Network security

A major concern of network management is data security. Maintaining LAN data security means:

# maintaining data integrity

# securing the LAN from unauthorized access

# securing the LAN from computer viruses

# ensuring the availability of network components and access.

Because security is a primary concern and responsibility of network managers, you will not normally be given direct access to network settings and configurations when working on network printer installations.

Data integrity
The protection of a network’s data resource is achieved in a number of ways:
# by the use of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to allow the network and servers long enough to keep running through minor power outages and to shut down gracefully during long outage
# by providing redundant hardware, including redundant hard drives, so that secondary systems can take over in the event of the failure of the primary system
# by regular backups of data, so that in the event of a loss of integrity data can be restored with a minimum of lost work.
Protection from unauthorized access
Most networks have a system allowing access to only authorised users. Security systems can
allocate rights such as access to resources like applications, printers, directories and specific files. Normal security requires that users have a unique ID and password to access network resources. If an organisation wishes to grant an external user access to the network, a user ID and password will have to be issued, for a limited period of time.