Resource Library

As mentioned earlier, one of the most useful pieces of guidance that ITIL provides relates to the categorization of suppliers. ITIL describes four categories of suppliers:

This white paper has three main goals. The first is to generate a better understanding of the cloud in both the business and IT communities. The second is to describe the major components of vCloud and the virtual datacenters they provide. The third is help businesses visualize and understand how vClouds could be beneficial in addressing their specific IT needs.

New in Windows Server 2012 is the Unified Remote Access (URA) role. In Windows Server 2008 R2, DirectAccess and Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) were two separate roles. In fact, they could not be co-located on the same server. In Windows Server 2012, DirectAccess and RRAS can be co-located, allowing for what is now legacy remote access VPN client connectivity (L2TP/IPsec, PPTP, and SSTP). This means that the Unified Remote Access provides DirectAccess, Remote Access VPN, and site-to-site VPN and can now serve as your complete remote access solution.

Course director Jim Thomas explains how our custom labs, which utilize external hosts, ISR routers, and DMZ, provide a real-world environment for students.

Chief Technical Architect Craig Brown discusses the Windows 7 certification and skills tracks available to Global Knowledge students.

Once an organization has categorized suppliers, one of the benefits that is quickly realized is an understanding of how supplier changes affect the buying organization and vice-versa. Changes are the modification, addition, or removal of something from the environment. The scope and scale of each change can be different. Change management covers everything from regular, low-risk, operational modifications all the way to significant organizational strategic shifts.

Cloud forensics involves exploring issues a company and its forensic examiner may face when suffering a breach of company information in the cloud. If they need to collect information from the cloud to determine what happened, to determine what was lost or compromised, for remediation, for civil litigation, or for some other action, what issues will they face? And, how can they collect the data? Although this white paper discusses many legal issues, this is not a legal "how-to" article. The purpose is to provide some insight into cloud forensics.

Resource Pools are often misunderstood, disliked, and untrusted by vSphere Administrators. However, resource pools can be very useful tools for administrators who want to configure resource management without having to individually configure each VM. This leads to the administrator’s desire to explore the proper usage of resource pools.

Global Knowledge Course Director and Lab Topology Architect Joey DeWiele, a specialist in Unified Communications, discusses Cisco Unity, Unity Connection & Unity Express.

Diane Teare, Global Knowledge's Cisco Course Director, discusses the advantages to taking our CCNA Boot Camp.

Global Knowledge Course Director and Lab Topology Architect Joey DeWiele, a specialist in Unified Communications, explains presence.

The OSI model is a conceptual tool used to discuss and describe network functions. The use of a standard reference model is essential to communicate ideas as well as create new technologies. It is a good idea to be familiar with the OSI model, the features assigned to each layer, and examples of common protocols or technologies associated with the OSI layers.

The utility that many senior VMware administrators rely on to address performance and troubleshooting issues is the built-in utility called ESXTOP. The tool has been built in to the hypervisor, and can be used in both ESXi and the old ESX host. The first tool many VMware Administrators rely upon is esxtop, to check real-time performance on an ESXi host using a command-line tool such as ssh to start the esxtop CLI utility. This paper will introduce and demonstrate how to start and use esxtop, specifically looking at the CPU fields. In addition, we will cover information that can be used to help with performance issues of the CPU. The esxtop utility is an excellent tool to use when you want to observe an individual ESXi host's performance.

One of the most important steps in mastering a new technology is learning the associated terminology or vocabulary. In the IT field, this can be a very challenging step, as much of the terminology is often used inconsistently. This white paper defines the terminology associated with IT virtualization. It is mainly vendor-agnostic, but it does provide some vendor-specific terms, product names, and feature names used by VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft.

The OSI model is a conceptual tool used to discuss and describe network functions. The use of a standard reference model is essential to communicating ideas as well as creating new technologies. It is a good idea to be familiar with the OSI model, the features assigned to each layer, and examples of common protocols or technologies associated with the OSI layers.

A local area network (LAN) provides a path of communication, allowing the delivery of packets of data, voice, or video originating from the sender (logical source address) to the receiver (logical destination address). Ethernet is the most common LAN used. As you start to learn about networking, remember that communication and the movement of large numbers, whether it is people, cars, mail, or network traffic, have a commonality. Everything you know and use in your daily life can be compared to the way traffic moves.

Business complexity, technology innovation and a new understanding of how we learn at work are causing the learning profession to re-think how they develop and sustain human performance and behaviour change. As a result new methods and approaches are emerging that promise to change the landscape of learning and development meeting in the coming years. This session will provide an opportunity to learn about the following trends and their application.

This paper proposes a unifying model for project plans. A distinction will be made between the outputs of project planning and the project plan itself. The significance of this distinction is to allow projects of all types to be described at a high level, in a common language, regardless of the type of analysis used to develop the plan.

One of the most difficult concepts for me as I was learning database syntax was joins. Of course, I tried reading and understanding articles and books that dealt with this topic. In almost every case, I was faced with the Venn diagram examples.

ITIL is generally not prescriptive. In reality, the CSI Register at any given organization might look significantly different than the example given in the CSI book. The fields given in this example are important. 

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an internet signaling protocol, developed by the IETF (starting in 1996), for establishing, maintaining, and tearing down sessions between a variety of real-time media, including voice, video, and chat. SIP allows endpoints to locate other endpoints, whether stationary or mobile. SIP doesn't have to worry about transporting voice or video as Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) takes care of that. It also relies on Session Description Protocol (SDP) to negotiate capabilities and codecs. SIP does not provide a Directory Service or Authentication, but it does work with services such as LDAP or RADIUS. SIP is only concerned with signaling. This white paper is going to look at the way SIP is used in the converged Unified Communications environment.

Learn how to leverage e-Learning to its full potential from someone who has succeeded in e-Learning. E-Learning is considered the way of the future for good reason: attractive cost-savings, flexibility, and convenience. To realize these benefits, you need to craft the training to meet a number of rigorous objectives. Join Kevin Kernohan, senior production manager at Global Knowledge, and Ann Schuler, learning and development consultant at the Government of Alberta Human Services Ministry, as they lead you from beginning to end of the e-Learning development cycle. In partnership with the Government of Alberta, Global Knowledge developed the Critical Thinking in Action training program for employees throughout the province. Discover why this e-Learning program earned a CSTD Award for Training Excellence and how you can assimilate these best practices into your organization.

SOA is all about architecture-after all, it's right there in the acronym-yet most organizations think it is about turning existing software components into web services. When you adopt SOA, remember that it is all about design and governing that design. It's about how you design your service interfaces, your services, your data model, and your business processes. It's about how you keep track of your services, how you control the design, definition, deployment, and distribution of your services and their artifacts, how you define a service contract and service level agreement for your service consumers, how to secure your services, and how to react when things go wrong with them.

When you connect your server or storage, it will send a Fabric login (FLOGI) request. This FLOGI request serves two purposes: Fibre Channel ID is the WWPN connection to this port from the FLOGI server Exchange buffer credits with the switch To better understand the first function, it is exactly the same if I rewrite it as, “request an IP address for a MAC address from the DHCP server”.

While the last few years have brought about many great advances in IT and network technology security and risk management have a critical point. There is a host of new concerns the IT security manager must be concerned with, including social networking, mobile, cloud, and information sharing. This has unleashed a new wave of change and potential risk. Risk management is required to deal with these emerging technologies and should provide the rationale for all information security activities within the organization. You can think of risk management as the process of ensuring that the impact of threats and exploited vulnerabilities is within acceptable limits at an acceptable cost. Risk management requires the use of countermeasures. Countermeasures can include any process that serves to reduce threats or vulnerabilities.

Meet Global Knowledge course director and lab topology architect Joey DeWiele, a specialist in Unified Communications. Joey will walk you through the benefits of our exclusive Cisco UC lab architecture - a more scalable and stable approach to the all-important labs featured in unified communications courses. Our labs feature upgraded hardware and software including Custom Lenovo T61 PCs, 7965 IP Phones, 3560 Switches and Call Manager 7. With our flexible UC architecture, students are able to view and experience the full lab architecture regardless of which Cisco UC course they are taking or the skill set they are seeking. The lab architecture features a realistic network with redundant environments that are made rich with multiple machines, pre-deployed tools with shortcuts, online documentation that is particular to individual pods, and multiple OS support for all virtual machines (Windows, Linux, VMware).

Global Knowledge instructor Doug Notini discusses the benefits of our FIREWALL 2.0 - Deploying Cisco ASA Firewall Solutions course.

In this video, you will learn about the High Availability options in SQL Server 2008: Server Clustering, Database Mirroring, Log Shipping and Peer-to-Peer Replication.

Many experts agree that memory is the most important resource with regard to SQL Server performance. There are hundreds of performance counters, and therefore, it can be complex to figure out just what to monitor. Here are some suggestions in understanding whether memory pressure might be the performance problem with your SQL Server.

In this video, you will learn how to a use a new feature of SQL Server 2008 called Transparent Data Encryption for enhanced security.

With the growth of bring your own device (BYOD) and mobility, users are increasingly asking for computing anywhere from any device at any time. Users now expect productivity on the go with a desktop that can be freely accessed and secure. We're no longer a society that sits at a desk to be productive. The VMware Horizon Suite allows the datacenter administrators to satisfy the accelerated mobility needs of the workforce while still maintaining an IT solution that is easily managed and secure.

Many I&O leaders and customers see little value from investments in ITIL. Not getting the Return on Investment (ROI) you expect normally comes from using ITIL incorrectly. You, your staff, and your customers must share the same goals and understand exactly what to expect from your ITIL investments. The goal of ITIL is not “business and IT alignment” or “competitive advantage from IT investments.” Instead, its first goal is to stabilize service operation. This builds a base for the second goal: increasing value through service optimization. You must have clear-cut, documented, and managed expectations for each activity, and order is vital. Success requires that you stabilize service delivery before trying to optimize. Focusing on the correct goal and linking each ITIL task to that goal is the correct use of ITIL.

For a project manager (PM) who has served as a military officer on a battalion or higher staff, the parallels between the military decision-making process (MDMP), the orders production process, and project management doctrine prescribed by the Project Management Institute (PMI) are difficult to ignore. Both the MDMP and the processes outlined in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Fifth Edition (PMBOK® Guide) are iterative in nature, allow for the introduction of changes to the original plan, assign tasks and responsibilities, and involve the concept of managing the scope of the operation or project.

John Barnes, Global Knowledge's Cisco Course Developer, discusses enhancements to our UCS Troubleshooting Boot Camp and suggestions for students in preparation for this course.

Dell SonicWALL's CSSA (Certified SonicWALL Security Administrator) exam is an open book, online certification exam that certifies a student’s understanding of the SonicOS Unified Threat Management (UTM) operating system. The exam tests a student’s network security knowledge, and their ability to use the GUI menu structure for configuration of standard network security scenarios.

Global Knowledge Product Manager Tori Easterly discusses the benefits of our Understanding Networking Fundamentals course.

Multiplexing is the technology that is able to combine multiple communication signals together in order for them to traverse an otherwise single signal communication medium simultaneously. Multiplexing can be applied to both analog and digital signals. A benefit of using multiplexing, or muxing, is reducing the physical hardware cost for expensive dedicated network communication segments, such as copper or fiber cables.

Are you at a crossroads professionally or looking to start training for a new job? If so, you might want to consider pursuing network administration as a career. Network administrators are responsible for maintaining computer hardware and software systems that make up a computer network, including maintaining and monitoring active data networks, converged infrastructure networks, and related network equipment.

Constant change in the technology landscape has been mirrored by the steady evolution of information security. The current information system environment is increasingly complex, comprising storage, servers, LANs/WANs, workstations, Unified Communications, Intranet, and Internet connections.

Traditionally, ITIL and TOGAF professionals have been part of different teams within an organization. Due to the ongoing alignment of business and IT, these professionals now often find themselves on the same team. Because of this crossover, there is a growing trend towards organization of work based on multiple best practice models. 

Now that we have looked at the similarities and differences between the first two steps of the military decision-making process (MDMP) and the project management processes from the planning process group that align with them, it’s time to take a look at the third ste...

The driver behind 802.11n is MIMO, or multiple input multiple output. This video explains how MIMO works to double your channel speed by sending two or more data streams over the same channel.

VMware vCloud Director fashions the provisioning of the software-defined datacenter layer to allow for a full virtual datacenter deployment within a short period of time. A vCloud consists of many layers and can quickly become a complex architecture. Before any deployment, requirements should be defined so that the vCloud can be designed to offer those services needed. It is imperative to understand the many components of vCloud, how each vCloud construct fits, which allocation models are available, and what network options can be chosen.

In numerous Cisco classes, students learn about IPv4 and IPv6 address subnetting, complex subnetting, variable length subnet masking (VLSM), summarization, prefix routing, and address aggregation. These are valuable skills. In order to apply these skills efficiently, a network designer should possess one additional skill. Planning the IP address space for a Class A or B IPv4 address is necessary to apply the complex skills listed above properly. Complex subnetting, VLSM, and IP address summarization can be implemented simply and efficiently with proper planning.

How can leaders and Human Resources professionals use effective, simple and research-based talent management practices to contribute to their organization's success? Too many leadership development theories provide complex and confusing answers. Join Jocelyn Bérard as he shares the core practices introduced in his new book, Accelerating Leadership Development, which reflects his extensive research and years of experience in making leadership development uncomplicated and practical.

You have spent money on software and hardware, implemented best practices, and believe you are secure, right? You may have overlooked the weakest link: your employee. Many breaches occur as a result of an employee mistakenly clicking on a link or visiting a site that allows a virus to be unknowingly downloaded, giving hackers access to your network. Today, a well-trained workforce is a necessity and may even be your most important cybersecurity tool. In this webinar, security expert David Willson will discuss how many breaches have occurred and are occurring, the tools and techniques hackers use to trick employees into clicking on links or opening attachments, and how to prevent such behavior.

Answer? When it is flagged as a retransmission in Wireshark!

Instructor John Harmon continues his explanation of subnetting by showing how subnet masks can be used to sub-divide networks.

There are several Wireless LAN Standards, including b, g, and n, which exist in the 2.4 GHz band. These standards need around 20 MHz of radio frequency in order to transmit their signals. In this video, Ben Miller discusses how to pick access points and channels for optimal performance.

Business is changing rapidly and Information Technology is at the centre of the trends: mobile, social, cloud and big data,. Forward thinking IT functions must develop and manage the skills of their most critical asset-- their employees. Effective professional development can guard against the pace of change, leading IT units to re-define job roles to include both technical and non-technical competencies and to establish business processes to help their staff develop and maintain these skills. This session will present the components of a holistic process to support learning and development in any IT organization.

vSphere 5.5 is now available with myriad small improvements such as a faster Web Client, LACP, Autoscale and higher configuration maximums. In addition, there are changes coming such as VSAN, which may be ground-breaking in regard to VM storage of the future. Since the release of vSphere 5.5, they have not yet announced a change to the blueprint for the test. That being the case, I will say, for now, that the VCP-510 test should remain unchanged as well. My goal here is not to reeducate you on everything that you need to know for the test; instead, it is to point out the few changes that might apply in your company or organization.

Agile is a set of principles requiring a significant cultural shift, new paradigms in thinking and team organization. Over the years, Agile has become "productized" or in many cases "institutionalized", creating different flavours and levels of commitment among teams and organizations. Along the way, managers and team members have lost sight of Agile's principles and tried to enforce the use of certain tools and structure where they may not belong. In this one hour webinar, Perry McLeod will explain how tools such as use cases can be successful in an agile environment, provided the principles of agile are always active in the minds of the managers and the team members that are using them. Join Perry to determine whether or not making the cultural shift towards the use case method in an agile environment is the right move for you and your organization.

Enterprise thinking, simply put, is the practice of considering the entire enterprise in decision-making, not just a given group or department. This style of thinking makes the organization both leaner and more agile—lean by reducing the waste and inefficiencies that come from blinkered and siloed thinking and agile by increasing everyone’s understanding of enterprise goals, vision, and functions.

Ce séminaire en ligne portera sur l'importance de la réalisation de la valeur attendu du projet et proposera des outils et des approches pratiques pour aider dans votre quête du rôle de précieux allié. La profession de gestionnaire de projet est en plein essor et le rôle du GP est en transition. En plus d'être un expert en techniques de planification et de contrôle, le GP d'aujourd'hui doit bien coordonner le travail d'équipe et, ultimement, protéger l'organisation contre l'incertitude. Avec cette responsabilité accrue vient également un sens d'imputabilité pour la réalisation des bénéfices envisagés par le projet. Au-delà de bien gérer la triple contrainte, un GP qui maintien l'attention de l'équipe sur la réalisation des bénéfices sera un partenaire clé de l'organisation. Ce séminaire en ligne porte sur l'importance de la réalisation de la aleur attendu du projet et proposera des outils et des approches pratiques pour aider dans votre quête du rôle de précieux allié.

As a power user, find out if you're ready for the SharePoint Site Collection and Site Administration class and how it can benefit your organization.

Co-authors Michael Scarborough and Ryan Ballmer discuss some key differences in the new Global Knowledge ITIL courseware.

Michael Scarborough and Ryan Ballmer, co-authors of Global Knowledge ITIL courseware, discuss why ITIL is important to businesses.

La plupart des analystes d'affaires ont déjà entendu parler des cas d'utilisation, mais sont souvent intimidés par des exemples complexes qui ne semblent pas pertinents pour eux. Ce webinaire a pour but de clarifier ce que sont précisément les cas d'utilisation et leur usage, en plus de démontrer comment ils peuvent faciliter les tâches de l'analyste d'affaires.

Instructor John Harmon explains subnetting.

A gap analysis is a tool that ITIL recommends organizations use to compare their current state to some future desired state.

In this video, instructor Glenn Weadock demonstrates how Group Policy settings can control new user interface features such as the Taskbar, and resuscitate obsolete features such as classic menus in Windows Explorer.

Frequently, questions come up in the Cisco Contact Center Express classes I teach concerning the ability of the system to perform this or that task. In this blog post, I will cover some of the more popular questions I get during class.

By using and implementing a many-to-many relationship in a cube, existing tables with user account information can be used directly to secure cube contents, rather than converting to role based security in the cube. You can also secure your analysis services more easily and access sensitive information contained within it.

You know you need to invest in training, but how do you get the best return on investment (ROI) from your training dollars? To help you make smart training decisions, we've put together this guide, which illustrates some alternative and little-known payment options, the types of discounts and promotions available with training and a suggested list of courses that give you excellent value.

Organizations are moving strongly toward Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) access, bringing outsourced activities back in-house, and finding ways to make use of the growing amounts of data flowing in from many new sources such as social media. These factors create an increasing shift in required and desired skills showing up in IT departments. Hiring and salary surveys, such as the 2014 IT Skills and Salary Survey from Global Knowledge and Windows IP Pro, TEKsystems' 2014 Annual IT Forecast, Foote Research Group's 2014 IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index, Computerworld's annual Forecast survey, Robert Half Technology Survey, and information from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Futurestep, Mondo, GovLoop, and Dice have presented a developing picture of the IT skills that will be in demand in 2014. Here, in survey order, are the top 10 major skills and why they made the list.

Global Knowledge Senior Business Skills instructor Samuel Brown covers tips for preparing and practicing for the PMP exam.

Michael Scarborough and Ryan Ballmer, co-authors of Global Knowledge ITIL courseware, discuss the difference between ITIL Capability courses and ITIL Lifecycle courses.

The default shortcut for the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell uses PowerShell.exe; however, a few small changes can easily yield a SharePoint Management Shell based on the more awesomely powerful PowerShell ISE.

Database Management Systems (DBMS) have been monolithic structures with their own dedicated hardware, storage arrays, and consoles. Amazon Web Services (AWS) realized that while each company can use unique methods of collecting and using data, the actual processes of building the management infrastructure are almost always the same. AWS remedies DBMS problems with its Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS).

If you have been working with vSphere 5.1 or 5.5 lately, you have undoubtedly noticed that the latest features such as XvMotion and vSphere Replication are only available on the Web Client. This cheat sheet for the new Web Client includes instructions for configuring VMs, networking, storage, resource settings, cluster settings, permissions, and many other settings.

Global Knowledge Senior Business Skills instructor Samuel Brown covers tips for preparing and practicing for the PMP exam.

Your Microsoft SQL Server database often contains the most valuable information in your organization. Get tips for securing it properly and effectively in this free, information-packed webinar with Microsoft SQL Server expert Gidget Pryor. In just an hour, Gidget will demonstrate the layered security approach used by SQL Server. She will step you through the process and best practices of setting up logins, users, roles, schemas, and permissions, and she will review the security model changes that have taken place from SQL Server 2005 through SQL Server 2012. She will also review SQL Server 2012 training and certifications.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers increased agility, developer productivity, pay-as-you-go pricing and overall cost savings. But you might wonder where to start, what pitfalls exist and how can you avoid them? How can you best save time and money? Learn what you need to know and where to start before launching an AWS-hosted service.

Agile is increasingly becoming the foundation for today's business world, and Business Analysts are essential for organizations and projects to achieve maximum success. Following a brief overview, Benjamin will tackle and dispel many of the common myths about Agile and then dig deeper into the true value Business Analysts hold for their organization. Join us for a look at the modern Business Analyst and their role in an Agile environment.

Microsoft Lync Server 2013 requires a proactive approach during deployment. This white paper provides valuable recommendations as well as the technical links that help you avoid common mistakes during a Microsoft Lync Server 2013 deployment.

A shift is occurring in the way we view leadership today. If you want to get things done, you need influence, not authority. This means that IT Professionals, Project Managers, Business Analysts, business-line Managers and individual contributors must focus on demonstrating personal leadership. Getting results through others by building relationships and using influence skills rather than relying on positional power is key.

Instructor Carol Kavalla talks about the advantages of taking a Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric Implementation class from Global Knowledge.

Organizations launch projects with the assumption that the new or improved solution will provide worthwhile benefits for stakeholders and a suitable return on investment. By understanding your business requirements you ensure that your teams actually deliver those benefits. Keeping user and functional requirements aligned with the business requirements is a key to successful solution delivery.

AWS has introduced Auto Scaling so that you can take advantage of cloud computing without having to incur the costs of adding more personnel or building your own software. You can use Auto Scaling to scale for high availability, to meet increasing system demand, or to control costs by eliminating unneeded capacity. You can also use Auto Scaling to quickly deploy software for massive systems, using testable, scriptable processes to minimize risk and cost of deployment.

In this video, Practice Leader Craig Brown discusses the new Microsoft Cloud Computing platforms and how to keep your organization's data secure and functioning properly while operating either partially or entirely on the cloud.