the most easily overlooked features are:

• IEEE 802.1x features for user identification and authorization.

· NetFlow or Sflow network traffic sampling.

· IPv6.

• lldp-med (Link Layer Discovery Protocol-Media Terminal Discovery Protocol) for dynamic configuration of device levels.

• Ethernet operations, management, and maintenance that are used to troubleshoot two-tier Ethernet networks (99% of users do not know this feature).

Ignored 802.1x

The IEEE 802.1x Standard is designed for port-based network access control. It provides user and device identification for network access control, and is typically used for 802.11 wireless access points.

The manufacturer says 802.1X is not typically used for wired network access, although it has this capability. Some vendors are confused about why this feature is not used. They say that when users want to enhance the network access control identity of the wired network, they must tell the user the usefulness of the feature.

William Choe, manager of Cisco's Ethernet switch Technology division, said that this feature is the second-most characteristic of wireless networks, but not in the area of wired networks.

A survey by market research firm Gartner last year found that users are increasingly willing to use 802.1X based network access control. However, the inhibition factor, including a large number of switch user groups, does not support this standard. These users wait for their switches to upgrade before using 802.1X.

NetFlow, sflow not tracking network traffic

NetFlow is a method developed by Cisco to collect IP traffic information. This information can then be used to display traffic and traffic in a network, to help with capacity planning, to pinpoint random or malicious behavior, billing, and other tasks.

Enterasys, vice president of marketing, Trent Waterhouse, says it can tell you what things are consuming all of your network resources based on users and applications.

Despite promising benefits, NetFlow is the most overlooked feature in the Enterasys switch, Waterhouse said. He added that 17% of the calls received by the company's technical Support Center were related to security or policy management functions that had been embedded in the Enterasys switch.

' We don't want to be software like Microsoft Word, and only 10% of the functionality is used, Waterhouse says. We want the management software to optimize the use of these features, so that you will be given priority to that software and security protection.