Management and Administration

Managed services are offered by many providers. However, the term "managed" has a different meaning for each provider. This is our description of our managed firewall service:

Our on-going tasks include:

• Administration of the Hardware:
  • Replace failed drives, memory, cables, etc.
  • Upgrade memory and/or disk space to accomodate your requirements.
  
  
• Administration of the Operating System:
  • Any Operating System upgrades or reloads required.
  • Perform backups of Web space or other application data.
  
  
• Administration of the Firewall Software:
  • Upgrades to the latest firewall releases or revision levels.
  • Address new Internet security threats.
  • Monitor the industry for new Internet security threats and take appropriate action.
  • Monitor for attempts to gain inappropriate access.
  • Monitor for breaches of security and take reparative action.
  
  
• System Monitoring 24 hours a day, seven days a week confirms the
  
  • status of your installed firewall.
  • Verify connectivity through your ISP and
    • Initiate calls to your ISP to report outages.
    • Maintain monitoring logs that can help in collecting from your Service Level Agreement with your ISP.
  
  
• Activate redundant Internet connections.
  In the event of a sustained interruption of service at your ISP, we can activate an alternate connection to allow you to continue working.

• Continually test, analyze, and improve the firewall software.

  Internet security is constantly evolving. We strive to stay abreast of new hacking methods, new ways to disrupt business activity. These new threats may require modifications to firewall rules, sometimes completely new firewall packages.
  
  All firewalls in the industry have bugs, faults, and vulnerabilities from time to time. The important measure is how fast these issues are resolved once they are reported.
  
  Our flagship product uses Open Source. Thousands of individuals and companies around the world not only use it, they are able to offer solutions to problems. When vulnerabilities are discovered, they are very rapidly resolved.
  
  When a weakness is discovered, and a resolution is available, we organize to distribute that remedy across our entire installed client base.
  
  In this way all of our clients are maintained at the latest effective edge of technology.
  
  Most importantly, we are able to do this with no down-time, no interruption in your service. Because our strategy employs two firewalls, we can work on one while the other handles your traffic.