[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”auto” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/zpesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/shutterstock_111036068-scaled.jpg” alt=”Social,Network,Illustration” title_text=”Social,Network,Illustration” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” header_3_text_color=”#214C64″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Branch locations\u2014retail stores, shipping warehouses, and satellite offices\u2014present a big network management challenge<\/a> to the engineers supporting them. Traditional remote network management requires a WAN link to each branch, but what happens if that link goes down? Out-of-band remote access, also known as OOB, solves this problem by separating the network management plane from the data plane, and giving you a dedicated alternate connection to your remote infrastructure.<\/p>\n To illustrate the importance of out-of-band remote access<\/a>, let\u2019s walk through a few branch networking scenarios that many IT professionals encounter during their careers.<\/p>\n You\u2019re an on-call network engineer working for a retail company headquartered in Seattle, WA. At 3 a.m., you receive a phone call from the Tampa, FL branch saying their network and all systems are entirely offline. Their store opens in a few hours. How do you determine and fix the root cause from the other side of the country?<\/p>\n Without OOB remote access, you\u2019re left with a few options. You and the store manager could walk through some basic diagnostic troubleshooting over the phone. Still, unless they\u2019re savvy with technology, you\u2019re unlikely to progress very far with this method. You could pay for a local tech to work on it, but unless you already have a consultant on retainer, it could take hours or even days to schedule the service. As a last resort, you could fly across the country at a high cost to your company, both in terms of travel expenses and the hours of lost revenue while the branch is waiting for you to arrive and fix the problem. In conclusion, without remote OOB, any approach you take will be very costly and time-consuming.<\/p>\n You\u2019re a SOC (security operations center) engineer working in the home office of a national logistics company. You receive an alert that a warehouse computer across the country is infected with a Trojan virus, and it\u2019s quickly spreading across the branch network. How do you isolate that branch network and remove the virus?<\/p>\n Taking the branch offline is crucial to prevent the virus from jumping to the enterprise network and spreading even further. However, once you lose WAN access, you\u2019ll be unable to remove the virus or assess and mitigate the damage it caused. Your options in this scenario are even more limited due to the severity of the issue. You can\u2019t walk someone through this process over the phone, and if you\u2019re going to hire an outsider, it needs to be a trusted partner with security expertise. More likely, you\u2019re looking at a truck roll, which again means travel time and expenses. To put it in a nutshell, all of these options mean more time for the virus to infect more of your network and compromise your business on a grander scale.<\/p>\n Your company has a satellite office in an isolated, rural location with only a skeleton crew of essential staff on-site, which is currently unavailable when the update needs to occur. You learn about a security vulnerability in their switch\u2019s firmware, so you need to update the BIOS. How do you access the BIOS menu and power cycle the switch across a WAN connection?<\/p>\n Often, a switch must be managed from an HTTP or HTTPS session in a web browser. However, you need to power cycle the device and get into the menu before the switch fully boots up to access the BIOS menu. Plus, once the update is complete, the device will automatically power off, and then you\u2019ll be unable to remotely turn it back on. It\u2019s hard to justify the expense of a truck roll<\/a> for such a simple procedure, but you also can\u2019t leave the device exposed to potential threats. Without OOB, you\u2019re more likely to delay critical updates and security patches, which increases the chances of a hacker finding and exploiting vulnerabilities to breach your enterprise network.<\/p>\n OOB lets you remotely diagnose, troubleshoot, and fix issues with your critical branch infrastructure through a dedicated cellular connection. You\u2019ll have access even if your ISP has an outage, or if you need to temporarily sever the WAN link. You can also use OOB to manage powered down devices, simplifying BIOS updates and other essential maintenance. That\u2019s why out-of-band remote access is critical to branch networking.<\/p>\n However, not all out-of-band solutions provide the same level of control, flexibility, and security. For instance, some OOB products only work within that vendor\u2019s ecosystem, which means you can\u2019t manage any of your other appliances or solutions, or you\u2019re locked into their products and features.<\/p>\n You may also find branch network automation<\/a> a challenge with your OOB solution\u2014often, the appliances themselves have limited automation capabilities, and are challenging to integrate with third-party orchestration platforms. Plus, many OOB devices lack essential security features like single sign-on (SSO), multi factor authentication (MFA), and zero trust security<\/a>, which could leave your branches exposed to potential threats and negatively impact your reputation and customer trust.<\/p>\n Nodegrid is a 3rd-gen out-of-band management solution<\/a>, meaning you get reliable remote access to your branch networks without any of the limitations of a typical OOB product.<\/p>\n In the Nodegrid demo, you\u2019ll see how the open, x86 Nodegrid OS makes it easy to integrate all of your Linux-based solutions for complete control and flexibility. We\u2019ll also demonstrate how Nodegrid OOB delivers true end-to-end network automation and orchestration capabilities, with support for Ansible, Puppet, Chef, RESTful APIs, and more. Plus, all Nodegrid solutions are designed with security at the forefront, including zero trust security<\/a>, SSO, MFA, and advanced authentication with unlimited fallback methods.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.6″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#358AAF” custom_margin=”||||true|false” custom_padding=”30px|30px|30px|30px|true|true” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Visit our<\/b> OOB learning center<\/b><\/a> or request a <\/b>free demo<\/b> of the Nodegrid out-of-band solution.<\/b><\/p>\nWhy out-of-band remote access is critical for branch networking<\/h2>\n
Scenario 1: Your network and systems are suddenly offline<\/h3>\n
Scenario 2: A virus is quickly spreading across your network<\/h3>\n
Scenario 3: You learn about a security vulnerability in your switch\u2019s firmware<\/h3>\n
In each of these scenarios, you could save time, money, and trust with out-of-band remote access.<\/h2>\n
See how Nodegrid out-of-band remote access can simplify your branch network management<\/h2>\n
Learn more about out-of-band remote access for branch networking.<\/b><\/h2>\n