Introduction

Throughout the preceding chapters, we described what an internal network segment really is, presented methods on how to assess the security of your network, document the network topology and aggregation points, presented information on the major firewall technologies and their associated products, how to attack those products using contemporary exploits, and we even talked about different ways to route information back and forth between our internal and external segments through your firewall. It won t be until the following chapters where we ll be presenting the wonders of network switching, internal segmentation, Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems, and an in-depth look at applying the principles of this book in the Chapter 11. So, why would we stick the boring topic of network management right smack in the middle of all this excitement?

The answer is simple: before we dive head first, we need to make sure the lifeguard is on duty. Now is the time to discuss management of the network, before you spend a bunch of time designing an unmanageable beast of a network. Most people will tell you that network management is a boring task relegated to caffeine-addicted network operations center (NOC) drones who just wait for the big red button to light up not true! The true bragging rights of the network engineer come from being able to measure your successes in bar graphs and pie charts, suitable for board-room meetings. What we discuss in this chapter will allow you to quantify all the late hours that you...