Synergy is the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or
other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
HPE Synergy
HPE Synergy is a composable infrastructure which treats computing, storage, and devices as resources that can be pooled together and used as needed. An organization has the ability to adjust the infrastructure depending on what workloads are required at the time. This allows for an organization to optimize IT performance and improve agility.
The best definition I found for Composable Infrastructure is the following:
Compose your infrastructure for any workload.
Some History
HPE started shipping the Synergy Platform during the first half of 2016, over 3 years ago. It is hard to believe this platform has been around for 3 years already.
In general, the Synergy platform provides options in compute, storage and networking. It offers a single management interface and unified API to simplify and automate operational complexities. It helps to increase operational response to new demands.
Composer and Image Streamer Management
Using the Composer and Image Streamer management, an organization has the software-defined intelligence to rapidly configure systems to meet the requirements and needs of the organization. Using HPE composer’s integrated software-defined intelligence, you are able to accelerate operations using a single interface.
Synergy Image Streamer enables true stateless computing for quick deployments and updates. This is a new approach to deployment and updates for composable infrastructure. This management appliance works with HPE Synergy Composer for fast software-defined control over physical compute modules with operating system provisioning.
The Synergy platform provides a fully programmable interface that allows organizations to take full advantage of potential vendor partnerships for open-source automation. Tools such as Chef, Docker, and OpenStack also work with the Synergy Platform. Using these tools an organization is able to seamlessly integrate multiple management tools, perform automation and future-proof the data center.
Infosight and Synergy
HPE has also announced Synergy Support in HPE InfoSight. InfoSight is a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) management tool that came with the Nimble purchase. HPE has expanded the platform to include HPE Servers including Synergy and Apollo systems.
It includes the Predictive Analytics, Global Learning and the Recommendation Engine. The AI Engine provides data analytics for server security and predictive analytics for parts failure. Future capability will include firmware and driver analytics.
The Global Learning aspect provides a server wellness dashboard, a global inventory and performance and utilization information. The Recommendation Engine will provide information to eliminate performance bottlenecks on the servers.
Built with the Future in Mind
The Synergy platform is built with the future in mind. From the Management analytics to new compute platforms, to higher power requirements, to increased networking bandwidth, this platform is ready. Architectures are evolving to memory-driven computing, 100Gb networking and non-volatile memory (NVM).
The Synergy frame has been architected to handle these new technologies and more. Each HPE Synergy bay is ready to support future technologies such as Photonics, future CPUs, GPUs and new memory technologies.
For more information on HPE Synergy, Contact Zunesis today.
Aruba UXI Sensor
In early 2018, Aruba announced they were buying Cape networks, the developers of the Cape sensor. Rebranded as the Aruba User Experience Insight (UXI), the sensor sits on your network. It alerts you whenever your network is having problems.
It may not seem like much, but it is an amazing little device that could help IT departments everywhere. When deployed, the Aruba UXI sensor acts like a user on your network, except much smarter. No more complaints about “the internet isn’t working”. Instead, you get personalized alerts telling you exactly what is going wrong. Whether that means DNS is unresponsive, or merely yahoo.com is having an outage.
The sensor is designed to work straight out of the box on any network. It just needs to be registered to a dashboard. Then give credentials to the wifi or plug it into the ethernet. It takes so little set up. It can be mailed to a remote site and set up by anyone. All configuration is done in the web portal. All standard tests and alert thresholds come preconfigured. No set up is even needed, though you can definitely still customize it.
Aruba UXI Overview from Aruba Networks / Cape on Vimeo.
Aruba Dashboard
The dashboard is simple and easy to use. It gives you access to a lot of information about your network. Hover over any piece on the home page to get alert info. Then, click to drill down further and see a trove of other information, such as signal strength, channel, response times for things like dns or dhcp, even websites if you set them up.
The sensor can be configured to check both internal and external services. Whether you use internal websites and fileshares, or Google docs and Microsoft OneDrive, you can test them all to be sure they are up and running. If they aren’t, the IT department is the first to know.
Proactive Alerts
Alerts are sent via email whenever certain customizable thresholds are met. This enables IT departments to know about a problem before a user has a chance to report it. They will also know exactly what went wrong without having to hunt around for the cause of the issue.
The alert says which service is down. Quickly letting IT know if the entire internet is down, or if its just the DNS service on a server. Website issues can also be shown through the alerts. Knowing exactly whats wrong, quickly enables the IT department to address the issue faster. This results in less down time and less unhappy users.
Cloud Accessibility
The dashboard and all data are hosted in the cloud. This allows for you to access it anywhere, at any time. No need to be on site to diagnose an issue. No worries about not being able to see data and alerts while a site is down.
Diagnosing issues is half the battle in the helpdesk world. Eliminating this problem, enables the IT department to be far more efficient and timely in resolving those issues.
Location, Location, Location
Arubas UXI sensor should be placed in a spot where wifi is used most, or problem areas that you would like more information on. It comes with a couple different ways to mount it. It can also be set on a desk or table just as easily.
A secure mounting bracket can be deployed in public areas without the fear of it disappearing. All it needs is power either provided by the included power adapter, or by a PoE solution. The sensor also isn’t just limited to wifi. It works over ethernet as well, so you can check all network connections at once.
A user experience sensor is a valuable tool for any company, small or large. The key feature is that it enhances the response time of any IT department. Faster response times mean less downtime, which means less time your company is running smoothly. The solution is constantly being updated with more features being added every day to make the jobs of you and your IT department easier.
Contact Zunesis for more information on this solution or other networking products for your organization.
Characteristics of Great Salespeople
My wife and I just spent a long weekend celebrating outstanding sales performance in the beautiful Colorado mountains with some incredible sales professionals. As the CEO and sales leader at Zunesis, I wanted to take some time away from the office to say “Thank You” in a tangible way and to spend time celebrating the consistent accomplishment of these outstanding sales professionals.
Throughout the weekend, I spent time thinking about why these specific individuals are so successful year after year. Throughout my career, I have had hundreds of people ask me what it takes to be successful in sales. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject of the sales process, sales methodology, sales discipline, prospecting, farming, and networking and yet we know from statistics that very few sales people actually achieve success and stay there.
As we celebrated great sales accomplishments this past weekend, I thought about the individuals I was with and arrived a few distinguishing characteristics that make these individuals great at what they do.
Team Mindset
Great salespeople know who is on their team and how to leverage them effectively. They do not operate as a lone wolf, instead they operate as a pack. They consistently want to control deals from start to finish, but they delegate quickly and make the most of the people around them.
In the Information Technology (IT) market that Zunesis operates in, the rate of change and the level of technical complexity demands a team mindset where sales people engage their solution architects, leadership, inside sales, marketing and operational personnel to get the job done.
This Team mindset also extends to our technology partners. Great salespeople leverage their vendors, distributors, and personal contacts to gain that extra edge and to get their customers the best and latest information possible. The very best salespeople also understand that they must drive the process forward from start to finish.
They understand that they own the “proactive juice” to keep everyone moving toward a common set of objectives. Great salespeople operate with a sense of urgency, leverage all of their team resources, and hold each member accountable to get the job done.
Sincere Customer Empathy
Great salespeople sincerely care about the success of their customers. They are advocates for their customers and they will fight hard to get what their customers’ need. Over time, customers figure out which sales people care about their success and which sales people only care about their commissions. This behavior is most recognizable when a customer is in trouble.
In IT, this may mean that a customer has an application or a data center that is down or not operating sufficiently to support the business. In these situations, great salespeople show up and jump in with both feet. They ask questions and attempt to triage what is going on and how their team can help. Great salespeople consistently rise to the occasion when the chips are down.
Creativity
Great salespeople have unique creativity. Putting deals together requires a flexible mindset, tremendous listening skills, and a willingness to think outside the box. I have watched great salespeople approach objections, budget constraints, and operational challenges with tremendous creativity.
Their creativity comes from a place of “never giving up” and always believing that they can find a way to help customers be successful. They operate with bubbling optimism which is rooted in the reality of the needs of their customers.
Great salespeople convince the rest of us that there is always a way to solve a customer need. What I have learned over the years is that optimism combined with creativity is the winning combination.
Integrity and Always Doing the Right Thing
Great salespeople take the long-term view of their career and work very hard to tell the truth, follow through on commitments, and always do the right thing. The sales world is littered with broken promises; but great sales people know how important their personal reputation is to their long-term success.
Cutting corners or skipping important steps may provide short term sales success, but the great ones know that long term success demands operating with consistent character. The very best salespeople also know that building trust with customers is the most precious and valuable commodity they can build. Trust takes time and great sales people do what is necessary to build trust with their customers.
Hard Work and Discipline
Ultimately, great salespeople understand that hard work and discipline are essential to have lasting success. They work very hard and they do the fundamentals even when they don’t feel like it. Great salespeople find ways to keep fighting even after stinging defeats and unfair losses.
Great salespeople are never victims and they look to learn from their disappointments. In fact, learning is a great fuel in their journey. I have never met a great salesperson who didn’t understand the importance of discipline and hard work.
These 5 characteristics of truly exceptional salespeople are not easy. Neither is the demanding profession of sales. If you are fortunate like me to work with exceptional people, you know how lucky you are. Greatness is rare and I am grateful that I get to work around the very best on a daily basis.
Aruba Instant Access Points
Years ago, the concept of purchasing and deploying enterprise grade wireless infrastructure was reserved for only the largest or wealthiest companies. The average small to mid-sized businesses were left to make compromises on features and performance because of the prohibitive price and deployment complexity associated with wireless infrastructure. Well no more.
Aruba Instant access points allow any business to deploy a full featured and scalable solution anywhere. Without compromising features often reserved for the most cost prohibitive solution. Aruba Instant has a place in the hair salon all the way to the corporate office. If you need a solid and secure wireless solution that doesn’t require a full-time worker to administer, than look no further.
What is Aruba Instant?
Aruba Instant is a wireless access point operating system and platform that does not require the purchase of hardware/virtual controllers for deployment. Instead Aruba instant access points leverage each other as virtual controllers. They work in a cluster like the standard campus deployment most are familiar with.
For small to mid-sized businesses, the most common deployment of wireless is less than 100 access points. This is fully supported by the Aruba instant deployment model. Not only does the deployment scale in size but it is innately redundant.
Each access point can act as the primary virtual controller if the current controller goes down. Furthermore, the access points come in a wide variety of models. Some support the newest Enterprise features such as 802.11ax, WPA3, and M-PSK.
Where is the value?
Almost all the current generation Aruba access points are sold as a unified AP. This deploys in an Instant cluster or as a campus AP controlled by dedicated controllers. By shipping a single image on all access points, Aruba has made the product fit all use-cases. It has simplified the ordering and provisioning of the product.
Additionally, if a customer does outgrow the instant AP deployment model, they can simply convert their existing access points to work with a controller-based solution. Never losing a penny on their existing investment. This use-case happens frequently. Aruba customers are always thankful to know that they haven’t thrown money down the drain as their business grow and they need to expand the reach of wireless connectivity.
Aruba Instant Tour
I will spend some time showcasing the features and simplicity of the Aruba Instant operating system. There are numerous guides online showing how to configure the APs in greater detail. I will give a brief overview of some of the included features.
There is also a community driven YouTube channel dedicated to the education of customers and partners called: Airheads Broadcasting Channel. This tour is meant for someone with 1-2 years of IT experience. Wired and wireless networking concepts will be used without explanation.
Logging In
The virtual controller is accessed through a web interface that is very similar to logging into a traditional Aruba Mobility controller. There are default credentials which are publicly available for the initial login.
User Interface
The dashboard presented after the user logs in is very helpful. It will show everything from active wireless networks, cluster members, connected clients, and performance and health statistics.
Again, keep in mind that using this deployment model is free. There are no additional licenses or support fees to use the Aruba Instant operating system. All Aruba access points come with a lifetime warranty that include software/firmware upgrades.
Advanced Features
The Aruba Instant operating system supports features like:
- Guest network with custom captive portal
- Radius authentication with COA
- Stateful firewall policies
- QOS\COS
- Internal guest provisioning for guest network
- IDS
Another feature that is surprising to see on this platform is AppRF. It differentiates what applications are in use on the network. It is of great value to administrators and engineers to be able to identify unwanted applications on the network and apply QOS policies to either limit or block them entirely.
Third Party Integrations
Unlike other platforms that limit features in their respective introductory platform, Aruba supports third party integrations with firewall vendors, and even custom XML API services. Features that leverage location-based services are available using the Aruba Instant platform.
Overall, the platform is feature rich. It can do almost everything a traditional controller-based platform can do. The shear scalability of having the access points act as the controller grants a flexibility many in the industry have been looking for.
Small to mid-sized businesses should explore the possibilities of what the Aruba Instant platform can offer. A budget friendly option to consider for your networking needs.
Use the Networking Product Wizard on our site to find out the right switches, access points and network management solution for your organization.
