InfraReach Functionalities

General

InfraReach complements the configuration and monitoring tools made available by the device manufacturers with a security layer to make the access to the remote device signed, encrypted and secured, adding the capability of remotely access the device different interfaces ( Serial Console, secondary LAN, etc), adding power control in the sense of allowing powering the device on/off at will, and finally adding customizable monitoring functions of the device functionality status.  A Session Recording function of all technician’s activity and centralized control of device accessibility and power control of the different technicians is also a complementary feature that adds to the product value and functionality.
We believe that taking control of a remote device means having all the means you have when you're physically present on the device site itself: powering it up and down, rebooting it, operating on all the device's physical and logical resources (e.g. accessing the serial consol port of a router and changing a server's task priority). All of this can be realized with the same  level of security granted by the physical access restriction rules that are implemented on the device site, thanks to IPPower Technology Secure Connectivity Services.

Functionalities:

- Secure Connectivity, In-band and Out-of-band, as the base to perform remote configuration and management. This includes remote access control as technician capability profiling, session recording and others  

- Power Control as a tool to remotely fully restart a device that hung up or to take in and out of line some equipment.

- Device status monitoring for the technicians and managers to be advised my mail, SMS, etc of any changes in status of critical equipment.

- InfraReachServer configuration management, operation's statistical analisys, full-featured MPR (Maintenance Performance Reporting), SLA monitoring and other features 

Secure Connectivity, In-band and Out-of-band

InfraReach complements the configuration and monitoring tools made available by the device manufacturers with a security layer to make the access to the remote device signed, encrypted and secured, adding the capability of remotely access the device different interfaces ( Serial Console, secondary LAN, etc). Access to the different interfaces can be made discressionary to different technicians with different functions in the company, capabilities and rights. Maintenance sessions can be recorded and then reviewed for different reasons. Connectivity is fully IP based even for non IP interfaces like standard serial interfaces and in practice a technician connected to the internet will see appear on its PC a virtual device like a virtual serial port that he will be able to access like the remote serial device serial port with its standard tools.

For some devices where access is critical, the normal In-band route through the standard LAN/Internet access path can be complemented with an Out-of-band alternative route that can be realized via a secondary LAN ( through a physically independent LAN interface), a modem access line either via a direct call or a connection to an alternative company RAS service or RAS Internet Access Point of an ISP, or a GSM/GPRS access realized by adding a wireless GSM/GPRS module to the standard InfraNode configuration. This way devices like routers that when they stop operating can bring the whole LAN access down can be accessed and serviced via an alternative path. This way a technicians will be able to bring the unit back on line without the need of having physical access even in case of a total freeze of the router.

 The usage of standard tools is made possible by a layer of software called InfraClient installed on the technichens PC. InfraReach allows, for instance, a specific technician to access a specific PC located behind a firewall using tools like VNC, Microsoft’s RDC,PC Anywhere and Remotely Anywhere specifically configured to perform only the maintenance work programmed. The setup of an InfraReach access scheme does not nomally require the modification of any of the standard security setup's of the company IP defense system.

 

 

Power control

Being able to run remotely configuration tools in full security isn't enough when the device's status becomes unstable. In the case of the total halt of a CISCO router It is essential to control the Power of that device to be able to power it off and then to switch it on again and by controlling its boot process via the Console access restore the unit to ist original configuration. This process performed with InfraRaech can restore full functionality in a matter of minutes.
For that reason, the InfraReach technology for remote control includes a web-based interface that allows the technician to directly power down a device when needed and power it up again in a matter of seconds to take full control of it in the shortest time possible.

The reboot control allows for any unstable or hung system to be rebooted using the same web-based interface used for power control with the option of a simultaneous configuration reload. When some kind of control of the device is still possible this allows a clean, hot-restart of a device to avoid powering it down and up. As usual, this operation rely on the high security guaranteed by InfraReach secure communication technology.

Device Status Monitoring

The device monitoring functionality of the InfraReach platform, first of all allows the technician to watch device's state and alarms from inside his/her browser.

Supported devices, including all major PBX brands and models, Cisco router, Windows PCs and servers, , are monitored by the connected InfraNode that then sends via a secure channel the relevant data to the InfraReachServer. The InfraReachServer then allows the technician not only to view the status of all monitored system at glance inside the browser but it can be programmed to send alarm info's via e-mail, SMS and other alarming systems to different people involved in the maintenance process.

In addition to the basic monitoring function InfraReach offers a full featured WEB bases information system that gives you access to the complete history of the device faults, a detailed view of each alarm and store and track all the intervention made to solve the fault.

InfraReachServer configuration management, statistical analisys, full-featured MPR (Maintenance Performance Reporting), SLA monitoring and other features 

InfraReach offers users a wealth of functionalities, ranging from the most technical ones to statistical and business functionalities. Here’s a summary of the most relevant ones.

InfraReachServer configuration management

The InfraReachServer features all the options you’d expect from a network administration environment: controllers and devices are easily organized by administrators into a hierarchy of networks where a complete user and groups management is available along with fine-grained permissions tuning for technician access to devices and information. Resources and applications can be made accessible to entire networks and large groups of users or selectively restricted at any level. All operations are performed through a fast, easy to use web interface.

Autologin on remote devices

Access to remote devices’ resources can be assigned to technician without the need of giving them the access password to the actual device: the InfraNode connected to the device manages the login procedure into the device upon request from the InfraReachServer. This way, the technicen only needs to authenticate himself to the InfraReach system to have access to all resources he’s been given access to from the system administrator without the need to remember multiple passwords of individual devices. In addition, never knowing the actual devices’ passwords, no security concern exists if the worker leaves the company: his account can be deleted to avoid any risk of subsequent, unauthorized access to any device.

Session recording

Maintenance sessions on remote devices managed through serial protocols or Telnet sessions can be recorded and remain available on the InfraReachServer for subsequent review by the technician or audit by the administrator. All commands and responses are tracked to the single character and make prof of what has been done and when.

Forbidden commands

To restrict access to critical operations, specific commands can be filtered out for a specific technician on a specific system or system type. This can, for example, deny a user to become the root user of a router thus creating another security layer on a per-group or even per-user basis.

Scripting support

One of the most glittering features of the InfraReach platform is the Web Buildable Scripts (WBS).  WBS’s allows a skilled technician to create new functionalities in the InfraNode and in the central servers.
WEB adds the InfraNode  programmability via Web Buildable Scripts (WBS) allowing to create new functions in a matter of minutes. For instance a remote device daily configuration backup activity on the central server can be programmed in standard 'C' language. Of course such functions are available for the most common devices as for instance Cisco routers
Monitoring support for custom devices, new maintenance protocols, special login procedures or even brand new network services can be created as the users see fit. This unique flexibility makes InfraReach ready for any next-generation device and management tasks projecting today’s investments into the future.

Performance reporting

A full-featured MPR (Maintenance Performance Reporting) system has been implemented inside the InfraReachServer. Both tabular and chart views are available to see and follow the overall performance of a network having immediate evidence of the intervention times, time-to-solution and status of management of the infrastructure. High level executives can track weak points the overall maintenance and fix the situation before it becomes critical.

Service Level Agreement management

For companies supplying clients with maintenance services, a complete management of SLAs (Service Level Agreements) is right at hand. Fault tickets are opened upon client’s request, interventions are time-tracked and the ticket is closed when the fault has been recovered. All timings are tracked and a complete summary of the reference period is available with precise performance reporting and automatic delay-based discounts calculations. The report can be supplied to the client as an evidence of the maintenance costs and compliancy to the SLA.