Recently, I had a discussion with a colleague on the role of an IT department and, specifically, the real role of the network architects within the IT department. Three years ago, when I was a network architect at a large law firm, I would have answered that it’s the duty of network architects to create [...]
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The Role of a Network Architect
Usama Houlila, September 2nd, 2011A Simplified How-To For CrashPlan Pro
Usama Houlila, May 31st, 2011I have been using CrashPlan Pro for almost 3 years and I have realized that, although the software is simple to use, knowing the internal workings of the software and how to build the system correctly are the only ways to guarantee a successful restore. Let’s start with the fundamentals. 1- Although the CrashPlan Pro [...]
IT Resource Constraints And Its Impact On Security Patching
Usama Houlila, May 16th, 2011For the past two years, IT departments have seen their budgets and staff cut, forcing them to focus on the bare essentials. This trend is most visible in the server environment in which patching has become a non-essential task. As an enterprise architect and a security consultant, I’m seeing more and more environments that have [...]
Green Data Center Concept For The City of Chicago
Usama Houlila, May 2nd, 2011For the past eight months I’ve been thinking about a new design concept for a data center within the Chicago area. There is a continuous need for data center space in the city and I strongly believe that the data center should enhance the surrounding environment as opposed to being just another non-descript concrete building. [...]
TCP Split Handshake and How It Could Affect Your Firewall Configuration
Usama Houlila, April 26th, 2011For those of us who work in the security world, a recent attack called TCP Split Handshake has caused many of us to question what is considered secure and what best practices are. This attack circumvents a rudimentary firewall configuration called “established session” in which a firewall will permit a session that was initiated from [...]
3CX Installation Updates
Usama Houlila, April 13th, 2011We’ve finally completed a 3CX installation with 64 concurrent calls making it one of the larger installations in the US. I originally thought it is going to be hard to pull off and or the server might run out of memory or CPU threads, but I’m happy to report that the installation was straightforward and [...]
The New Infrastructure, No Infrastructure
Usama Houlila, April 11th, 2011One of my clients asked me to replace their entire Infrastructure due to end of life. While investigating their needs, I realized that they had a complete Citrix XenDesktop environment and that their bandwidth needs were minimal. Although CrossRealms, Inc. is a boutique Infrastructure company, the question of whether this client needed a new Infrastructure [...]
Mid-Sized Manufacturing Company Contracts for Backup and Disaster Recovery Services with CrossRealms, Inc.
Usama Houlila, March 26th, 2011Backup and disaster recovery services, such as those offered by CrossRealms, Inc. of Chicago, are seeing increasingly higher adoption rates among corporations. Chicago, IL, February 04, 2011 –(PR.com)– Backup and disaster recovery services, such as those offered by CrossRealms, Inc. of Chicago, are seeing increasingly higher adoption rates among corporations. Businesses today require turnkey technology [...]
Considerations for PoE Deployments in Switch Closets
admin, March 25th, 2011As companies supplant digital handsets with IP phones, they deploy Power-over-Ethernet switches to support them. PoE switches generate almost five times more heat than data-only switches, however, heat that has to be taken into account in switch-closet design. There isn’t much written about how to deal with heat in these small spaces, a fact that [...]