APCON Launches IntellaView Enterprise: Next-Generation Software Management System

• 04 Apr 2024
• TM Team
• 0 Comments

When considering workloads and resources across an organization holistically - and as data centers become increasingly disaggregated with remote teams and frequently traveling IT leaders - manual network management is now an outdated, inefficient, and costly process. Without consolidated software to manage complex infrastructures and thousands of switches, operations and cybersecurity teams must access each switch by individually establishing Connections, Load Balance Groups (LBGs), Blade Port Assignments, and more.

"The pandemic has changed where and how we work. Data centers are now facing compounding issues related to ever-growing networks and unique cybersecurity requirements with fewer labor resources. The top priority of network teams is addressing issues instantly, with fewer accessibility hurdles and in as few clicks as possible," said Tim Huck, Software Engineering Manager at APCON, Inc. (APCON), a global provider of advanced hardware and software solutions.

To simultaneously address these issues, APCON unveiled IntellaView Enterprise, a next-generation multi-switch software management system.

"More than ever, network management teams are challenged to monitor encrypted data more securely and more efficiently. We're proud of our U.S.-based engineering team's ability to transform repetitive and tedious tasks into fully automated operational processes that benefit network and security teams as they navigate increasingly unique data center topographies across the globe.

"This product is a game changer for network teams as they mitigate delays and downtime while traveling between offices and data center locations," Huck continued. "As a result, they are afforded more time to solve complex problems that, in turn, hyper-accelerate user productivity, workflows, and third-party communications."

Top IntellaView Enterprise Features

IntellaView Enterprise is outfitted with consolidated navigation to seamlessly manage all configurations, backups, certificates, licensing, and firmware upgrades. This allows user actions to be fine-tuned en masse or individually to perform the exact tasks required on APCON IntellaView and IntellaFlex XR switches as well as IntellaStore blade products.

Connections - The Connections feature is a set of pages that displays all available network connections. Users can create new connections, edit and deploy existing connections, and manage port configurations. Connections features include the following tools to allow a range of switch adjustments.

• Connections Lists for individual switches enable quick deployment, recalling, and deleting individual connections or all connections in the list.
• While viewing Connections and the Trunks List, users see all existing connections and trunks across the network, respectively.
• Broken Trunks are listed to allow the cleanup of inactive trunks.
• When accessing the Single Panel View, all connections on a blade are shown in one panel.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate Manager - In response to feedback from enterprise teams running data centers with dozens or hundreds of APCON switches, IntellaView Enterprise's SSL Certificate Manager now supports batch generation and installation of SSL certificates. Its convenient drag-and-drop feature eliminates the tedious process of assigning and routing SSL Certificates one switch at a time, offering seamless and efficient cybersecurity management for encrypted keys, firmware, and backup/restore. APCON's SSL Certificate Manager also supports alternate workflows entailing mass Certificate Signing Requests (CSR) generation or automatic APCON-authorized certificates.

License Management - Similar to APCON's SSL Certificate Manager, IntellaView Enterprise allows for uploading and routing licenses for APCON blades and switches throughout the network in a single sequence, thereby unlocking higher-level autonomous APCON packet adjustments in a streamlined operation.

Custom Widgets - IntellaView Enterprise's advanced Dashboard provides a customizable and graphical overview of important network activity via multiple widgets, allowing for useful actions to be performed directly from a widget rather than navigating the interface menus. The widgets constrain the information displayed on each user's Dashboard to the switches selected in the "Devices" selection set - keeping the data relevant to the task at hand.

Widget options such as "Maintenance" and "Quick Start Actions" provide at-a-glance updates of network activities.

IntellaView Enterprise and Switch Health Checks - Users can run a Health Check on the entire IntellaView Enterprise network of switches to view successes and failures in a single report. These can be run manually at any time or scheduled on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Alarm Acknowledgement and Dismissal - The alarm management features on IntellaView Enterprise's Alerts page provide access to all alarm events and allow users to acknowledge and mask (dismiss) active alarms for a specific instance on a switch, blade or individual port on their network. Users can also receive notification texts or emails regarding alarm activity - keeping both on-site and off-site teams informed of new developments on the network.

Scheduler Module - This feature provides the ability to view and schedule tasks for the IntellaView Enterprise server and all connected switches.

Permissions - Permissions include several refined controls, such as IntellaView Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Load Balance Groups (LBGs). Each non-administrator role may be assigned to one of several permission options with increasing levels of accessibility.