Network Management Automation - Utility Computing

Sooth, Inc.

Computer networks should work like other common utilities work.  Flip a switch, the lights go on.  Turn a knob, water pours out.  Computer networks should work just as dependably and cost-effectively. 

So why don't they?

Right now, IT prefers to rely upon staff members to perform a wide variety of simple, mundane tasks. Many of these tasks can be executed more reliably, safely, quickly, consistently, securely, and cheaply through automation.

Sooth’s automation products eliminate many variables that exist today in network management.  The diligence required to always apply best practice methods, procedures, solutions, etc. to management tasks simply requires more discipline than humans are capable of doing.  As is the case in most automation technology, Sooth’s products have been engineered to perform tasks one way, eliminating the variables to deliver repeatable, dependable results time and again.

Network management organizations are generally costly, skilled teams assembled to monitor, administer, adjust, integrate, investigate, inventory, audit, repair network all network elements to keep them up and running effectively and securely. Company management justifies the tremendous expense for these technical teams, internal or outsourced, simply because they have no alternative.  For most organizations, all computer data, and increasingly, additional communications (voice, video, imaging, etc.) are accomplished via the network.  Networks must work and work well 24x7x365.

The tremendous expense of keeping the network up and running is, therefore, accepted as a necessary cost of doing business. In most instances, networks are managed by smart, well- trained technicians using expensive software tools to practice their trade.  The larger the network, the more complex and involved they become and even more people and software are required to run it. Unfortunately, applying best practices becomes more and more difficult.

Sooth, Inc. has developed automation products to perform simple network management tasks the right way at very low cost.  Sooth’s products are automation, not “software”.  Automation actually performs the tasks required to manage the network, while software helps people identify tasks to be done and helps them complete them. Software has to be engaged by a human, whether for monitoring, searching, editing, etc.  Sooth’s automations just do the work.  The larger the network is, the greater the savings in cost and complexity Sooth provides.

Sooth’s Products

 SEER™ automatically performs a necessary, but often neglected, task of network management: regular, safe, and secure inventories of Cisco® IOS devices.  At the push of a button, all Cisco® IOS devices on a network are scanned to collect and report all available data; everything that device knows about itself and is allowed to tell.  This key information including model and serial numbers, IOS version, connected/adjacent devices, run state, memory and all other available device data. 

SEER™ works at amazing speed, recording hundreds of devices per minute.  By avoiding manual processes, significant efforts for IT staff are avoided. The data is reported in a standard fashion each time avoiding personal interpretation or ability for creative results often caused by staff’s desires to be creative or unique. The data is provided in a .csv file enabling universal reporting integration.  Having this information close at hand reduces physical inventory requirements and helps demonstrate compliance with standards and regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and PCI. If necessary, SEER™ provides vital data to help diagnose network problems and speed repairs. A complete Visio™ network diagram of all Cisco®IOS devices can be produced from SEER™ data automatically as well.

The data provided by SEER™ feeds the second and more comprehensive automation tool from Sooth: SUPERVISOR™.  SUPERVISOR™ uses the SEER™ information to automatically perform tasks that were, until now, most often done by multiple tier 1 and 2 technicians.  SUPERVISOR™ provides “technicians in a box”, and also acts proactively to prevent problems, such as:  

• Unauthorized access attempts -- Normally, an attacker is notified if their login (not password) failed, and has multiple chances to try again. SUPERVISOR™ registers unauthorized login attempts, blocks notification to the attacker, and immediately alerts Security. 
• Unauthorized configuration attempts -- If someone attempts to use an unauthorized configuration, either by benign error or deliberate attack, SUPERVISOR™ ensures that nothing happens.  Better still, in many cases SUPERVISOR™ will restore the configuration to its prior state.